The Restorer by Sharon Hinck is one of the most thought provoking books I’ve read in awhile. I found it on my Powell’s trip and remembered meeting her at Mt. Herman at a writing conference. I had to have the book. I needed something to distract me on the plane trip back from Oregon. I don’t like to fly.
I identified with Susan, the main character right away. She knows she has a great life but longs for something just a bit better, to help others and she’s depressed. Yep, could have been me in the book. I settled into my seat at the airport, this would be a good comfortable read.
Wrong. This book was fascinating, character driven, with a plot that twisted like spaghetti on a fork.
By the time we were in the air, Susan had left her home and traveled to a place that doesn’t exist in our world. I read, turned pages and read more, the air miles went by and soon we landed in Kansas City. I didn’t relish having to stop living in this magical world where soccer moms can use a sword! Still I had to deplane and wait for the connecting flight to St. Louis. As soon as I could respectfully ignore my husband and read, I yanked that book back out of my bag.
What makes this book so special to me is the idea of how dangerous one thought can be. At first when I read this book I thought Hinck very clever to use an evil thought to throw a community into chaos. A week later I’m identifying thoughts of my own that are leading me in the wrong directions. Thank you, Sharon for helping me to see how poisonous those wrong thoughts can be.
Would I buy the next two books in this series? You bet. I can’t wait for them to arrive.
Here is the book blurb:
Meet Susan, a housewife and soccer mom whose dreams stretch far beyond her ordinary world. While studying the book of Judges, Susan longs to be a modern-day Deborah, a prophet and leader who God used to deliver the ancient nation of Israel from destruction. Susan gets her wish for adventure when she stumbles through a portal into an alternate universe and encounters a nation locked in a fierce struggle for its survival. Now stranded in a strange culture filled with poisonous enemies, Susan must overcome tremendous odds to deliver a desperate people and restore hope to a world far from her own.
Get it at Amazon!
Wow, sounds like a fascinating book. I really love the idea of how powerful our thoughts can be.