I was intrigued with the idea of Alexa Adena’s book “Signs and Wonders“. That was even before I read the concept for the story.
Alex has written a novella. It’s intentionally short so people can make the 2 or 3 hours to read it all. With ebook sales overtaking printed books sales and iPods growing in popularity I think this format of book can really take off.
Unfortunately I didn’t have the 2 or 3 hours to sit and read and reading ebooks in my iPhone leaves me distracted.
Still, since I’ve written a 100 page novel in 3 days, as I writer I can see me turning some of my fiction projects into shorter versions.
Now onto the story…
Most children are told they can be doctors, lawyers — even astronauts. Not Annie Grace. Since childhood she’s been raised to be a miracle worker, capable of healing all that ails the followers of her father’s faith-healing crusade. Fame and riches flowed.
Now 20 years later and unable to remember any miracles, Annie goes through the motions of running her late father’s ministry.
As Annie’s faith fades, the ministry is threatened by the district attorney, a congressional subpoena and a pesky television reporter. In the midst of this chaos, strange and unexplained healings begin to happen around Annie. Has a lifelong charlatan suddenly become a miracle worker?
Annie’s journey to answer that question forces her to look inside her soul for the first time, searching for the meaning of these Signs and Wonders.
The first part of the book shows how hypocritical Annie Grace has become. I’ve had too much experience with people who are gifted supernaturally and who chose to act in similar ways, so it was a little disturbing. God’s gifts and calls are irrevocable. We need character to steward them, not to receive them. When we don’t have the character to steward them well, all kinds of evil can be done.
So I wasn’t really endeared to the character of Annie Grace. The author uses flashbacks to show how she became the way she was and having those story lines made her more sympathetic. Still I was sort of cheering for the ones out to get her.
An area that didn’t really ring true to my experience was what Annie Grace felt when miracles started to happen. Sure sometimes it happens that way. I’ve learned when I feel the hairs on my arms and neck and back start to stand up I need to be looking for a miracle because they almost always happen then. But some of the most amazing miracles I’ve seen are when I’ve felt absolutely nothing. Those are the cools ones. I wondered about the author’s experience with the supernatural. I’m not saying it needs to be the same as mine…I just wondered.
When the change happened for Annie Grace I started to cheer for her. Hey, if God didn’t give me second chances I’d be in a really, really bad spot.
All in all Signs and Wonders is a good read. If you’re looking for a two hour escape that gives you hope that people can and do change check it out.
