Into the Fire

The Familiar Stranger by Christina Berry, published by Moody Publishers, is the current featured novel for the CFBA Weekend Blog Tour. Difficult to categorize as far as its genre, The Familiar Stranger falls somewhere between mild suspense and women’s fiction, although esteemed male authors such as James Scott Bell and Randy Ingermanson wrote compelling endorsements for Christina’s first novel.

This is a tough one to review because at any point I risk giving the reader a “spoiler”, and I don’t want to do that. So to begin I will start with how the story is told. In chapters labeled “His” and “Hers” the reader is introduced to Craig Littleton and his wife Denise. From their first person points of view we quickly realize their marital situation is on the skids, and Craig intends to do his version of a remedy. The couple has two sons, the oldest on the verge of turning 16. We assume the 46 year old affluent dentist is leaving his wife for another woman and has calculated a plan he thinks is foolproof.

Craig tells his wife he’s skipping church to go hiking at the Columbia River Gorge, and we are able to follow him in detail part of the way. Next thing we know Denise forgets to silence her cell phone in church and hurries out of the sanctuary to answer the call which tells her Craig has been in a serious car accident. After her best friend drives her and the boys to the hospital, she learns another man was present with her husband and killed at the scene. The attending doctor relays what little information he has and informs her that Craig has been put into a coma to alleviate the pain.

From this moment on their family life changes dramatically. When Craig emerges from the coma, he remembers nothing of his family or his dental practice or his secret life and plans. Craig and the other man at the scene were in an apparent argument by the side of the road when another car hit Craig’s vehicle, but being given this information rings no bells in his blacked-out memory.

Aside from the familiar plotline, the primary weakness in this story for me is Denise. She’s as flighty as a flag in a hurricane and sometimes she’s just plain annoying. This presents a problem when trying to make her the sympathetic character with whom the reader needs to identify and commiserate. Sometimes quite frankly I understand why Craig wanted to take a hike, if you get my drift, not in any way excusing his ugly and hypocritical, cold and calculating ways. Here’s the thing for me: some women are remarkably naïve and quick to judge instead of looking inward to examine their contributions to lack of marital bliss. Whether or not fault can be found, no one is excused for breaking his/her vows to another. In addition to that no one is excused for not forgiving either.

This story has been done in multiple ways multiple times. Christina’s take on it isn’t unique, but I’m quite sure it will garner a certain audience such as those readers who enjoy Karen Kingsbury’s novels (one of which is quite similar in plotline to this one) and that’s no small audience.

Father, continue to provide stories and blessing for Christina as she strives to honor you with her efforts in writing and in her life. Encourage her as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.