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Loading... If Only for This Lifeby Robin Hardy
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. If Only for This Life fits the twenty-first century in its deliberate use of the supernatural, a prominent trait of postmodernism. However, in a novel we consider postmodern the magic just happens willy-nilly; there is no explanation for it. Reality is in the eye of the beholder, so inexplicable happenings such as Remedios the Beauty’s sudden ascent into the air and out of sight in García Márquez’s Cien Años de Soledad needs to be accepted rather than explained. Robin Hardy definitely suggests an explanation for her novel’s strange happenings, such as cut orchids appearing in a locked office, multiplying and sprouting roots and leaves. Fletcher Streiker, a stand-in for the resurrected Christ (as Hardy says in the study notes at the back of the book), is behind the supernatural events. Adair Weiss, Fletcher’s wife, who loves flowers, has simply dropped them through the air as encouragement to Sammy Kidman, whom Fletcher is trying to teach to do exactly what he says posthaste, whether he understands or not. The novel is another allegory of the Christian life such as Hardy’s earlier trilogy, Streiker’s Bride, Streiker the Killdeer, and Striker’s Morning Sun. The allegory’s theme is that God equips the Christian to do whatever God asks. Christians like me who love allegory will treasure the book and look forward to the next one in the series due to appear in another year. Non-Christians and readers who eschew allegory will be happier leaving it on the shelf. ( ) no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Series
Thanks to a $35-million lottery win, ex-Dallas police detective Sammy Kidman is comfortably ensconced in his own private detective agency. Sammy and his two coworkers, also ex-detectives, primarily collect past-due child support for needy families on a pro bono basis. Despite that fact that Sammy, 36, is a faithful husband to his wife Marni, he draws a lot of female attention as a singularly handsome man. Sammy is therefore unperturbed when a beautiful dancer gives an orchid sprig to his 3-year-old son. However, Sammy doesn't know quite what to do when a similar orchid appears on his desk in his locked office. He begins researching the dancer, but the only match he can find is to a woman who has just died. Meanwhile, one of Sammy's coworkers mistakenly collects on a large past-due account from the wrong person. The ramifications of what amounts to felony theft threaten to overwhelm the agency and destroy Sammy personally. At that point, reclusive Dallas billionaire Fletcher Streiker steps in. Previously, Sammy had never seen him or spoken to him, so why would he bother with this obscure little agency? As it turns out, his wife requested it-and she's a dancer. If Only for This Life is a continuation of both The Sammy Series and The Streiker Saga, but readers who never heard of either can jump right into this story. The sequel, Abby's Monsters, will be released November 2015. No library descriptions found. |
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