GENRE: THRILLER
PUBLISHER: DOG EAR PUBLISHING
PUBLICATION DATE: JANUARY 2009
Nutshell Version:
While it is not to the level of Ted Dekker or Robert Liparulo, Burden of Faith is certainly an engaging peace of literature that will keep you turning the pages.
Full Version:
I was sent Burden of Faith by the title’s author months ago and ended up putting it on the back burner. First, it’s an indie book and most indie books I’ve received have sucked. Second, it is fiction written with a very clear agenda in mind (pro-life vs. abortion debate), rather than a theme that grows organically from the story. I view this as “putting the cart before the horse.” So, the book had two strikes against it before I even read the first page. However, given that the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade has just recently passed, it seemed thematically appropriate to read the title and post a review. I wish I had picked it up sooner. While it is not to the level of Ted Dekker or Robert Liparulo, it is certainly an engaging peace of literature that will keep you turning the pages.
Synopsis:
Haunted by her rape and seeming rejection by God, the deeply religious Maria Vargas seeks absolution and a back door into heaven by rescuing an unborn child in this moving tale of love, loss, tragedy and renewal.
–back cover copy
The strength of Thompson’s story lays not in its agenda. The agenda is what it is and it will appeal to some and it will turn others off completely (That’s the nature of the debate). The strength of the story lays in the reality of the characters and the ways in which they interact with one another. From Maria’s dealing with feelings of guilt, shame, and worthlessness after a brutal rape—and I mean brutal—to Tio’s unwillingness to “man up” and be a father to an his unwanted child with Kat, this story features real characters dealing with real situations. The stories are so real, in fact, that one if forced to wonder if Thompson is not telling actual events with “the names changed to protect the innocent.” A particularly sad part of the book is the way Maria is treated by the Catholic priest in the early part of the book. Yet, this lends itself to the reality that, oftentimes, the church mistreats and/or mishandles those who have had the most heinous of sins committed against them.
The book is a bit more violent and grim than I would expect from traditional Christian fiction. Both Randy Alcorn and Frank Peretti have tread similar waters in Dominion and Prophet respectively, but have managed to keep some of the more gruesome details to a minimum. Some may applaud this approach. Others may not. Sometimes I felt it was important for Thompson to paint the picture of abortion the way he did. At other moments, I felt as if my senses were being assaulted for no other reason than to scandalize the reader. So, I find myself squarely in the middle, not wanting the violence and stark reality omitted, but wondering if all of it was necessary to get the point across.
The books ends a bit abruptly for my tastes, but Thompson communicates his story well and gets the point across that he is trying to get across. Again, this isn’t the best fiction I’ve read, but its not the worst I’ve read either. I rather enjoyed it actually. I’d recommend it for anyone considering the abortion debate, but doesn’t feel like reading and emotionless tract on the topic.
