Blameless
by Thom Lemmons
Published by WaterBrook Press
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Reviewed by Diane Keyes
Thom Lemmons is a good writer. He uses too many metaphors and similes for my taste but some of them are quite lovely--"the day hung low and gray like tattered drapes." The story moves along nicely and if covers sell books, Blameless should do well. The cover is beautiful, made even more meaningful once you read the book.
I've spent much of my life in ministry and I was intrigued by the reference to Job. That said, I wanted to like this book more than I do. To be fair to Mr. Lemmons, I read the book, read the book of Job, then read the book again. However, it just doesn't work for me as "a modern retelling of the biblical story." Job's story is an inundation of catastrophic events--a number nine on the Richter scale. It's filled with drama and angst. Blameless is barely a blip on the screen.
We live in a world where most people get laid off at least once, the majority of people live from paycheck to paycheck and a full third of the population are without health insurance. Therefore, I found it hard to get very concerned about a divorced professor, with a small apartment and no bills, who gets a pink slip and is brought up on ethics charges because he had coffee with one of his students and she kissed him once.
I'm not even sure it works for Joe Barnes, our modern-day Job. Joe is the first to admit that he's still got connections in the publishing industry and he's not likely to starve. The worst fate he and his colleagues can imagine is that Joe might have to put in a term or two as a substitute teacher.
I understand that the story's main connection with the biblical story is the love between Joe and his boss Alexis and its similarity to Job's relationship with God. That analogy doesn't really work for me either.
Joe and Alexis' relationship consists of two meals, a glass of wine and a handful of encounters. This is a not love--not yet. It needs more time--and so does Blameless.
The metaphor would be better served with a longer book and more room for character and plot development. And Thom Lemmons has the talent to write that book.
Armchair Interviews says: Heed this reviewer's comments.