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SAMSON - Jacquelin Thomas Simon & Schuster/Touchstone May 2010 |
SYNOPSIS: Samson Taylor has just been installed as assistant pastor at a thriving North Carolina church. He’s a man of God—and most definitely no saint. Handsome and charismatic, Samson is controlled by his lust for beautiful women, a weakness that stirs up trouble, heartache, betrayal, and damaging rumors—and soon costs him his marriage, his best friendship, and even his new job. Samson loves God and tries harder than ever to keep his temptations in check. Then he meets Delinda…
INSPIRATIONAL FICTION |4+| Darlene Mitchell
REVIEW: Samson Taylor is the young, handsome, and very charismatic, recently indoctrinated assistant pastor of Hillside Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. Knowing from a child he was called to minister the Word, Samson spends the early years of his adult life as a player, running from his calling. Realizing that running is no longer an option, Samson steps up with pride and confidence; however it’s his insatiable desire for beautiful women and the memory of his father’s indiscretions, which lead to the death of his parents, and Samson fear of repeating the generational curse. Samson’s ability to resist temptation proves to require more than confessing and being determined. He soon realizes “the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Samson’s quest to answer his calling finds him forgetting the core scripture of
being unequally yoked and committing the many vices he charismatically preaches
against…betrayal, denial, fornication, adultery, lying, cheating, stealing and
revenge. Samson’s arrogance leads him to betraying yet again, his childhood best
friend Trey when he marries Savannah Ramsey, a Buddhist and Trey’s love
interest. Samson’s marriage and treachery soon opens the flood gates of
destruction for his unequally yoked marriage and sets in motion events that will
change Samson’s life forever. An act of duplicity at the hands of Trey in the
name of love sends Samson seeking revenge and into the bed of Satan’s mistress
herself…Delinda Lewis-Hatcher. Ultimately, Samson realizes “That what a man
soweth, so shall he also reap.”
Jacquelin Thomas pens a superbly developed, modern day version of Samson and
Delilah, full of emotionally, inviting and believable characters spouting
scriptures, always forgiving and showing unconditional love. Ms. Thomas so
wonderfully reveals the importance of relying totally on God and not our own
strengths and beliefs to defeat the enemy; however, it’s in the knowledge of
having “free will and choices” that she reveals we will experience the
consequences of our actions. Samson wanted to please God, but allowed his
father’s sins, his lust for beautiful women, and his refusal to seek God
wholeheartedly for deliverance, to literally steal his vision and place a
question mark on his future happiness.
SAMSON is a fascinating redemption story that engages you from beginning
to end. Revealing God’s unconditional love and his will to forgive and bless us
with second chances when we seek His face and repent of our sins. It also
reveals that love is blind when we look for it in the right places. I highly
recommend this wonderful story that ends with…REAL LOVE!
reviewer@romanceincolor.com | 8th July 2010