The winner of the 2006 Best New Canadian Christian Author Award. No matter how far you run, God will find you. No matter how bad you’ve been, God will forgive you. Alex Donnelly is running and trying to hide. He has picked a good place to do it – The Yukon – but he is pursued by friends, enemies, and most effectively, by God. Burning with the need to know about his parents, Alex returns to his … birth-city, Seattle, where he discovers that his mother tried to abort him. The trauma sends him on the run again only to find out God has orchestrated a divine appointment for him back in the Yukon. The story is filled with miraculous healing, struggles with rage and an obsession with revenge for a childhood abuser. This story illustrates that God never gives up on those whom He has chosen. God’s mercy and grace extend even to those who consider themselves unworthy, and even more, to those who are considered unworthy in the eyes of the world.
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Marcia Laycock does a brilliant job with a difficult subject – abuse in the welfare system. Howeer, that is just the back drop as the story reveals inch by inch how God gently brings a young man to faith and forgiveness. One Smooth Stone pulls the curtain away to watch the Spirit’s work, not lifting the character out of his difficulties, but giving him strength to get through them.
The story is rich in accurate details that thoroughly immerse the reader into the unique setting of the wild Yukon territory, where I could feel the ice crystals and the loneliness as Alex tries to hide from his past and find peace, a place that serves as a grand metaphor for each soul who resists the loving call of God. I finished this book within 24 hours, deeply touched and grateful it came to my attention.
This is one of the best Christian contemporary novels I’ve read this year. There are spiritual themes throughout; amongst the strongest is healing from and forgiving what seems unforgiveable. The characters are so real, their joys, rages, and griefs so powerful that I felt the struggles depicted against the beauty of Puget Sound and raw wilderness of the Yukon.
Alex Donnelly is a loner. On the run since age 15, he trusts nobody, now eking out a living in the bitter cold of the Yukon. His parents died when he was a baby, and his adoptive parents died when he was five. He was in the foster care system until he ran away for good. There is now a price on his head, so he lives “off the grid” where only the strong and hard-working survive.
Kenni Adams is good at what she does. She is a researcher, seeking people via the internet for the purposes of the law firm her father is a partner in. George Bronski is the attorney for this case, to finish the trust available now to Alex as he turns 21. Inspector Sam Sorensen is also looking for Alex. Sam believes, based on what a foster parent said six years earlier, that Alex sexually abused a young girl at the same foster home. Sam is ready to retire, and wants Alex caught before his retirement party. Unfortunately, Kenni’s search provides the impetus to bring Alex back onto the radar of the RCMP.
Alex’ birth parents had left a large sum of money in trust for him, and it is up to the attorney to find proof that he is the right Alex. It is the hardest search that Kenni has worked on and she looks forward to meeting him. Alex doesn’t feel comfortable in civilization again, especially when invited to spend a weekend with George, Kenni, her father Drew, and mom Maria, since it will be a few days before they can prove from baby footprints who he is.
These lines resonate in the heart of this reader, and shows the depth of understanding of her characters this author has. Chapter 5, location 749: “Alex felt like he was walking onto a movie set. And he was the only prop that didn’t fit.” Location: 785 “…Alex again found himself feeling like a cracked mug in a cabinet full of expensive china.”
Alex doesn’t much want anything to do with the Lord. Drew is the first to penetrate his defenses, but their time together is short and Alex needs intensive care. A man of prayer, Drew uses this most powerful tool. Especially when Alex learns that his parents had tried to abort him and the doctor failed to do so.
This might be a tough read for those sensitive to child abuse; the author doesn’t share details, only writing what is essential to the story. The abuse opens the door for others who are childhood recipients of abuse to identify with the characters and see what is possible for them to achieve.
The plot is well-planned and executed, with various twists and turns. The characters fit well together and were fully defined. I was pulled into Alex’s world from the first sentence and stayed there throughout his challenges in Seattle and the Yukon. This reader was very satisfied with the novel overall. I highly recommend One Smooth Stone; it is a compelling Christian novel with sufficient suspense and drama to keep the momentum.
From a grateful heart: I was given this eBook by Book Fun (The Book Club Network) and here is my honest review.