Saving Faith

Saving Faith
Patrick M. Garry
Kenric Books
Eagan, MN
ISBN: 978-0-9833703-1-4
2013
$ 17.95
304 pages

"You know what I wish?" she sobbed. "I wish you could repossess my past."

Wouldn't that be a great thing? To allow the guilt of your past to be taken away?

Jack grew up in an orphanage. No one had ever adopted him since much of his childhood was in a hospital bed equipped with an oxygen tent. The sisters at the school had arranged for him to find work. His job as a repossessor, one who takes back the possession of used cars from those you cannot pay, was not glamorous, but he actually enjoyed it and had pride in doing his job well.

One mistake changes Jack's life. He repossesses the wrong car. When he realizes his problem, Jack searches out the owner of the green Saturn to explain the situation and to offer his assistance in making this right.

Ev Sorin, the car owner, doesn't get mad but just accepts his situation while Jack works to return his vehicle. Ev has problems of his own from losing his reputation as a top journalist, now finding meaningful employment as a reporter seems impossible. He just doesn't care about anything.

While at the courthouse officially to release the impounded car, Jack and Ev wander into a courtroom and both are fascinated about what they are hearing. An unusual case is before the judge where a nurse and a young woman want to be responsible for a comatose patient, Faith. The hospital is closing and Faith is on life support. To move her to another facility means that she must be off life support likely causing her death. Why are these women fighting for Faith? Simply, because no one else will.

When this woman was discovered near death years ago, she had no identification on her. There were no inquiries into a missing woman that matched her description. After a time, both women became involved with caring for her and named her Faith Powers. With this facility closing, what choices do they have? Should they just quietly sit by and watch as life support is removed? What is the right thing to do?

SAVING FAITH is about doing the right thing while questioning our choices. There are not always easy and obvious answers. The perspective of success and life is strictly up to the individual.

With Jack's childhood in the orphanage, he witnessed many children ecstatic when adopted but also their immense disappointment when they were often returned, rejected back to the orphanage. Jack figured that he was fortunate since no one wanted a sickly child who needed an oxygen tent for survival, so that he had no expectations of happily ever after and didn't suffer the rejections of life.

SAVING FAITH is a well-planned story with the mystery of Faith's identity as well as a drive-by shooting situation while all the characters seem to be in need of someone saving each of them. Dealing with people and relationships is difficult and doesn't always follow the path we want. Faith, even though comatose, is the one thing that these characters have in common. They each independently make their own choices while each attempting to save her. In doing this, each of them learns a little more about themselves, their friends and families, and life.

Author, Patrick Garry has won numerous awards for his previous novels which all effectively demonstrate the conflicts with ethics and morals in daily life. He currently teaches at the University of South Dakota.

SAVING FAITH has already won the best novel in both the Mystery and the General Fiction categories for the Global Book Contest. SAVING FAITH will leave you questioning your own choices, hopefully, from a different and enlightened perspective.