Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Again by John Leatherman

Chance Trifle experiences every day three times. Only what happens on day three is permanent. This can really work to Chance's advantage, like deciding which girl to take on a date – he can take out one girl on today.01 and the other on today.02 and then know which one to go with on the permanent day, today.03.

Chance is a summer intern at a television station and he thinks he is on his way to television stardom. He hears about the murder of a pop star on the news on today.01. He tries to prevent the murder on today.02. He decides to videotape his heroic actions on today.03 but fails to prevent the murder. But he does have the murder on video. Attempts on days 01 and 02 to take the video public go horribly wrong so he keeps it secret on 03. In the meantime he is juggling relationships with two other interns, women who are captivated by his apparent cleverness.

Add into the mix the abduction of a five-year-old. Chances misses hearing about it until it is too late to prevent it. Then throw in a weird commune type of community and a rocket with a nuclear warhead, and you have quite a plot. Chance juggles conniving coworkers and spurned women. He avoids determined detectives and bloodthirsty thugs. Will Chance ever take his mind off the possible financial gain long enough to realize the right way to use his gift?

This story has more twists and turns than I have ever seen in a novel. There were times, I have to admit, when I was a little lost. It is hard to keep track of events when some of them repeat, some are avoided, and some change altogether. But Leatherman is an accomplished story teller and he kept me avidly reading to the very end, which was a pleasant surprise! He has lots of bad guys and suspenseful situations developing throughout the novel.

One aspect of the novel kept me thinking about how we decide to act. Chance had the opportunity to benefit from wrong decisions he made on days .01 and .02. I wondered how I would change my choices if I knew what the outcome would be. I am thankful there is forgiveness for those decisions we do get wrong!

John Leatherman is a freelance writer, editor, cartoonist, blogger, and cruciverbalist. His fiction has won awards from Word Weavers International, American Christian Fiction Writers, Christian Writers Guild, Southern Writers, and Florida Christian Writers. Leatherman is a Central Florida software consultant with two kids.

GlassRoad Media, 380 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through GlassRoad Media for the purpose of an independent and honest review.

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