Leviathan With a Fish-hook

by S.L. Russell

When Eileen meets Christopher, a young man with a mental illness living rough in the woods near her home, her quiet life is shaken. Eileen is a Christian trying to live by her faith. Tentatively she befriends Christopher and gains his trust, but as his story unfolds she finds herself increasingly drawn into his life of fearful visions and spiritual turmoil. As the tension mounts it is not only Christopher's monsters Eileen must face, but her own. Can she handle what she has let loose? Challenging and compelling, Leviathan with a Fish-hook will keep you hooked to the last page...and beyond. Look out for the next book in the series, The Monster Behemoth, available soon.

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Sue Russell spent the longest span of her working life teaching children with learning difficulties, following a PGCE at Cambridge and two years teaching English at the National Institute of Sciences in Indonesia. The Healing Knife is Sue's seventh novel

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book! Brilliant in many different ways.
Firstly,S.L.Russel can really write well. She has made a perfect study of human nature and all the silly eccentricities and bizarre behaviours that exist in a small village or in a church community, The first half of the book ambles gently though village and family life with plenty of humour,establishing relationships and allowing us to get to know the characters. The author's great strength is in her characters.They are so well portrayed they almost step out of the pages. At times when Eileen was praying for Chris [the two main characters] I had trouble remembering it was a story and I didn't need to pray for him too!
After the gentle first half the novel becomes centred on the the main two characters and Eileen's attempts to reach out to Chris. It is a page turner at this point, at least for me.I became obsessed with what would happen to Chris and if Eileen would help him.
The novel has much about mental illness and as someone with depression I could really relate to Russel's description of the symptoms: she has researched her subject very thoroughly,if not lived through depression herself.
On a personal level I read this book shortly after studying the book of Job.Its about loss, the kind of loss we often experience in life, children growing up, death, change, divorce and the resulting pain and suffering. Life is full of little deaths and our faith doesn't remove the pain.However , like Job the novel does show us that in all things, death and loss and life,God is there and that nothing does separate us from His love.
This isn't a happy Christian story full of sunshiny joy and any brief pain is all sorted out by the end to God's glory. Its a real story about real life, real sinful people and extreme emotional pain.At times is hard to read and maybe it makes us think about our own sin and pain.What it does do is show how even at what seems the end of everything,God's restoration and healing is there, just over the horizon. I am waiting with Eileen and Christopher for God to "restore to ME the years the locusts have eaten".

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leviathan

I wish I profound words to say, but it seems as if the profound words get stuck in my head. Therefore, I will say Leviathan with Fish Hook is an interesting story, and it's very good. It has me pondering mental illness, how we live out our Christian faith in front of others, and how we should use wisdom when it comes to helping others or allowing others to be in our lives. This story  made me pray and cry. For some reason, I was annoyed with the decision she made about her marriage, but at the same time, I was intrigued by her. I found it interesting and intriguing how she treats her kids, estranged husband and neighbors who are and aren't Christians.

[Mrs B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best Christian novels I have read. It is really well written and not at all clichéd. The bible is incorporated naturally within the story as Eileen wrestles with understanding and introduces someone to our loving God

[Patricia Kemp Blackmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind the unusual name of this book is an ordinary wife and mother, Eileen. She is estranged from her husband. One daughter is away at college and the other daughter is still living at home but stays busy with her job and social life. Eileen also has an eight yr old foster child, Michael. She has raised him for the past three years. On top of experiencing empty nest syndrome due to the absence of her daughters she also fears Michael will soon be returning to his family.

One day Michael and his friend were playing in the woods and came across a transient and offered him food. Michael told Eileen about the young man. She forbid them not to go back in the woods. But he begged her to take the man some food. Eileen kept her promise and was even more concerned when she realized the young man was mentally unstable and not able to properly care for himself.

In my opinion all of these events in anyone's life would cause a great deal of stress. Eileen entering her 50's has more than her share to deal with. Her character is a giver and it doesn't look like anyone notices she might need someone to lean on. But everyone seems to be to busy with there own lives to even notice something is not right with Eileen. She leans on God and His Word for peace. Will she be able to cope with all life throws at her while she tries to save everyone else neglecting her own needs? There are many beautiful scriptures the author uses all through the book that I myself treasure in my heart. The Word of God gives me great peace.

I highly recommend this book.

I rate this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review from the author. I was in no way compensated for this review. It is my own opinion.