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The Blindsided Prophet
“Daughter, you have given birth to a child who will see many things beyond what the rest of us see."
1980. Coffee, Georgia. A mass killing in a church claims the lives of twelve people.
Isaiah Brown, a fourteen-year-old prophet, fails to predict the massacre, in which his mother and grandfather die.
After the killings, a blind and traumatized Isaiah flees the scene, disappearing into the woods.
Fifteen years later, at God's bidding, and able to see again in all senses, Isaiah returns to Coffee, to make reparation and free himself from his past.
There, he finds the people of Coffee on the brink of an even worse trauma than that experienced in 1980. Can Isaiah discover what was behind the original tragedy, and why he didn't foresee the event? Will he be able to prevent another impending tragedy? Or will he be blindsided by his love for one woman?
The Blindsided Prophet explores man's relationship with God and its effect on daily living. The novel examines beliefs and values at the deepest level, as well as how they shape our thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
1980. Coffee, Georgia. A mass killing in a church claims the lives of twelve people.
Isaiah Brown, a fourteen-year-old prophet, fails to predict the massacre, in which his mother and grandfather die.
After the killings, a blind and traumatized Isaiah flees the scene, disappearing into the woods.
Fifteen years later, at God's bidding, and able to see again in all senses, Isaiah returns to Coffee, to make reparation and free himself from his past.
There, he finds the people of Coffee on the brink of an even worse trauma than that experienced in 1980. Can Isaiah discover what was behind the original tragedy, and why he didn't foresee the event? Will he be able to prevent another impending tragedy? Or will he be blindsided by his love for one woman?
The Blindsided Prophet explores man's relationship with God and its effect on daily living. The novel examines beliefs and values at the deepest level, as well as how they shape our thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
384 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2013
292 people want to read
About the author
Sonja Lewis
5 books8 followersSonja Lewis is a former newspaper journalist for The Albany Herald, Georgia USA. Now living in London, she is a full time writer and has published two novels, The Barrenness and The Blindsided Prophet and a collection of short stories, The Seasons.
The Barrenness was incredibly well received, appearing in The Voice and WM Magazine in the UK, and in US national media including CNN, Black Enterprise and The Tom Joyner Morning Show along with a host of regional media in the US and Canada.
She blogs at sonjalewis.com and also for the Huffington Post UK and most recently founded the podcast for teenage girls, UIO: You Inside Out.
When she moved to London twenty years ago, she set up and managed a successful communications consultancy. Clients included The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and The Royal National Institute for the Blind.
Also, she was a freelance writer for The Guardian and received her MA in journalism from the University of Westminster.
The Barrenness was incredibly well received, appearing in The Voice and WM Magazine in the UK, and in US national media including CNN, Black Enterprise and The Tom Joyner Morning Show along with a host of regional media in the US and Canada.
She blogs at sonjalewis.com and also for the Huffington Post UK and most recently founded the podcast for teenage girls, UIO: You Inside Out.
When she moved to London twenty years ago, she set up and managed a successful communications consultancy. Clients included The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and The Royal National Institute for the Blind.
Also, she was a freelance writer for The Guardian and received her MA in journalism from the University of Westminster.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 7, 2013
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I'm afraid I couldn't quite give this book four stars. Although there were things I liked about this book, there were some things I wasn't quite keen on.
The characters in the book were mostly interesting, but there was a lot of hypocrisy going on - not to mention how judgmental some of the characters were. I think the author did a good job of showing the vices and weaknesses of people - I just didn't really like most of them.
I also thought that the author did a good job of showing the racial tensions between the people living in Coffee. It was really interesting how everything all fit together, but the constant flashbacks to the past and POV changes made it somewhat difficult to read the book and made me a bit dizzy.
I thought that Isaiah's true parentage was quite interesting when it was revealed. I did also like Isaiah as a character and his visions and ability to see things about people. His struggle with his faith and the distractions that came between him and God were fairly interesting.
I couldn't quite get my head round Isaiah's relationship with Lucky... if it could be called a relationship. Although he apparently connected to her in his dreams, there wasn't enough interaction between them for me to believe it when Isaiah told her he loved her.
I liked how things ended up with Sedric and Zelda - and it was nice to see how things were going with Mae and her husband, even though Mae wasn't always a likable person. I did think, however, that at the end, things were solved a bit too conveniently - and some of them glossed over when it would have been interesting to see the dreams they had. (Though I do also think that it was strange how all of the characters just trusted the dreams and didn't seem to doubt they were real even for a moment).
I think I would be interested in eventually reading a sequel to this book, especially if it has Isaiah's relationship forming with his new brother.
(This review may contain spoilers).
I'm afraid I couldn't quite give this book four stars. Although there were things I liked about this book, there were some things I wasn't quite keen on.
The characters in the book were mostly interesting, but there was a lot of hypocrisy going on - not to mention how judgmental some of the characters were. I think the author did a good job of showing the vices and weaknesses of people - I just didn't really like most of them.
I also thought that the author did a good job of showing the racial tensions between the people living in Coffee. It was really interesting how everything all fit together, but the constant flashbacks to the past and POV changes made it somewhat difficult to read the book and made me a bit dizzy.
I thought that Isaiah's true parentage was quite interesting when it was revealed. I did also like Isaiah as a character and his visions and ability to see things about people. His struggle with his faith and the distractions that came between him and God were fairly interesting.
I couldn't quite get my head round Isaiah's relationship with Lucky... if it could be called a relationship. Although he apparently connected to her in his dreams, there wasn't enough interaction between them for me to believe it when Isaiah told her he loved her.
I liked how things ended up with Sedric and Zelda - and it was nice to see how things were going with Mae and her husband, even though Mae wasn't always a likable person. I did think, however, that at the end, things were solved a bit too conveniently - and some of them glossed over when it would have been interesting to see the dreams they had. (Though I do also think that it was strange how all of the characters just trusted the dreams and didn't seem to doubt they were real even for a moment).
I think I would be interested in eventually reading a sequel to this book, especially if it has Isaiah's relationship forming with his new brother.
February 11, 2014
Isaiah Brown was born with the gift to see into a person's future, for this he was viewed as a Prophet. Many neighbors of Coffee, Georgia was spared negative occurance in their lives if they took heed to what Isaiah Brown foretold them.
In 1980, some church folks was in attendance for the Easter service. Isaiah's grandfather was preaching when the doors of the church swung opened and sounds of a machine gun begin spraying across bodies hitting almost everyone in attendance. Isaiah escaped, later found, and taken away from Coffee, Georgia.
Now, its 15 years later and Isiah Brown returns to his hometown. A strong dislike has seeped into the hearts of many residents. They struggled to understand why Isaiah had not foreseen that tragic event. Why had he not saved his grandfather and his own mother from being killed that Easter day. Unbeknownst to them, Isaiah Brown also struggled for years from that same question.
Isaiah has returned with the hope of discovering the truth behind that tragic day and to make reparation. He also discovers love and a forbidden love affair.
My review: This novel was a darn good read. I was submerged into the town as a resident myself. I could feel Isaiah's pain and wondered how he was so patient.. Each character was real to me as I witnessed characteristics of sympathy, sarcasm, challenging,sad and critical tones. Their lives was a great fit to the story line. The continual transition from Isaiah's childhood to the current year of 1980 was satisfactory. My reading pace was moderate, enjoying page by page. I believe the complex of conflicts was average except that of the protagonist, Isaiah Browns and this is perhaps where the story line took a twist for me only because me and the author's individual religious beliefs differ. I did not allow that to affect how i felt about the story line. I recommend this book and it sits on my reading shelf as a darn good read rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.
In 1980, some church folks was in attendance for the Easter service. Isaiah's grandfather was preaching when the doors of the church swung opened and sounds of a machine gun begin spraying across bodies hitting almost everyone in attendance. Isaiah escaped, later found, and taken away from Coffee, Georgia.
Now, its 15 years later and Isiah Brown returns to his hometown. A strong dislike has seeped into the hearts of many residents. They struggled to understand why Isaiah had not foreseen that tragic event. Why had he not saved his grandfather and his own mother from being killed that Easter day. Unbeknownst to them, Isaiah Brown also struggled for years from that same question.
Isaiah has returned with the hope of discovering the truth behind that tragic day and to make reparation. He also discovers love and a forbidden love affair.
My review: This novel was a darn good read. I was submerged into the town as a resident myself. I could feel Isaiah's pain and wondered how he was so patient.. Each character was real to me as I witnessed characteristics of sympathy, sarcasm, challenging,sad and critical tones. Their lives was a great fit to the story line. The continual transition from Isaiah's childhood to the current year of 1980 was satisfactory. My reading pace was moderate, enjoying page by page. I believe the complex of conflicts was average except that of the protagonist, Isaiah Browns and this is perhaps where the story line took a twist for me only because me and the author's individual religious beliefs differ. I did not allow that to affect how i felt about the story line. I recommend this book and it sits on my reading shelf as a darn good read rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.
October 11, 2013
In the early 60's when blacks are still essentially thought of as slaves a mixed race boy is born to an unwed mother. That boy, Isaiah Brown, becomes known as the prophet because he can see the future. When a man-made tragedy befalls his grandfather's church and Isaiah's mother and grandfather are both killed, and Isaiah accidentally blinded, he is swept away by a family friend to rest and recuperate from his losses. Everyone in the tiny community of Coffee is then left to wonder why Isaiah did not predict and prevent the tragedy that so adversely affected them all.
Years later, as a young adult, Isaiah returns to Coffee to try to reconcile his past and help the people of Coffee return to their belief in God. As he once again becomes the trusted prophet people respond and back away from their sinful ways. However, Isaiah is only human and makes a huge mistake, at least in the eyes of his followers, who are not beyond sin themselves, and the old sinful Coffee returns as hate grows for their once loved Pastor. Isaiah, the man they put on a pedestal and thought of as God, not the voice of God, must understand his own mistakes before he can help the residents of Coffee free themselves to return to the real God.
This is an interesting story and well written. I was intrigued from the very beginning but it did not blast me out of the water like a 5 star book would have done. I couldn't give it 4 stars because I am not fond of flashback stories which this one often is but it does need the flashbacks to explain how the characters reached their various levels of sinfulness and hypocrisy. Often I find flashback stories confusing but this one wasn't too bad in that respect.
Reader Beware: There is a great deal of sex and abuse in this book. If you are sensitive to that you may not want to read it.
Years later, as a young adult, Isaiah returns to Coffee to try to reconcile his past and help the people of Coffee return to their belief in God. As he once again becomes the trusted prophet people respond and back away from their sinful ways. However, Isaiah is only human and makes a huge mistake, at least in the eyes of his followers, who are not beyond sin themselves, and the old sinful Coffee returns as hate grows for their once loved Pastor. Isaiah, the man they put on a pedestal and thought of as God, not the voice of God, must understand his own mistakes before he can help the residents of Coffee free themselves to return to the real God.
This is an interesting story and well written. I was intrigued from the very beginning but it did not blast me out of the water like a 5 star book would have done. I couldn't give it 4 stars because I am not fond of flashback stories which this one often is but it does need the flashbacks to explain how the characters reached their various levels of sinfulness and hypocrisy. Often I find flashback stories confusing but this one wasn't too bad in that respect.
Reader Beware: There is a great deal of sex and abuse in this book. If you are sensitive to that you may not want to read it.
February 4, 2014
**contains spoilers**
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This book started out beautifully. The story of Isaiah the prophet is wonderful, and interesting to the point where I didn't want to put the book down at all. However, the romantic element between Isaiah and Lucky (and even Deb) was really superfluous and, honestly, it detracted quite a bit from the overall story. I understand that the plot required Isaiah to sleep with Lucky in order for the town to have a large enough reason to fall out with the prophet, but I really, really wish the author had come up with a different inciting incident because honestly, the romance just did not fit with the rest of the story or with Isaiah's character traits in the rest of the novel. The whole Lucky/Isaiah thing really turned me off the book. However, the ending was quite nice. I like the way everything was tied up, and I really enjoyed the way Isaiah made contact with his congregation through their dreams. I thought that was a very nice touch. So, in other words, I really loved the beginning and the end of the book. It was just the middle that I really did not think very much of...
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This book started out beautifully. The story of Isaiah the prophet is wonderful, and interesting to the point where I didn't want to put the book down at all. However, the romantic element between Isaiah and Lucky (and even Deb) was really superfluous and, honestly, it detracted quite a bit from the overall story. I understand that the plot required Isaiah to sleep with Lucky in order for the town to have a large enough reason to fall out with the prophet, but I really, really wish the author had come up with a different inciting incident because honestly, the romance just did not fit with the rest of the story or with Isaiah's character traits in the rest of the novel. The whole Lucky/Isaiah thing really turned me off the book. However, the ending was quite nice. I like the way everything was tied up, and I really enjoyed the way Isaiah made contact with his congregation through their dreams. I thought that was a very nice touch. So, in other words, I really loved the beginning and the end of the book. It was just the middle that I really did not think very much of...
January 17, 2014
I received this book through first reads giveaways, and wow. What a harrowing tale of racial injustice, faith, abuse, and just how awful people can be when what they believe in is shattered. I really enjoyed this book... really. The only problem I had with it was that sometimes the flashback scenes seem a little disjointed and hard to follow. Otherwise, definitely worth all four stars.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews