I Never Knew You by Patrick Higgins

I Never Knew You by Patrick Higgins
Series:  A standalone
Publisher: Indie Release (September 3, 2020)

Review by Mae Clair

This is one of the harder reviews I’ve had to write. My thoughts and feelings are all over the place about this book. Even as I type, I’m not sure what my rating will be by the time I reach the end.

Let’s start with the cover. Pretty dynamic, huh? It sucked me in before I even looked at the blurb. Coupled with the title, I just had to know what the story was about.

Charmaine is an affluent real estate agent in the prime of her life. She contributes her over-the-top success to her membership in the Blessed and Highly Favored Full Gospel Church, a glitzy megachurch in Seattle. It doesn’t take long for the reader to realize the pastors (Julian, and his wife, Imogene) are the height of self-serving, money-hungry, status-conscious preachers who have twisted the gospel to suit their message of prosperity and wealth.

Through a friend and former parishioner—who is now with a church focused on spiritual living and dying to self—Charmaine is asked to sell a property belonging to a visiting pastor from China.

Pastor Mark Lau creates an uproar when he attends a service at the Blessed and Highly Favored Full Gospel Church and challenges the parishioners with the true message of the gospel. In addition, he personally embarrasses Imogene when she proclaims herself a “prophetess.”

Charmaine sells Mark’s property successfully, then as a gift to herself and her BFF, Meredith, she books a trip to Shanghai, mostly at Mark’s prompting. He knows Charmaine will be drawn by the idea the city offers one of the largest shopping meccas in the world, but his true desire is to have her visit his church.

Charmaine and Meredith find Shanghai everything they could have hoped for, starting with their opulent suite at the Waldorf Astoria. High end restaurants, a lavish river cruise, and a day of over-the-top shopping follow. But then Charmaine takes Mark up on his offer to visit his church­—which she discovers is hidden in a dungeon-like basement under a laundry for fear of discovery. This is a church that operates seven days a week with three services a day.

The author brings the extreme persecution Christians in China face to the forefront—how many languish in labor camps or prisons for refusing to renounce Jesus. This is addressed, but not seen first-hand in the story. I offer this information for readers who might be worried about abuse scenes. There are none.

According to the author, despite fear of oppression and punishment, China will soon have more Christians than any other country in the world, including the United States. It is in Mark’s underground church that Charmaine feels the conviction of the Holy Spirit, realizes she has been following a false gospel, and comes to true faith.

I won’t say how the book ends, but I will say that it surprised me.

So, why am I having such a hard time with this review?

The story is told in a distant, oft times author-intrusive, omniscient POV. As a result, I spent the first part of the book feeling a disconnect from the characters. It wasn’t until Charmaine started visiting Mark’s church, that I became invested in her. Most of the characters didn’t feel fleshed out, and I found Charmaine and Meredith repeatedly calling each other “bestie,” odd for two adult women.

Some of the writing is clumsy, and at least half (if not more) of the chapters end with an ellipse attached to the closing sentence. Why? Also, near the end, multiple characters—enough to notice—have shivers running up their spines.

Quibbles, for sure, but are they enough to detract from the powerful story the book tells?

In the end, I have to say “no.”

I Never Knew You is foremost a story that includes a good deal of teaching.

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“Sadly, even after we are saved, just like Peter, we will still sin and fall short of the glory of God too many times to count. The simple truth is, we’re not sinners because we sin, we sin because we’re sinners.”

I Never Knew You, Patrick Higgins

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Many chapters read like a sermon. Some might call those pages preachy, but I found myself glued to the messages and the lessons. Certain passages left me in tears. There is no question of the author’s love for God and his passion to reach others through his writing. I also want to mention that this book has won numerous independent awards. It could however benefit from a professional and thorough edit.

In the end—my personal take—is five enthusiastic fish for the story, and three fish for the delivery. That comes to a final tally of four fish—all that sing praise to our Lord God Almighty!

I purchased the Kindle version of I Never Knew You.