My review of The Novelist by Angela Hunt

From the Publisher:
From the author who taught you to expect the unexpected...an intriguing tale about families, fiction, and what to do when life veers wildly off script.

It begins...when a smug college student challenges a best-selling novelist to write something "more personal." It begins...when a mother finds her troubled son slumped unconscious outside her house. It begins...when fiction and reality blur, and the novelist finds herself caught somewhere in the middle of it all. Where does it end? That all depends on who is telling the story...

My review:
This is the first book authored by Angela Hunt that I've read, though I own many. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long to discover this talented author's work. I've read many stories with parallel times or situations, usually with the present reverting to a historical setting, and often I prefer one story over the author. I want to flip past the present story to read the good stuff...the story within the story. But The Novelist isn't like that. It's the only book I've ever read where I can stay that both stories equally stimulated me. They both held my attention. Both stories contained "the good stuff" I crave in a book. I love emotion, believable conflict, and a story that sucks me in so much that I can't stop reading it. And the allegory was so incredibly well done and ingenious that it literally blew my mind. I now see Christ's redemption even more powerfully because of the allegorical tale in this book. (BTW, I also love romance, but there wasn't much in this baby--and I still loved it! That's how you can be certain it was fabulous.)

The Novelist is one of the best books I've read in regards to tying things together in a convincing and satisfying conclusion. I loved how Angela Hunt showed the author in the story growing more than the person she hoped to influence with her story, and after fighting the Lord, she ended up being okay with that. Aren't most of us like this? We elbow the person next to us when the pastor is preaching a convicting message, but we should be looking at our own hearts first. The Novelist had me looking at my own heart and I'm better for the experience. Few stories impact me so much that I want to grab people off the street to tell them they MUST read this book, but The Novelist is one of them. It's got a powerful message that is seamlessly woven in, dynamic characters who will grip your heart, and it deals with sensitive subjects in an incredibly sensitive and well-informed manner. I loved this story because it has impacted my life--and not just because I am also a novelist--but because it's so rich and satisfying. I highly recommend it.