Failed family man David Connors contemplates suicide atop a snowy Chicago skyscraper. But a peculiar old carpetbag causes him to pause---just before a windy gust sends him to the pavement below . . . where he lands without a scratch! As objects mysteriously appear, allowing him to help others, his strange journey out of despair begins. 256 pages, softcover from NavPress.

In The Reluctant Journey of David Connors, author Don Locke, (an artist for NBC’s Tonight Show), delivers a story about miracles and redemption.

David’s life has just about tumbled over the edge. His wife talks about divorce, and he’s let down his children too many times to count. With all this building up inside him, as well as a growing contempt for God, he considers taking one final walk off a skyscraper. But “fate” intervenes. David finds an old carpet bag, one filled with secrets. Inside are perfect gifts for the strangers he will encounter. With bag in hand, this reluctant protagonist is launched on an unstoppable trek, one that is far more than physical.

Locke’s novel begins with this intriguing premise. The carpet bag guides readers through the plot as the mystery slowly unravels. It is fast paced and unpredictable. If the reader is hooked, he or she will gladly be reeled in throughout the entire novel. However, the originality does not extend to the characters. David is yet another struggling man facing a crumbling marriage. His traveling partner, Maggie, is also the unlucky-in-love type. At times these two are entertaining, but they simply don’t contrast each other well enough to make a good pair.

For a first novel, Locke’s writing is surprisingly smooth. Transitions are clean and the details provide substance without invoking boredom. The words are action oriented with the occasional pause for reflection. The plot unfolds gradually throughout and comes to a satisfactory ending, although the author seems to follow tangents at times. The only major issue is clarity. Locke sometimes races ahead or jumps to a new location while the confused reader tries to keep up.

All in all, The Reluctant Journey of David Connors is a unique novel. It provides the reader with an interesting story with a solid sense of mystery. It explores such spiritual truths as God's omnipotence, man's need for a power beyond his own limited abilities, and the reality that God often chooses to answer prayers through the actions of people coming to the assistance of others. The characters probably won’t resonate with many hearts, but they are interesting enough to propel the story. Overall, readers looking for a creative, plot driven story may want to give this one a chance. -- Andrew Culbertson, Christian Book Previews.com

In this unusual novel, Locke, a writer for NBC'sTonight Show , takes readers on a surreal journey involving a magic carpetbag, with mixed results. David Connors is a Chicago video games art director who has let alcohol and an inability to get in touch with his feelings separate him from his wife and two young children. The Christmas season only exacerbates these feelings, and he throws himself out of his 39th-floor office window. When his life is spared, a magic carpetbag he's discovered provides endless objects that hold clues to his past. Together with an unhappy single woman he meets at a restaurant (a relationship that never quite makes sense), he boards a train and begins a strange trip to a bizarre yet familiar town. References to the need for reconciliation with God are inserted in a few places as pieces of David's past come together. In the climax, David experiences a recreation of an incident that has haunted him as an adult. The story requires maximum suspension of disbelief, as David finds forgiveness, explains his story to his wife, then faces his fears again in the closing pages. Faith fiction readers who enjoy a magical element to their stories should find this to their taste.(Sept.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

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