Not in the Heart

I thought Chris Fabry’s book Almost Heaven was great and it is, but Not In The Heart is out of the park good! Truman Wiley is a TV journalist that once had it all — the best family, the best career, the best life — but now he is dodging collection agents, repo men and some very dangerous mobsters. All of this is due to his gambling addiction that has cost him nearly everything in his life including his son who lays dying in a hospital bed. He is just one step away from complete despair when a lifeline of sorts is thrown to him — the story of the man condemned to die who wants to give his heart to Truman’s son. One thing Truman does well is to dig out a story, to uncover the truth of a situation, so he grabs ahold and follows show more the trail even when it threatens to end the transplant his son desperately needs.

Fabry has written a character in Truman Wiley that is at once despicable and sympathetic. He is charming and funny and pathetic. There were times while reading this book that I wanted to hit Truman upside his head and other times I wanted to wrap my arms around him. Even in his darkest moments, I liked Truman — a brilliant life that once shined now almost completely wrapped in darkness. Never knowing someone as deep into his addiction as Truman, I could nevertheless identify with him. I have often battled with doing right when I wanted to do wrong or doing wrong when I knew the right thing. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit that convicts and teaches us along the way. But Truman did not have guidance, only an overwhelming urge to experience that next high, the urge to hit it big just one more time.

Mixed into Truman’s life is his wife and son who have found God, a daughter that wants to connect with him and the man condemned to death for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Terrelle is in prison, but as Truman soon finds out he is freer than Truman could ever hope to be. Also add a fascinating mystery and breath-holding suspense and you’ve got a novel that has it all. Not In The Heart is definitely on my best of the best list for this year.

Highly Recommended.

(I received an ARC of Not In The Heart from Tyndale and B&B Media in return for an honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less

Every so often, a book comes along that grabs you and won't let go. Not in the Heart is one such book. I read it quickly, and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. From the beginning, I assumed Terrelle (the death row inmate) was innocent, and as Truman came closer to the truth, I felt like I was searching for clues right along with him. And once I reached the epilogue, I read the sad-but-satisfying conclusion with tears running down my cheeks.

Truman Wiley is not your classic protagonist. An unemployed gambling addict who abandoned his family, he is certainly no hero—and he does things throughout the book that made me want to shake some sense into him. However, I found myself pulling for him, not in a "boy, he sure needs show more Jesus to fix his life" way but in an "I care about him so much that I wish he could see how much God loves him and get his life back together" way.

As I read the book, I thought a lot about Truman. We all know someone like him—someone whose addictions and fears control his or her life; someone we would desperately love to see trust in Christ. While no one close to me is a Truman, I do have friends and family members who have spent hours on their knees praying for their own Trumans. Reading this book reminded me again of the importance of prayer—praying for the Trumans who seem unreachable ... because no one is unreachable to God!

Rarely have I been so emotionally invested in a book that it brings me to tears. Not in the Heart is a fantastic book that I highly recommend with 5 out of 5 stars!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from The B&B Media Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. show less

Not In The Heart by Chris Fabry is an amazing story that is both fast-paced and deeply touching. It’s a compelling story of a man wishing he could somehow make amends for all the damage he has done to his family, but he can’t seem to bring himself to change.

Truman Wiley was a well-known reporter who traveled the world capturing all kinds of news stories. The problem is that he did most of that while his kids were growing up without him and his wife was home alone raising the children while he was traipsing all over the world chasing stories. Now his children are young adults and he can’t go back and change the kind of father he was. His marriage may be beyond repair. He has a gambling addiction that he still hasn’t conquered. show more But, worst of all, is that his son is dying and he can’t bring himself to be there for him. He has the opportunity to go back home and write a story of a convicted killer who is set to be executed and has offered to give Tru’s son his heart in order to save his life. Will coming home to write this story give him the chance to pull his family back together? What happens if he discovers evidence while working on the story that could clear the man who is supposed to die and give his heart to Tru’s son?

I very highly recommend this book! As always, Chris Fabry’s writing is simply outstanding. The story will hook you from the very first page and keeps you glued to the pages until the very end. It’s a family drama, but also so much more. There’s a lot of mystery and suspense along with some great plot twists. The characters are so realistic and they had me on an emotional roller coaster. Through much of this book I wanted to hate Truman, but I just couldn’t help but like him. I loved his humor, and I wanted so badly for him to change. I have been a huge fan of Chris Fabry’s writing for quite a while. Dogwood remains one of my all time favorites. I also loved June Bug and Almost Heaven. I am always extremely excited whenever he comes out with a new book because I know it’s going to be an exceptional read. show less

This is one of those books that you pick up thinking you will get a heart warming story all neatly tied up. However, this story is one that resonates in the human spirit in such a way that it is sure to make a deep impact on you - leaving you contemplating the redemptive love of Christ.

Truman Wiley is a conflicted, sarcastic, deeply troubled man that is plagued with an addictive past that has held him bondage and has ultimately led to the loss of things he once held dear. This hard-nosed reporter who had once been on the mountain top of success now lived hiding from creditors and other more dangerous and notorious men. His love of the casino has wreaked havoc on his life. I could not help while reading this man's story to contemplate show more the truth of the scripture 1 Corinthians 6:12 (...All things are permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything.) for this man truly has become mastered by many things. This very fact has locked him into a pessimistic outlook on life.

Truman is living an existence of sadness and remorse covered by a hard shell of sarcasm. His daughter has little or nothing to do with him. His wife has walked away after years of trying to pull him through his addictive behaviors and pessimistic attitude. His son lays dying of a congenital heart defect in a nearby hospital. His life is a perfect picture of defeat and despair. It is difficult to feel too much sympathy for him as it is the human nature to look on the outside of a man and say "You made your bed" or "just change". However, to truly understand one must realize the power of the enemy over people in bondage. Though the door of freedom is set open before them - they must take the first step. What we see in Truman is a man defeated by his past mistakes, unable to forgive himself for his failures as a man, father, husband, friend, reporter her avoids all responsibility. Unable to accept his son's illness or the fact that he is powerless in correcting it he avoids it - somehow - I believe attributing his own failures and sins to the illness of his son and bearing this responsibility deeply in his heart.

When his ex-wife calls with a proposal for him Truman agrees. He will cover a story of a convicted death row felon. He will put into print this man's story and how he is giving his heart upon execution to Truman's son who has suffered from a deadly heart defect since birth. Little does he know that God has set into motion a plan to "call heaven and earth as a witness against [Truman], that He has set before him blessings and cursing" and is asking him to "choose life, that [he] and [his] children may live" (Duet. 30:19). This story will offer the road of redemption that Truman has long sought after but been too afraid to walk.

Truman quickly discovers that this is no simple story to right. What do you do when the man on death row - tried, convicted and sentenced by the court of law - is really innocent? What more do you do when that man's desire is not to prove his innocence but to speak a more powerful truth of love, forgiveness and redemption through Christ? For Truman the least likely of people is about to show him the greatest character of all - forgiveness. This man that has lived on death row for so many years is about to start Truman out on the pathway of self-discovery where man comes face to face with who he truly is in the presence of a righteous God. There in that place he is faced with the ultimate question - will he step through the door of the prison he has lived so long in and accept the freedom he has been given? Will he take this chance to redeem that which was lost through the power of Christ's forgiveness?

I can honestly say I appreciate the author's portrayal of Truman. In most of the book he is completely unlikeable in a way that is so real to life. In fact the reader can probably think of someone very much like Truman. In this aspect of failing, falling, stumbling blindly, pushing away angrily, grasping at hope eagerly, praying earnestly, and begging for forgiveness - one can easily fall into the story. The reader can relate personally to the tight ropes of bondage, the heavy burden of self-conviction.

This journey opens into something that changes the lives of everyone involved and God's redemptive love ultimately shines through. Each of us has been in bondage - albeit to varying degrees - and each of us has sought the road to redemption. This book explores how difficult this road can be at times but ultimately how rewarding it is in the end.

Many would venture to say that they do not know any person with an addiction. However, I would challenge each person to look beyond the addiction of gambling presented here, or drugs and alcohol. There are so many more things that people can be addicted to or driven by - that one thing they can not let go of. In the ministry I have seen the devastating effects of many kinds of addictions. Though the truth of freedom is set before their eyes it seems that letting go of the addiction is overwhelming - the fear that they have strayed too far to come back. This story is excellent. Be blessed reading it.

Thank you for this beautifully written story. Praying that it touches many lives and that those in deep bondages of addiction find that the truth of Christ will set you free.

Thanks to B&B Communications for this review copy. show less

Truman is trying to hide away from the world in his cottage by the sea, when a phone call lures him from his retreat and back to the land of hospital bills, a dying son, an estranged wife, and very real threats from dangerous criminals seeking to collect their debt by any means necessary. Truman was once a successful journalist who has lost his job, and his life seems to be falling apart when his wife connects him to a man on death row who wants him to write a book about his life and the police case that resulted in his conviction and sentence to await the death penalty. Truman's decision to accept the job leads him down a path not only to uncovering the truth of a crime, but one of self-discovery as well.

I loved the first sentence of show more this book, when Chris Fabry writes "The trouble with my wife began when she needed Jesus and I needed a cat". I instantly knew I was going to be treated to a book with characters who had a good sense of humor and who would star in an engaging book, and I turned out to be right! Fabry's writing seems effortless and is truly a joy to read for the sheer manner in which it is written. He excels at his characterization, and brings Truman to life with his sarcastic humor, his tendency to avoid his responsibilities (something we can all relate to on occasion), his addiction to gambling, all wrapped up in a well-meaning heart.

I must admit that this strong characterization actually turned out to be a problem for me in this case. Fabry's writing is so solid that he elicited strong feelings from me, particularly disgust at some of Truman's actions, and the end result is that as much as I tried, I never really grew to like Truman all that much, and agreed with his family that he certainly was a poor example of a husband and a father. Although the story ends with an act of selflessness and in a manner that seeks to redeem him as a character, I just never could connect with Truman as a person. That said, I know a writer has succeeded at bringing a story to life when I can get that worked up about a story! The story is still entertaining and a worthy read, one that lives up to Fabry's excellent reputation. I just didn't enjoy it as much as his previous books Almost Heaven or June Bug.

As I was reading this book, I considered who is the "Truman" in my own life, someone who has struggled with addiction issues themselves and for whom my heart has broken in prayer. Although I won't share his name, there is someone who is close to my family who struggled with addiction to cocaine for many years, until God broke through and set him free. The road to freedom was long, with many stops and starts, but this person has lived addiction free for over two years. Much like in Truman's life, God did the impossible, reminding me that "nothing is impossible for God!". If you have someone in your life who isn't being the husband or father or wife or mother or sister or brother that they could be, someone caught up in a cycle of addiction, don't give up hope but cling to God in prayer. God is listening!

Overall, I give this book a solid recommendation and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Book provided courtesy of the publisher, B&B Media, and FIRST Wildcard tours for the purposes of this unbiased review. show less

What a story!!!!!!!!!!. Chris Fabry weaves another unforgetable storyline that leaves you wishing the story would not end. His writing and characters are so believable you find yourself sucked into the plot along with his characters and trying to figure out how this will end. And, what an ending it was. As a mother, this story will tug at your heart in many, many ways

Truman Wiley struggles with a gambling addiction, doesn't have a job or home, has lost touch with his family and has a son dying and in need of a new heart. Enter a chance, as a news reporter, to write the story of a condemmed man who is willing to donate his heart to Truman's son in exchange for his side of the story and the murder conviction. Truman is reluctant at first show more to attempt such a feat, then lots of money is added to try a convince him to tackle the story. With mounting hospital bills and creditors after Truman, he accepts the deal and heads to the casino and loses it all. Now how will he explain to his wife, daughter and son(who he is afraid to see) how this will ever materialize. Truman does start digging 24 days before the execution and finds evidence that points to a different killer. Can he uncover the real murderer before the execution date?.

That is enough of a teaser to the storyline. This story has it all. One minute I disliked Truman, then felt sorry for him, felt sorry for his family and what he had put them through, then he showed me bits of hope that he could change. Throughout the book he wants nothing to do with God and slowly he starts changing and then I was rooting for him. He really can change and show his family he wasn't such a jerk and then the unexpected happens. The ending was a "priceless gift".

We all have Truman Wiley's either in our lives or will have in our lives in the future. My "Truman" was a mother then a son addicted to alcohol and the horrid consequences that addiction entails. But, God never let go of my son and he is walking with the Lord today.

Thanks to B & B Media Group for this ARC copy to review. I was not required to write a positive review. show less

A condemned man.
A dying son.
An imperfect father.
How far will one man go to save the life of his son?
Time is running out.

In my experience of reading lots of books, I have found that very few fiction writers are able to write in such a way as to make their characters jump off the page and into your mind and heart. And very few are able to paint a picture with their words that shows the true condition of the human heart and the gamut of emotion that is often found there and tell a story that leaves you breathless in the end.

Chris Fabry has accomplished that in his story of Truman Wiley in Not In The Heart.

Truman absolutely had me puzzled until the very last page. In the first few pages of the book, I didn't like him very much. A little show more further along into the story, I felt sorry for him. Then I was really on his side pulling for him. Then I didn't like him again. Then I loved him. At times I didn't know what in the world to think about this man and his extreme selfishness but heart wrenching love for his family.

If that sounds confusing, well it is. Truman will have you wondering about him until the last page of his story and when you get to the end of Not In The Heart you will realize that we are all just like Truman at different points in our own lives. Chris Fabry has offered up something really special in this story. I encourage you to consider it for your next book club (questions for a reading group are included in the back of the book). But don't count on just one night to discuss this story! You'll need more than one.

Audra Jennings of the B&B Media Group sent me a copy of this book for the purpose of review. show less