Review: Great Story with an Excellent Message
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2012
Adrian Colfax has lived a very long, empty life filled with anger and bitterness.  Now eighty-six years old and suffering from dementia, Adrian is visited by Thomas Constant (time personified).  He's given the choice to relive any seven hours of his life or have his life extended by seven hours.  Though mentally unstable, Adrian makes the decision to revisit the day he lost the love of his life, Katie.  However, given his mental issues and the number of years he has to travel back in time, there is no guarantee he'll remember any details of his life, much less the reason he's returning.  When he awakes 63 years earlier, at the age of 24, all he remembers is a string of numbers, but has no idea what they mean.  Will Adrian be able to remember his purpose before his seven hours expire?Recollection is a little different than the other books in the 7 Hours series.  It's the first one that really deals with the issue of how the character's choices affect more than just themselves.  I was hoping that one of the novellas in this series would take up this issue and am so glad Pawlik chose to take a hard look at how a person's misplaced desire to change the past can have far reaching effects on many people's future.The open chapters of this book rely on the `what's going on' story telling device.  While it's executed pretty well, it does continue for a little longer than it should, since I figured out the story's direction well before it was revealed.  I think discerning readers will easily figure it out as well.However, even catching on very quickly to what is going to happen, I very much enjoyed this story.  It toys with the idea of people playing God.  This is one of my favorite themes to explore because it's so easy to fall into the temptation of questioning God's authority.  It's an even more difficult temptation to avoid when tragedy strikes close to home.  My favorite line in this book is, "You [Adrian] got to see firsthand what happens when a mortal plays God."  I've read many books that try to explain why tragedy happens or to defend God.  For the most part, Pawlik avoids this well-traveled path and focuses instead on showing the consequences of human arrogance rather than defending God.I love the interaction between Adrian and Thomas Constant.  Unlike some of the other books in this series, Constant is giving a sympathetic personality.  Instead of being cold and distant, he seems to genuinely try to guide Adrian into making a good choice.  As a result, it makes his character seem a lot less cold and his offer a positive opportunity.I've read hundreds of Christian fiction novels, but this is the first one that I can recall which is somewhat kind to a clairvoyant character.  That's not to say that Pawlik approves or endorses the clairvoyant's skills, but they are not outright condemned or characterized as occult/demonic activity.  It is quite a change and I'm not real sure what to make of it.I very much enjoyed Recollection.  I think Pawlik does a great job of creating a story that brilliantly highlighted his message.  I like the interaction with Thomas as well as bringing in the dimension of the effects on the future by changing the past.  With lots of memorable quotes, Recollection is an excellent story and is well worth the few hours it takes to read.Review title provided courtesy of Tyndale