book review: Clear Winter Nights

Chris thought he had it all going for him.  Freshly graduated from college, a beautiful fiancee, a position of leadership in a budding church plant waiting for him...  But when he discovers new truths about his father, an anxiety begins to take root.  A blackness seeps into his heart; he is too embarrassed to talk about it.  Doubt. About God, his faith, and everything he has ever known.

As his feeble grandfather, a retired pastor, recovers from a stroke, Chris goes to spend the weekend with him.  As the winter closes in, Chris and his grandfather talk.  Armed with his intellectual debates and new fashioned ideas about Christianity, bitterness fuels Chris' arguments.  But try as he might, nothing that he says can baffle the elderly, yet sharp mind of the long-time Jesus lover.

Clear Winter Nights is a story about faith and forgiveness--and what sets Jesus apart from the religions of the world.   The subtitle "Theology in Story" is an excellent description of the words that are penned within the pages of this little book.  Tough subjects even down to homosexuality are handled with grace and the solid foundation of the scriptures.

I truly enjoyed this book--I actually picked it up for the first time and finished reading it all within 24 hours!  I expected this to be one of the books that are harder to review--based on the "Theology in Story" title.  Some books that I have read do not stay true to the fictional format in which they are perceived and go into something more like a rampage of rhetoric instead of focusing on the story.  This I found was totally not the case with Clear Winter Nights.  In fact, the symbolism sprinkled throughout the book that tied into the theological discussions was absolutely beautiful; the story moved along at the perfect pace.

I was a little disappointed in the lack of the actual scriptural text presented.  Now I understood everything to be built on the scriptural foundation, Biblical principles and worldview-- and the book was obvious in pointing pack to the Bible in general, but it would have been nice if there was more tying directly back to the exact references.

Because of the topics of sex and homosexuality, I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 16.

All in all, I loved this book!  Easy read, yet solid lessons and beautiful symbolism.  I would recommend this to anyone (saved or unsaved) aged 16 and up.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars!

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I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for an honest review.