Patricia S. Cook

The Lamb

Fiction

“Set during Elijah’s lifetime in the Old Testament, this book reveals the core of gospel truth. Nathaniel and his lamb, Shalom, remind me of Jody and his deer, Flag, in The Yearling. But the maturation of Nathaniel simultaneously involves both the heartbreaking realization that human wrong always causes suffering and also costs sacrificial love. The interwoven plot holds our attention because we care about each character introduced and long for justice ‘in the land of the living.’ While we experience the latter, this is not a sentimental story. It looks at darkest reality found in a form of worship that involves sexual abuse. . . . A father will try to force his daughter to marry a man she does not trust. A fearful, pregnant runaway withholds a secret. And fire will fall from heaven.”