The Prodigal Husband: Book Review

The Prodigal Husband is about Tori and Jake and what happens when their 15-month-old daughter is killed in a car wreck. Jake runs away and disappears for a year, thinking it's all his fault. The reader finds out that it is partially both their fault and then not their fault at all. Let me explain, as an inspirational (Christian) fiction book, the main focus is that everything is in God's control and that we should be forgiving of others as indicated by the title. In the parable told by Jesus in the Bible, the prodigal son asked for his inheritance early, went out and spent it up partying and such until he was destitute. Poor and ashamed, the son returns home hoping that his father will at least give him a job. However, when the father sees the son, he welcomes him with open arms and holds a celebration, giving the son back his status in the family.
Well, Tori doesn't exactly welcome Jake back with open arms. In the first place, Tori found Jake in bed with his business partner Sheila. So Tori takes her daughter and goes to her mother's house. Jake goes there and demands they come home. When Tori refuses, Jake takes his little girl and leaves. Shortly after, they are in a car wreck where the girl dies. Jake blames himself and leaves and doesn't contact anyone except Sheila for a whole year. When Tori has just about given up on Jake returning, cuts her hair, gets a new wardrobe and plans to go file for divorce, here comes Jake. As Tori and Jake try to mend their marriage, many things surface to try to keep them apart, namely Sheila who is "in love" with Jake.
I talked back to this book the entire time I was reading it. Some of the stuff going on was just not plausible. All I have to say is that these are some real Christians in this book because some of the dirt that Sheila was doing should've got her at least a slap across the face. But no, there is no slapping, just strong words. And if Jake was not as thick as a tree trunk, I don't know who is. He could not be persuaded that Sheila had any ulterior motives and that she was just a good friend. I would have left Jake's dense and possessive @$$. Sheila was not a real villain either. She was more like comic relief. Her poorly thought out ploys to break up Jake and Tori were pathetic. The subplot between Tori's cousin Charlene and Jake's brother Shepherd was just foolish. The author built up a conflict between Charlene and Shepherd which ended up falling flat for me.
The writing was ok, not very involving because I kept coming out of the story to yell at the characters. Also, it was filled with African-American history of the Carolinas that seemed forced and out of place.
The author started out with some good drama but didn't follow through. I haven't read much Inspirational fiction, but this didn't have much in the way of conflict. The characters obviously loved each other and it was just a matter of time for them to get back together. I mainly forced my why through it to see how they did it.
Rating: 3/5