Book Review - Wonders Never Cease by Tim Downs
Category Book Review Tim Downs Wonders Never Cease
What do you do if you see angels and nobody is willing to believe you? You just keep telling your story and let the chips fall where they may. Such is the attitude of Leah Pelton, the little girl in Tim Downs' latest book Wonders Never Cease. Some people will say you're crazy, and others will figure that you have serious medical issues. But a few people might be open to the possibility that you actually experience a reality that others may not be open to believing.
Leah's mom, Natalie, is a single mother who is a nurse at a hospital in Los Angeles. Her live-in boyfriend, Kemp McAvoy, is also a nurse at the same hospital working the same night shift. He's a highly intelligent self-centered heel who is always looking for the big payoff, and feels that money spent on Leah's private school and a housekeeper should be better spent on cars and new places to live. Leah's stories about seeing angels makes life difficult for Natalie, as the school officials are worried that she's got mental issues that may turn her into the next school-shooter story. Life gets even more difficult when her housekeeper has to quit, and McAvoy becomes nearly non-existent as he has a new scheme to make millions. A famous actress nearly dies in a car accident, and McAvoy is her nurse in ICU during the night. She's being kept in a drug-induced coma, and he conspires with her agent to bring her out of it just a bit each night to pose as an angelic being with a personal "spiritual" message to her. She'll then be able to recall that message (and fully believe it) after she recovers and make millions with the associated books, interviews, and movie. But the plan starts to fall apart when McAvoy's past catches up with him, and the actress starts to recall messages that were not part of their script. And it may turn out to be that Leah was right, and there really *are* angels at play here...
Overall, Wonders was an entertaining read. It did an excellent job in poking at just how bizarre some of these celebrity stories and mystical messages are, and you have to wonder how many are honest and how many are just trying to cash in. The "good guy" characters are quite sympathetic and easy to relate to in the story. I was a bit surprised at how McAvoy has *no* redeeming characteristics. Even the loan shark in the story is more sympathetic than this guy. I found it difficult to see how someone like Natalie would have ever hooked up with him. I'm not sure I ever understood how that arrangement would have come to be in the first place.
Even though I prefer Downs' Bugman novels more, Wonders Never Cease was worth spending a few hours with. Not that I didn't already look at authors like Shirley Maclaine with a healthy dose of skepticism, but now I'll add a topping of "and how much are they making for this" on top of it.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Gift
Payment: Free
What do you do if you see angels and nobody is willing to believe you? You just keep telling your story and let the chips fall where they may. Such is the attitude of Leah Pelton, the little girl in Tim Downs' latest book Wonders Never Cease. Some people will say you're crazy, and others will figure that you have serious medical issues. But a few people might be open to the possibility that you actually experience a reality that others may not be open to believing.
Leah's mom, Natalie, is a single mother who is a nurse at a hospital in Los Angeles. Her live-in boyfriend, Kemp McAvoy, is also a nurse at the same hospital working the same night shift. He's a highly intelligent self-centered heel who is always looking for the big payoff, and feels that money spent on Leah's private school and a housekeeper should be better spent on cars and new places to live. Leah's stories about seeing angels makes life difficult for Natalie, as the school officials are worried that she's got mental issues that may turn her into the next school-shooter story. Life gets even more difficult when her housekeeper has to quit, and McAvoy becomes nearly non-existent as he has a new scheme to make millions. A famous actress nearly dies in a car accident, and McAvoy is her nurse in ICU during the night. She's being kept in a drug-induced coma, and he conspires with her agent to bring her out of it just a bit each night to pose as an angelic being with a personal "spiritual" message to her. She'll then be able to recall that message (and fully believe it) after she recovers and make millions with the associated books, interviews, and movie. But the plan starts to fall apart when McAvoy's past catches up with him, and the actress starts to recall messages that were not part of their script. And it may turn out to be that Leah was right, and there really *are* angels at play here...
Overall, Wonders was an entertaining read. It did an excellent job in poking at just how bizarre some of these celebrity stories and mystical messages are, and you have to wonder how many are honest and how many are just trying to cash in. The "good guy" characters are quite sympathetic and easy to relate to in the story. I was a bit surprised at how McAvoy has *no* redeeming characteristics. Even the loan shark in the story is more sympathetic than this guy. I found it difficult to see how someone like Natalie would have ever hooked up with him. I'm not sure I ever understood how that arrangement would have come to be in the first place.
Even though I prefer Downs' Bugman novels more, Wonders Never Cease was worth spending a few hours with. Not that I didn't already look at authors like Shirley Maclaine with a healthy dose of skepticism, but now I'll add a topping of "and how much are they making for this" on top of it.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Gift
Payment: Free
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