About the Book

Baseball star Cory Brand knows how to win. But off the field, he’s spiraling out of control. Haunted by old wounds and regrets, his future seems as hopeless as his past.

Genre

Inspirational

My Rating

4 out of 5 (stars)

My Review

This book surprised me.

That’s because I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and I’m glad I read it.

It’s a story of redemption and restoration.

Cory Brand was quite the character. His personality represents a lot of people in our world today. His pain and struggles were so real it was hard not to relate to him in some way. I loved how Travis showed the rawness and depth of an addiction and how it could deceitfully hinder a victim from sooner recovery. This story made it pretty clear what every child of God learns sooner or later: it takes grace to get past the pain of the past so that we overcome our struggles. Only then can we enjoy the gift of life He has given us.

Other characters, Emma, Clay and Karen—though I enjoyed their part in the story, their personalities were not as well developed as Cory’s and Helene. Helene was indeed very striking. You could easily shape her personality through the pages.

Also, Cory’s thought-process throughout the book was adequately filled with his pain and struggles, but I would have also loved to see his thoughts about the possibility of turning to God, build from somewhere as the story went along, so that when he finally admitted that he needed God, it didn’t seem so sudden.

Overall I found this book very engaging. I read this over-400 page work in three sittings but all the hours put together were less than 24. Seriously. I kept trying to hurry myself along so I could grab the whole story. I found myself laughing with some characters, scoffing at others and plain shaking my head, arms crossed and so annoyed with some others. Like they were real people. It was fun.

The end is not like any typical romance read, but very satisfying. That’s probably because it was novelized from a movie. And from a movie’s point of view, it was a wonderful end. It was finished with so much hope in the lives of the characters.

Any lover of Karen Kingsbury’s work, especially ‘Between Sundays’ would love this book. This book and ‘Between Sundays’ are distinct enough, but the similarities don’t go unnoticed.

*Although I offer this review to the public, it is my opinion and simply that. Much thanks to David C. Cook and NetGalley for a temporary ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.*

About the Author

Travis Thrasher is the author of over twenty works of fiction in a variety of genres. He has collaborated with musicians, filmmakers, and pastors. His stories all feature broken characters on journeys toward redemption. Upcoming books for 2013 include the novelization of Home Run and Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not? co-authored with the band Thompson Square.
Travis and his wife, Sharon, live in a suburb of Chicago and have three daughters. For more information on Travis, go to www.travisthrasher.com