Waking Lazarus (Novel)
Author: T. L. Hines
Bethany House, July 2006
Synopsis:
Jude Allman is no ordinary man: he has been clinically dead three times—and yet he lives. The subsequent celebrity of his “accomplishments� has left him paranoid and more than a little unbalanced. He has changed his name and fled to the quiet anonymity of Montana, where he desperately attempts to hide from the press, his past, and his future. But when a string of crimes against children pervades his relatively quiet life, Jude is called out of his fear and into a new kind of living.
Writer T. L Hines has crafted an amazing work for his debut as a novelist. Unlike many “Christian thrillers,� Waking Lazarus is a good story, well-told, without apology for its underlying faith motif, yet certainly without preaching. Despite being published by a Christian publisher, and having evidently Christian overtones (the opening page bears a quote from the gospel of John), the novel could easily become a “crossover� hit, simply because both the spirituality and the humanity are realistic and absorbing, without ever becoming overbearing. A distinct lack of “Christianese� truly keeps the book well within the range of interest for anyone interested in near-death (or full death and resuscitation) experiences and any flavor of spirituality.
The unlikely marriage of crime thriller and self-examination creates a unique yet intense storyline that Hines has not only deeply contemplated, but made real and tangible for the proverbial Everyman. Jude Allman, the modern-day Lazarus, is beset by paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a host of personality quirks that would make a millionaire of any decent psychiatrist. He is scared spitless by his death experiences, by the publicity, and by the potential meaning lurking behind them. In short, Jude Allman is as human as we get—an unequivocally sympathetic character caught in a life the reader might eschew just as thoroughly as Jude. But Hines’ story doesn’t stop there…
To put it rather simplistically, Waking Lazarus is about purpose: fearing it, avoiding it, circumventing it, and finally embracing it. Jude Allman resents his resurrections—to the point of taking on a new identity in order that no one (including himself) will connect him with those three fateful and frightful times when he died—and then didn’t. The constant hiding takes its natural toll, though, in his paranoid window-boarding and home alarm systems and reticence to form any meaningful relationships. But when, after being pulled into the realm of deliberately risking his life for the sake of someone else, he sees some purpose in having thrice been to the Other Side, he is able to welcome his purpose, and begin living.
Yet while purpose is the underlying theme, it does not at all detract from the page-turning crime thriller status that Hines gratifyingly achieves. While not creepy or overtly violent, there are many spine-tingling moments, psychological twists, dangling carrots, and extremely subtle references (i.e., Kristina) that keep the reader engaged with all aspects of the story. The crimes, Jude’s mental torment, and the final twist that brings Jude to his psychological and spiritual sense carry the reader all the way through until the (rather satisfying) end.
In short, Hines has truly succeeded in writing a book with Christian content that can (and I project will) be enjoyed by people of other faiths as well. The universality of accepting both one’s past and one’s future ensures that any spiritually inquisitive reader will find both an engaging crime novel and some spiritual food for thought.
A peculiar recipe, perhaps, but one that will satiate many a reader’s appetite for drama with a backbone.
Bethany House, July 2006
Synopsis:
Jude Allman is no ordinary man: he has been clinically dead three times—and yet he lives. The subsequent celebrity of his “accomplishments� has left him paranoid and more than a little unbalanced. He has changed his name and fled to the quiet anonymity of Montana, where he desperately attempts to hide from the press, his past, and his future. But when a string of crimes against children pervades his relatively quiet life, Jude is called out of his fear and into a new kind of living.
Writer T. L Hines has crafted an amazing work for his debut as a novelist. Unlike many “Christian thrillers,� Waking Lazarus is a good story, well-told, without apology for its underlying faith motif, yet certainly without preaching. Despite being published by a Christian publisher, and having evidently Christian overtones (the opening page bears a quote from the gospel of John), the novel could easily become a “crossover� hit, simply because both the spirituality and the humanity are realistic and absorbing, without ever becoming overbearing. A distinct lack of “Christianese� truly keeps the book well within the range of interest for anyone interested in near-death (or full death and resuscitation) experiences and any flavor of spirituality.
The unlikely marriage of crime thriller and self-examination creates a unique yet intense storyline that Hines has not only deeply contemplated, but made real and tangible for the proverbial Everyman. Jude Allman, the modern-day Lazarus, is beset by paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a host of personality quirks that would make a millionaire of any decent psychiatrist. He is scared spitless by his death experiences, by the publicity, and by the potential meaning lurking behind them. In short, Jude Allman is as human as we get—an unequivocally sympathetic character caught in a life the reader might eschew just as thoroughly as Jude. But Hines’ story doesn’t stop there…
To put it rather simplistically, Waking Lazarus is about purpose: fearing it, avoiding it, circumventing it, and finally embracing it. Jude Allman resents his resurrections—to the point of taking on a new identity in order that no one (including himself) will connect him with those three fateful and frightful times when he died—and then didn’t. The constant hiding takes its natural toll, though, in his paranoid window-boarding and home alarm systems and reticence to form any meaningful relationships. But when, after being pulled into the realm of deliberately risking his life for the sake of someone else, he sees some purpose in having thrice been to the Other Side, he is able to welcome his purpose, and begin living.
Yet while purpose is the underlying theme, it does not at all detract from the page-turning crime thriller status that Hines gratifyingly achieves. While not creepy or overtly violent, there are many spine-tingling moments, psychological twists, dangling carrots, and extremely subtle references (i.e., Kristina) that keep the reader engaged with all aspects of the story. The crimes, Jude’s mental torment, and the final twist that brings Jude to his psychological and spiritual sense carry the reader all the way through until the (rather satisfying) end.
In short, Hines has truly succeeded in writing a book with Christian content that can (and I project will) be enjoyed by people of other faiths as well. The universality of accepting both one’s past and one’s future ensures that any spiritually inquisitive reader will find both an engaging crime novel and some spiritual food for thought.
A peculiar recipe, perhaps, but one that will satiate many a reader’s appetite for drama with a backbone.
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