Book Reviews (XII)

 Book review: The Village of God by Frederick E. Hosen


Book Description:

A village appears where only days before there had been uninhabited rain forest.

When the village's existence comes to the attention of two Christian missionary organizations, one Protestant and the other Catholic, both send missionaries intent on convincing the villagers to attend their churches. And the battle for salvation ensues.
 
What are the missionaries willing to do to win the "war?" And is there something they don't know about the villagers that could scuttle their efforts?
 
Find out in The Village of God.

MY REVIEW

I started reading The Village of God having no idea what to expect. Utilizing religion as a vehicle, the author, Fred Hosen, builds an interesting world populated by interesting characters. This is what I enjoyed most, the portrayal of the main characters. So vivid, they simply caught life in my mind's eye. On the one hand we have Wilber Wellborn Wellington IV the director whose decisions, right or wrong (especially wrong), could  not be traced to him.  Quite a character. The head of Society is a man who is not a stranger to human faults: he had experimented with smoking; had, in his earlier days, been enamored with pornography and that even now he had to avoid newsstands that sold girlie magazines. Also, there was an inclination to shoplift.

On the other hand, we have John and Sally, the subordinates, the boots on the ground. People committed to doing the Lord’s work. John had begun his working life as an accountant with the Federal government. Later, after meeting Sally, they both left behind the accounting of dollars for the accounting of souls. John and Sally are reluctant to abandon the mission they are carrying out in Panama, but have at last to obey the orders and go to another location.

As the introduction states, The Village of God is a story of competition and cooperation and its added value, and finally, the fraternity of mankind. The discovery of a tribe of natives in the Amazon rainforests triggers this competition between different branches of missionaries who can't skip the opportunity to gain more followers. Unaware of the others' similar intention, the missionaries reach the location of the tribe on the same day. I loved the way the author builds the interaction between the two groups of missionaries and also between the missionaries and the natives. And I liked the fraternity attitude the missionaries display. I wish it were like this in real life.

But I don't want to reveal the story as I myself hate spoilers. The Village of God is an interesting read.

Disclosure. I was offered a copy of the book, by the author, in exchange for an honest opinion.

My rating: 4 stars