The Wonder Of All Things
Jason Mott
Harlequin MIRA, Sep 30 2014, $24.95
ISBN: 9780778316527
At the Fall Festival in Stone
Temple, North Carolina, former resident Matt Cooper entertains the locals with
flying stunts when his plane sputters and crashes. Cooper dies, but the crowd miraculously
survives. Sheriff Macon Campbell finds
his thirteen year old daughter Ava and her BFF Wash trapped under rubble. Ava touches Wash’s severe wounds and a second
miracle occurs when the teen heals instantly while someone records the event on
a cell phone.
The recording goes viral leading to
hordes arriving in Stone Temple to glimpse the “Miracle Child” or obtain a
cure. However, the physical cost to Ava
begins to appear as each miracle weakens her until she is hospitalized. Trying to avoid any more damage to her body,
Ava soon has a Hobson’s choice when Wash learns he has leukemia.
Once again dealing with the impact of
divine miracles on a small-town (see The Returned, the basis for the Resurrection television
series), Jason Mott provides a poignant novel that looks deeply into the responsibilities
towards others and the rights of one vs. the needs of the many. The sidebar focus on the woes of support
characters detracts from the otherwise fabulous storyline; as Ava is a great
protagonist who wants to do the right thing to help those suffering especially
her Wash; but the cost she pays for being the Good Samaritan increasingly seems
to be her life.
Harriet Klausner
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