David and Goliath

Hathaway inaugurates the Guardian Angel Chronicles series with the tale of David Liberty, an old man in a nursing home who cannot speak but whose mind is lively. An angel, Joelle, appears to him in the guise of a physical therapist, offering him a new chance at life if he can successfully complete a series of trials that make him his brother's keeper. David is sent into three different settings, unable to speak but able to act, in an attempt to save lives and souls. This is a classic plot, almost allegorical (David's last name is one obvious device), and reminiscent of The Shack. The novel has imaginative promise but is flawed in execution: characterization is spotty, with some minor characters a bit too far beyond suspension-of-disbelief boundaries, though David is generally engaging and well-developed as he undergoes his trials. Sometimes the author's need to be spiritually edifying produces clunkers ("Sue and John were no longer in a healthy union"), though the dialogue is more surefooted. This will appeal to Christian fiction fans who like spiritual warfare stories.