Book Review: "Bo's Cafe" by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and John Lynch

High-powered executive Steven Kerner is living the dream in southern California. But when his bottled pain ignites in anger one night, his wife kicks him out. Then an eccentric mystery man named Andy Monroe befriends Steven and begins unravelling his tightly wound world. Andy leads Steven through a series of frustrating and revealing encounters to repair his life through genuine friendship and the grace and love of a God who has been waiting for him to accept it. A story to challenge and encourage, BO'S CAFE is a model for all who struggle with unresolved problems and a performance-based life. Those who desire a fuller, more authentic way of living will find this journey of healing a restorative exploration of God's unbridled grace.

This story is very different to read. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading. Steven isn't exactly a likable character. He has a lot of faults, some he will readily admit, others he doesn't seem to notice that he has. In situations with his family, I especially felt for his wife and daughter and understand their reactions to him. As for Andy, to me it felt like he was a guardian angel who appeared out of nowhere, who always had the right things to say. His character is never really fully developed in my opinion so I didn't feel as if I really got to know him. Steven seems to grow throughout the book as he learns from Andy's teachings and his own spiritual walk, but then he stumbles. It's refreshing though because it shows an imperfect character.

Multi author books have always been a curiosity with me especially when there are more than two authors. I'm always not really sure why three or more authors are needed to write a simple book. It can be good and sometimes it can lead to disastrous results. I would have to say for the most part it worked well for this book. I say for the most part because while the story was able to flow fluidly for most of the book, there were times where you could tell it was written by a different author. This would mainly happen when a character would go off in a long speech. It would start to sound a bit preachy and almost as if I was listening to a sermon which I have never been fond of in a book. During these scenes, I felt like skimming over because I don't like being preached at while I was reading. The story scenes were fine, I just felt that these long monologues could have been handled differently. Overall, it's an interesting story. It's one to think about long after you've finished reading. I wouldn't classify this as the next Shack, but it does good at making one ponder about their life.

Bo's Cafe by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNall and John Lynch is published by Windblown Media (2009)