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Father Dark


I want to be fair here. I know things are not always as simple as they seem.

But I want to be fair. Most things are not as complicated as we make them out to be.

I received a book from my friends at SpeakEasy blogging. They often have books that stretch me. To be honest, I disagree with much of their theology, and Father Dark by Steven L. Case was no different.

This novel centers around a dark angel. Only because I dislike spoilers will I not go into more details about how far off track I think this book goes.

If this were all that bothered me about this book, I could look past it. After all, fiction can be fun. But....

This book has profanity. Not just the one or two examples used by some authors to show they are relevant or cool, or whatever reason Christian authors choose to grab low hanging fruit.

This book has a lot of profanity. Much of it appears to have no purpose except to remind you the author knows profanity. For those who haven't heard me rant about profanity in books, let me begin by saying I agree with whomever it is who said that profanity shows a lack of vocabulary and creativity.

And let me conclude that I do not think it adds anything to the story, does not make characters seem grittier or more like real life.

What bothers me the most is where this book came from. I first agreed to review the book because I recognized the author's name as someone from the youth ministry world. Steven Case has written several youth ministry ideas books. Writing a novel this vulgar does not, obviously, make those ideas less usable. But I do have to wonder about how he interacts with teenagers.

Because what we believe has a way of showing up in how we live. Even when we're writing fiction.
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