Into the Fire

Among the many endorsements for Jim Rubart’s debut novel Rooms, published by B&H’s Pure Enjoyment Fiction, is this comparison noted by Robert Liparulo: “Part The Screwtape Letters, part The Shack”. I would probably compare the novel to Randy Alcorn’s Edge of Eternity and The Shack.

The thought-provoking story gives us Micah Taylor (the combined names of Jim’s two sons), the young and cocky, wealthy Seattle computer software entrepreneur who with partner, and now love interest, Julie, owns and operates RimSoft and shucks and jives with the wealthy jetsetters of the world. When Micah receives an unexpected letter explaining the death of a distant uncle, Micah learns he’s inherited a house in Cannon Beach, the location of a horrific memory and tragedy for Micah. He can’t figure out why this uncle would leave him anything, let alone a house.

When he musters the courage to examine the house, convinced he will sell it and dreading his return to the city of the tragedy, the trip puts a slight wrench in his plans with Julie. Little does he know what he’ll encounter when he walks inside the exquisite home left to him by his strange Uncle Archie. It fits him perfectly, drawing him into its ambiance with an enormous familiarity he can’t believe.

The story describes the journey, the fight, the seeking, the ignoring, the confusion, the pain, and the battle involved in restoring Micah’s soul. It demonstrates the difficulty of the “rich man” getting into the kingdom of heaven. The house of many rooms captures Micah’s heart and soul and twists and turns it, exposing his struggles and weaknesses, his desires and failures, while letters from his dead Uncle Archie keep him pursuing answers and a more meaningful life. He learns to count the cost of each of his decisions and whose voice really matters in his life. He discerns the value of genuine friendship and true love. The question always gnawing at him is how much can he have of the two worlds he shares without sacrificing either one. Meanwhile, time shifts, memories fade and reoccur, people come and go and take on different roles, and what and who he is, what he owns and his position in life, experience hiccups and holidays leaving him in a bizarre and constantly changing frame of mind and existence.

Genre-wise this is supernatural speculative fiction without really feeling too speculative.

Jim Rubart owns and operates Barefoot Marketing, is a gifted and entertaining speaker, and is one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. He claims he wrote this story as much for himself as for readers, suggesting Micah Taylor lives in all of us.

Writing-wise, Rooms is straightforward, but I know some of you will absolutely not believe I’m saying this: it’s a bit too long for me. It’s got that first novel feel to it, does get a little preachy (which many of us do with our first novels), uses several well-worn clichés, and after a few too many instances of Micah’s zigzagging faith, I got a little fatigued with him. The strength of Jim’s efforts was to take an unlikable Micah Taylor and quickly allow us into his pain in order to generate sympathy. It works to a point, but, as I mentioned, I tired of his inabilities to grab hold of the deceptions after experiencing some real progress in his faith journey. Probably the most meaningful scene for me came toward the end with the farewells between Micah and his “friend” Rick. Jim has the skills to improve and he’s well on his way to writing more novels with his second one, Book of Days, to release in January 2011 also from B&H. Don’t be surprised to find several copy-editing errors in this book. A solid effort for a debut novel. Jim's well on his way.

You can learn more about Jim Rubart here: http://www.jimrubart.com/index.html.

Father, you know Jim’s heart and soul. You know how he works to honor you in his family, in his business, and in his writing. I pray for many continued blessings upon him and his family. Lead in him in your ways everlasting. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.