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The Book of True Believer
“Life is a marvelous concoction of endings and beginnings laced up in ribbons of fantasy and fairy tale . . .”
It’s been nearly three years since Pentecostal faith healer Jeremiah Promise and secular free-spirit True Believer first met—nearly three years since he laid hands and miraculously cured her of terminal cancer. A lot has happened since then: Jeremiah’s former ministry partner has been imprisoned for fraud, Jeremiah’s reputation has been destroyed, and his faith in God and sense of moral idealism have been shattered.
To True, it seems like supreme destiny when Jeremiah Promise shows up in her small town of Luck, WI, to perform one final healing Crusade before quitting the miracle business for good. True’s total faith in Jeremiah’s divine gifts and her determination to do “something grand” with the rest of her life prove infectious. She quickly inspires Jeremiah to start fresh with a new ministry partner by his side.
Doors miraculously open for them, and all seems right with the world as Jeremiah and True set out to construct a new faith-healing empire. True’s life is finally on the right path . . . or so she thinks. When Jeremiah’s veneer of moral infallibility slowly rolls back to reveal inconsistencies beneath, True discovers that she may have a difficult choice to make between love and integrity.
The Book of True Believer: A political allegory about love, empathy, pain, and power.
It’s been nearly three years since Pentecostal faith healer Jeremiah Promise and secular free-spirit True Believer first met—nearly three years since he laid hands and miraculously cured her of terminal cancer. A lot has happened since then: Jeremiah’s former ministry partner has been imprisoned for fraud, Jeremiah’s reputation has been destroyed, and his faith in God and sense of moral idealism have been shattered.
To True, it seems like supreme destiny when Jeremiah Promise shows up in her small town of Luck, WI, to perform one final healing Crusade before quitting the miracle business for good. True’s total faith in Jeremiah’s divine gifts and her determination to do “something grand” with the rest of her life prove infectious. She quickly inspires Jeremiah to start fresh with a new ministry partner by his side.
Doors miraculously open for them, and all seems right with the world as Jeremiah and True set out to construct a new faith-healing empire. True’s life is finally on the right path . . . or so she thinks. When Jeremiah’s veneer of moral infallibility slowly rolls back to reveal inconsistencies beneath, True discovers that she may have a difficult choice to make between love and integrity.
The Book of True Believer: A political allegory about love, empathy, pain, and power.
- GenresFiction
306 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2020
2 people are currently reading
2480 people want to read
About the author
M. Funk
7 books34 followersM. Funk has always had a fondness for creative expansion, whether it be in the form of multiple college degrees and small businesses or a heap of artistic pursuits. What's a girl to do with an infinite supply of curiosity and an insatiable passion for learning, she wondered? Ah-ha! She could be a writer. She could use her observations and experience to craft stories . . . truth-inspired fictions . . . intertwined tales of interwoven lives rife with morals and musings. And with these stories, she could (she hopes!) reach out into the ether and make contact with like-minded souls.
When she's not busy pondering the meaning of her daily observations, M. Funk lives in Minneapolis, MN and pays regular visits to the captivating raptors that live at the nearby pond.
To learn more about M. Funk's writing universe or delve into the personal details alluded to above, please visit http://MFunkWrites.com.
When she's not busy pondering the meaning of her daily observations, M. Funk lives in Minneapolis, MN and pays regular visits to the captivating raptors that live at the nearby pond.
To learn more about M. Funk's writing universe or delve into the personal details alluded to above, please visit http://MFunkWrites.com.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 20, 2020
As a former high school English teacher, I always read with a pencil in hand, looking for one-liners, insights, and comments on the human condition to highlight that might stimulate discussion. I find that the books that make me stop to not just underline, but also write notes in the margins are the ones I go back to time and again. The best books are the ones that make me turn from the last page right back to the first one and start over again. This book is both. I wrote copious notes, on every page, and I turned back to page one because I knew it was so full of depth I couldn't possibly have captured it all in the first pass.
The Book of True Believer is the story of every Empath. Walking through life with extra sensitivities and a keen eye for observation, the protagonist also wears a pair of rose colored glasses that seeks to find the best and most beautiful in every person and circumstance. Written in journal format, this book details the inside workings of a mind and heart who has not only observed and digested the most precious traits of everyone she's met, but absorbed them and reflected them back to the world.
It's a story of an empath who naively gets herself caught up in a manipulative scheme, and uses her sensitivity to feel her way through a jungle of confusion to find herself wiser, stronger, and a minister for Truth In the end. True deftly extracts the precious gems of wisdom from every moment of her experiences and assimilates them into her being. Like a frog in a gradually boiling pot of water, she slowly discovers the ugliness of the world she's caught in, and yet struggles to climb her way out. This is truly a journey in finding the fullest meaning and purpose in even the worst of circumstances.
MFunk weaves into the fabric of this story beautiful golden threads of insight. I found myself wanting to use as inspirational quotes, written in beautiful poetic prose, to come back to time and again.
"We are a bunch of walking, talking, mirrors that gravitate toward the ones that show us favorable impressions of ourselves and recoil from the ones that expose our shortcomings."
"pure listening is possible only when I empty myself of self and become and open vessel. . . self-consciousness is an obstacle to self-emptying. . . Attention is a precious resource, often in short supply. People want to be seen, heard, and understood. When I meet this demand with my own eyes, ears, and mind, there is no limit to the depth of our connection."
"Anger often presents as a secondary response to another, primary emotion: fear, shame, guilt, or worry. That's why it's so easy for anger to escalate to rage. But anger only serves one real purpose in our lives: to combat injustice."
MFunk is a master of the craft and comparable to the best literary voices of today. The Book of True Believer sits perfectly on the shelves next to Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
The Book of True Believer is the story of every Empath. Walking through life with extra sensitivities and a keen eye for observation, the protagonist also wears a pair of rose colored glasses that seeks to find the best and most beautiful in every person and circumstance. Written in journal format, this book details the inside workings of a mind and heart who has not only observed and digested the most precious traits of everyone she's met, but absorbed them and reflected them back to the world.
It's a story of an empath who naively gets herself caught up in a manipulative scheme, and uses her sensitivity to feel her way through a jungle of confusion to find herself wiser, stronger, and a minister for Truth In the end. True deftly extracts the precious gems of wisdom from every moment of her experiences and assimilates them into her being. Like a frog in a gradually boiling pot of water, she slowly discovers the ugliness of the world she's caught in, and yet struggles to climb her way out. This is truly a journey in finding the fullest meaning and purpose in even the worst of circumstances.
MFunk weaves into the fabric of this story beautiful golden threads of insight. I found myself wanting to use as inspirational quotes, written in beautiful poetic prose, to come back to time and again.
"We are a bunch of walking, talking, mirrors that gravitate toward the ones that show us favorable impressions of ourselves and recoil from the ones that expose our shortcomings."
"pure listening is possible only when I empty myself of self and become and open vessel. . . self-consciousness is an obstacle to self-emptying. . . Attention is a precious resource, often in short supply. People want to be seen, heard, and understood. When I meet this demand with my own eyes, ears, and mind, there is no limit to the depth of our connection."
"Anger often presents as a secondary response to another, primary emotion: fear, shame, guilt, or worry. That's why it's so easy for anger to escalate to rage. But anger only serves one real purpose in our lives: to combat injustice."
MFunk is a master of the craft and comparable to the best literary voices of today. The Book of True Believer sits perfectly on the shelves next to Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
January 24, 2021
I’m a picky reader. If, for some reason, I can’t connect with the characters, I will stop reading and put the book in a “maybe later” pile. That was NOT the case with this book. It is written as a series of journal entries and I saw the world through True Believer’s eyes throughout her experiences. What more could you ask for in a good book? An alternate reality awaits!
August 6, 2021
I received my copy via a Goodreads giveaway.
I was very impressed by the writing, at least as much as I was by the story. The gradual buildup of complexity was well-handled; the several key questions left unanswered were (mostly) well-handled (though I wished for a few more chapters, so that at least one major question would be resolved). The writer does not over-simplify a complicated set of relationships - though I was not really thrilled by her (non-)tackling of 'the faith question' - was it real and continuing for the protagonist or not? For JP or not?
The diary format also worked well, and was very appropriate, as the 'inner dialogue' was the key evolution during the story.
I can gladly recommend this book.
I was very impressed by the writing, at least as much as I was by the story. The gradual buildup of complexity was well-handled; the several key questions left unanswered were (mostly) well-handled (though I wished for a few more chapters, so that at least one major question would be resolved). The writer does not over-simplify a complicated set of relationships - though I was not really thrilled by her (non-)tackling of 'the faith question' - was it real and continuing for the protagonist or not? For JP or not?
The diary format also worked well, and was very appropriate, as the 'inner dialogue' was the key evolution during the story.
I can gladly recommend this book.
July 20, 2021
I received this book via Goodreads giveaways.
Definitely a unique way to write a book about faith and religion, and how it changes people. The style of writing took me a bit to get used to but nevertheless it was a nice read.
Definitely a unique way to write a book about faith and religion, and how it changes people. The style of writing took me a bit to get used to but nevertheless it was a nice read.
December 19, 2020
Good read
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews