When Crickets Cry, by Charles Martin
48/60 | Started 08.28.24 • Finished 09.07.24 | 3.75 stars
This book club selection received mixed reviews. As you can see from the above star rating, I enjoyed the book. I didn't realize before reading that the author is considered a Christian fiction writer, and has quite the backlist. As such there were some things in the book that bothered those in the book club. The protagonist often quotes scripture, and themes of forgiveness and redemption are found throughout. I think the main comment from book club members was that it was "preachy" and one person even found it "offensive." I didn't feel like any of the religiosity in the book rose to that level, but then, I don't find Christianity offensive, so... There were some of us that instead found the book to be uplifting and hopeful.
Emma once told me that some people spend their whole lives trying to outrun God, maybe get someplace He’s never been. She shook her head and smiled, wondering why. Trouble is, she said, they spend a lifetime searching and running, and when they arrive, they find He’s already been there.
While the story itself wasn't mind-blowing, the writing was pretty good and it was nice to not have to skim/skip parts of a novel for once. There were parts of the story that were not believable, but I think overall the narrative flowed well and I felt invested enough in the characters to want to keep reading about them. I would feel comfortable recommending this to anyone looking for a clean feel-good novel that straddles the line between cheesy Christian fiction and contemporary fiction.
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