When Crickets Cry Book

2 1/2 stars

In order for me to review this book fairly I first need to address the elephant in the room, namely religion. The author is without question a deeply committed Christian and his beliefs are evident in almost every paragraph in his book. Having grown up in a church-going family I have no problem with Christianity. If Mr. Martin is secure in his beliefs and confident of what lies in store beyond the grave, more power to him.

The book he has written is what many call Christian fiction. I choose to call it religious fantasy. I use the word fantasy with no derogatory connotations intended. The author has written a story of the world as he wants it to be; a world without villains; a world where good people always do and say the right thing and bad people sooner or later come around and see the error of their ways. In my experience, such a world can only be found if you turn right at Hogwarts and head straight on till morning. In other words, it's an imaginary world. If his purpose in writing it is to proselytize, then he really needs to tell a story that is set in a world the reader will accept as real.

The plot is about as transparent as a plot can be. Two people with broken hearts, one physically and the other spiritually will, by the grace of god, heal each other. I am not revealing any spoilers that any reader wouldn't have already figured out had they read the first chapter. The characters are nice, but so incredibly sweet that it's a wonder they don't all have diabetes. I also have a problem with the idea that a cardio-thoracic surgeon would believe that the heart is the physical center of our emotions. I know that this idea plays into the theme mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph but it also adds to the sense of unreality and makes it difficult to take the story seriously.

I am not saying the author is a bad writer. He's actually pretty good at stringing words together. When he talks about rowing, I'm reminded of some of the prose from Norman MacLean's A River Runs Through It. His description of his wife's death and his subsequent grieving are really quite moving. In addition, his description of the medical procedures used by cardio-thoracic surgeons in heart transplantation procedures is quite accurate.

Bottom line: I read this book as part of a group read even though it is not the type of book that I would choose for myself. If you are someone who does enjoy Christian fiction then feel free to add two stars to my review to balance out my review. I believe the author can write but that he made his job far more difficult by the genre that he chose. As with most fantasies, it is difficult to drum up suspense when the reader knows that the preordained ending can be changed in an instant with the judicious use of magic and/or miracles.

This review is based on an unabridged audio recording read by Adam Verner. He did an excellent job of narrating the story although somebody needs to tell him that Robinson Crusoe's last name is not pronounced 'kuh-ROO-sew' .

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements :
• 5 Stars - Nothing at all. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
• 4 Stars - It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it's pretty good as it is.
• 3 Stars - A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered good or memorable.
• 2 Stars - This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
• 1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.