The Midnight Saint by Mitchel Whitington
Published by 23 House on June 3rd 2014
Genres: Fiction, General, Religious
Pages: 174
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
What if you were told that you had only twelve days to live? And what if that pronouncement was not given by a physician or surgeon, but instead by a young woman who claimed to be a divine messenger… and she had a gift to offer? What if you could not ignore her words? Even though your doctor gives you a clean bill of health, and life seems to be going along as smooth as ever, if what she said was correct, then every day, every hour, every second that passed was bringing you closer to your own death. And what if you believed in your heart that every word she said was true? In The Midnight Saint, an ordinary man is faced with extremely extraordinary circumstances, and his world is turned upside-down as his last twelve days tick slowly away…
As a Christian, I’ve never been worried about what would happen to me when I die. I already know the answer to that question.
The book is serious but isn’t a “downer” despite the fact that the topic of the book is death.The main character is Adam, who is contacted by an angel who tells him she will visit for 12 nights and then he will die. The angel (Saint Lucia) grants Adam the gift of being able to ask one question per night about death generally, but not his death specifically. Obviously Adam is confused and frightened, as most people would be if this would actually happen to them. As he starts to think about the life he is living, he realizes that he needs to work on his relationships, especially with God, but also with his wife and daughter.
Because Adam believes he has only 12 days to live, he takes a vacation from work to spend time with his wife and young daughter. He reports to the doctor, but is assured he is in good health. Then, every night for the next 11 days, Adam and his basset hound, Elvis, go into the backyard and ask the angel one question about death. Recalling verses from the Bible, they discuss God and His divine presence and many other topics.
I have to say that I chose to read this book because I thought it was Christian fiction, but as a Christian, I really wasn’t a fan of the mixing of Biblical truths and fantasy such as I feel this book has done. At the very least, on the subject of angels you will not find that the Bible says men and women die and become angels such as this book suggests by providing this angel with a previous life. It also creeped me out a bit that when I searched the author, Mitchel Whitington on the internet, Wikipedia lists him as a paranormal researcher as well as an author (see below).
The story was interesting and easy to read and provided me with a great reminder to live each day to the fullest and to serve God, because we never know when it might be our last day here and our first day to meet Him. The story focuses on how to remember each day is a gift and God truly loves us unconditionally.
From Wikipedia: Mitchel Whitington (born 1959) is an American author and paranormal researcher with a passion for history. Over three decades of his writing career, he has written many articles and books on the subject of the supernatural. Whitington has researched and explored haunted locations across the United States, and claims to have had many encounters with the supernatural.
Whitington lives with his wife and their two basset hounds at The Grove in Jefferson, Texas, which has been called the most haunted home in the entire state, and is open to the public.
Whitington earned a degree from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, in Industrial Engineering with an emphasis in Computing Science, in 1982. He has written over a dozen published books, mostly non-fiction, ranging from the 1990s non-fiction Debunking the Y2K Terrors and Tales to the comic novel Uncle Bubba’s Chicken Wing Fling.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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