Review: Music, Biblical allegory, and a beautifully healing family drama
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2012
C.S. Lakin sets each chapter of her novel Intended for Harm to popular music and lyrics from the 1970s onward, making the story sing. A modern-day allegory of the Biblical tale of Jacob, the writing is beautifully musical and the characters are depicted with depth and honesty.This isn't just a retelling of the Biblical tale. Events are changed and the setting is very real. from rural Colorado to inner-city Los Angeles. Jake/Jacob is a pleasant young man who readers will long to save as his trials increase. When reminders of the Biblical story appear, they lend a sense of direction and hope, lifting the novel above the family's struggles into the realms of possible redemption.Touches of magic in the person of Joseph, the perfect son, blend with sincere faith and longing in the prayers of Rachel for her spouse. The story includes several discussions on the nature of faith and God but they never feel long or preachy or out of place because the characters have already become so real.With the Biblical tale foreshadowing disaster, and Biblical faith foreshadowing hope, C.S. Lakin's novel blends religion and reality, sin and forgiveness, mistakes and healing, into a thoroughly human and pleasing novel of redemption and trust where even those named for the greatest of believersstill  have much to learn.Disclosure: I was lucky enough to find a free ecopy of this novel. It's one I'd definitely consider buying in paperback to share with friends and family.