Found One Just Man on the Kindle store as a freebie. The cover caught my attention the art/sculpture reminding me of African art and the forward image of a crucified Jesus. The description sounded like a Jesus complex as well. “After many years of demanding studies of medicine, a Gift of healing chooses to manifest itself through Dr. Peter Thornton’s unwilling hands. The new ability plays havoc with his professional life. The Gift becomes an insidious curse as it threatens to obliterate his promising career. He rebels against his destiny, until a will greater than his own takes over and, unwittingly, he learns how to overcome death itself.” Reading the ebook took awhile, though once I started, it hooked me.
There is depth of characters so rarely seen in many books, from the main tortured character, the sister-in-law, to the enigmatic butler that melts into and out of the walls. The girlfriend that comes later in the book is almost too good to be true, but she is written with the Asian stereotype in mine though that can be forgiven. Stan takes great care to let the story unfold, slowly drawing the reader in, with self-doubt setting in the main character as well as a more than healthy dose of ego: another stereotype for Doctors and other healthcare physicians? We see the downward spiral of the good Dr, a side effect of his newly found healing powers-used for good at the expense of his emotional, mental and physical self. Stan’s description reminds me of the old Bible character subsisting on locusts and honey.
And so it goes with all the characters in One Just Man-the novel could have been called “Altruistic Modern Saints Among Us”. It is almost saccharine how everyone puts everyone else ahead of their own wants and needs but you don’t realize that, it reads like it is written: One man looking to make a difference in the world and what his place is in it. Everyone needs guidance and their own personal butler/angel-in-disguise. I would give One Just Man 4.5 stars.
Brick ONeil 