Miracle at Angels Bend: A Contemporary Tale of Finding Joy through Jesus Christ

by R. Christian Bohlen

Overview

Hannah fears the world will learn her dark truth.
God has forsaken this aspiring missionary . . .
and abandoned her to the shadows of the black market.

Hannah wishes she’d never taken the wheel that awful day five months ago. Then her father and brother would still be alive.

She also wouldn’t be addicted to the opiates prescribed after surgery—still frantically drug-seeking to dull her physical and mental agony.

Beyond forgiveness but desperate to maintain appearances, Hannah agrees to join a book club to discuss a mysterious, unpublished book about the life of Christ.

None of the readers, including others from her congregation, know the author’s identity.

And yet Hannah and the author aren't the only ones harboring secrets: Life in the fast lane. Fractured family ties. Infidelity. Evading the law. Hypocrisy. Guilt and sin haunt each member of the group.

But the story discovered in the book’s pages may change them all. Only in confronting their secrets, doubts, and fears will they discover what they've needed all along—their Savior’s guiding love and redemption.

Fans of Lisa Wingate’s The Prayer Box and Charles Sheldon’s classic In His Steps will find inspiration in this faith-affirming tale for a modern era. Welcome to Angels Bend, where you too will experience a new relationship with Jesus Christ.

The 2024 NYC Big Book Award Winner in Religious Fiction and a 2024 International Book Award Finalist!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781956370287
Publisher:	Clovercroft Publishing
Publication date:	10/04/2024
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

R. Christian Bohlen is a best-selling author of Christian books and an award-winning instructional design consultant to Fortune 500 companies. His critically acclaimed books have reached a world-wide audience of many thousands and his career in corporate learning resulted in prestigious personal and team awards He holds a Master of Science degree in Communications.
Christian has been involved in ministry and church leadership for more than 30 years and worked for over a decade with juvenile offenders as an educator. His professional, personal, and family experiences immersed him in many of today’s problems, including drug addiction and severe mental health conditions. His upbringing in a first-generation family of Dutch immigrants fostered his great respect for diverse cultures and perspectives.
Christian and his spouse Helen reside near Tampa, Florida.

Editorial Reviews

07/08/2024

This inspirational blend of faith-based fiction and Christian teachings delves deep into the lessons of the gospels while weaving together the lives of four disparate contemporary individuals, each in their way unsatisfied, who are brought together by chance—or perhaps by something more divine. Bohlen (author of Jesus Christ, His Life and Mine, among other titles) invites readers on a journey of self-discovery, faith exploration, and profound transformation through the lens of a book club slated, at the start, to meet only four times. At the helm of this eclectic group are Dave and Ellen, whose dynamic is shaped by Dave’s deception and Ellen's struggles with mental illness. Together they delve into a mysterious manuscript from an unknown author that explores the life of Jesus, finding themselves facing questions that challenge their beliefs and perceptions of reality.

What sets this narrative apart from many spiritual fictions is its authenticity to the challenges of life—the characters persuasively grapple with doubts, fears, and past mistakes, mirroring the struggles of many contemporary seekers. From the weight of personal guilt to the search for purpose and meaning, each individual confronts their own demons in the light of Jesus's teachings. Bohlen skillfully invites readers to engage with the text on multiple levels: as a gripping tale of suspense and redemption, and as an exploration of Christian principles and their practical application in everyday life.

Whether readers approach Miracle at Angel’s Bend as a casual read or as a catalyst for spiritual growth, the book will resonate with Christian audiences or those feeling their way toward the faith. Throughout, familiar biblical narratives are reimagined through modern sensibilities, offering fresh insights and perspectives, especially about how these narratives intersect with the messy, complex realities of life. The storytelling reminds that the journey of faith is not about easy answers but rather wrestling with uncertainty and finding hope. Backmatter includes ample materials for fostering dialogue and reflection.

Takeaway: Inspiring story of a book club and the challenges and rewards of faith.

Comparable Titles: Kim Cash Tate’s Though I Stumble, Heather B. Moore & Angela Eschler’s Women Who Believe.

Production grades Cover: A Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

A gripping tale of suspense and redemption . . . offering fresh insights and perspectives, especially about how the narratives intersect with the messy, complex realities of life.”
— BookLife Reviews (straight A production grades)

“Truly stands apart . . . highly recommended for individual Bible study and Christian reading groups . . . a creative approach, artfully tailored to our times . . . with spiritual insights not to be found in many other fictional pursuits.”
— D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Wisdom with the power to change readers’ lives . . . this book is on a mission to help people find the root of their being—their souls and their faith.”
— BookTrib

“Transcends the typical Christian inspirational novel . . . an imaginative integration of scriptural events, vividly brought to life in a modern setting . . . packed with inspiration and spiritual wisdom.”
— Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews

“A page-turning and heartfelt novel . . . a refreshingly straightforward and reality-focused example of Christian fiction, convincingly depicting everyday people with everyday problems.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“A masterfully woven story of struggle, community, and hope that will connect to every reader. Although the story is fictional, the truths are biblical, eternal, and well-applied to modern life. Perfect for personal reflection or to use as a discussion starter in a small group setting.”
— Dr. Tim Riordan, pastor and bestselling author of "New Every Morning: A 31-Day Devotional" and "Songs from the Heart"

“Don’t let the simple approach fool you. This book is dense with insights into the biblical plan of salvation that reflect a lifetime of sincere discipleship . . . superbly crafted fiction that kept me glued from cover to cover . . . makes the greatest medicine in the world—the gospel of Jesus Christ—desirable to one's craving!”
— Robert Reich, pastor and global synod leader, Board Chairman of Bethesda Family Services Foundation

“Brilliantly put together. How the life of Jesus is intertwined with the thoughts of the characters is remarkable and unique. I read it in a couple days and felt the Holy Spirit throughout, with tears much of the time.”
— Rita H., reader

“An exhilarating read . . . biblically on point . . . a must-read for teens and adults with questions about how Jesus can love and help us in our fast-paced world.”
— Angelina H., reader

“Mystery, suspense, and romance . . . and a rewarding conclusion! The characters are consistently believable and nuanced in effective ways. They exude humanity and it’s easy to care about them. Great stuff!”
— Stuart H., reader

“I picked up this book to read a nice story but I got a lot more. I love the new insights I gained into the Bible. The author beautifully explained so many passages, like the Beatitudes, which I didn’t really understand before.”
— Lynda B., reader

“Not your typical Christian fiction . . . a realistic narrative on how God is always working even when we can’t see the changes taking place. An inspiring story to help readers connect with Jesus.”
— Ty G., reader

From the Publisher

2024-05-23
The lives of four characters are transformed by a mysterious Christian revelation in Bohlen’s novel.

The town of Angels Bend, Pennsylvania, is “nestled inside the protective arm of a large arc in the Susquehanna River, having a dense stand of timber on a steep slope directly opposite.” The narrative focuses on four main characters: Hannah, whose dreams of going into missionary work have been stymied by a tragic automobile accident that took the lives of her father and brother (Hannah was at the wheel); Josh, an aspiring musician who’s down on his luck and increasingly estranged from his family; office worker (and volunteer fire fighter) Dave, whose marriage to Ellen is strained by her mental health issues; and Larina, a journalist who’s the object of extramarital temptation for Dave, who’s tormented by both his feelings for her and by his concern for his erratic wife. (“He thought back to his twenties when he could imagine nothing more satisfying than being married. But what did he know about mental illness at age twenty-four?”) These four people find themselves linked both by the looming threat of wildfires and by a mysterious book—author and provenance unrevealed—that feelingly explores aspects of the Jesus story. The small cast of characters find their personal religious faiths challenged and re-affirmed by the tidings of this enigmatic book, even as the events of their lives—with attendant grief, guilt, doubt, and lust—unfold.

Bohlen does a very effective job of balancing all four of his main plotlines, never allowing one to dominate the others. He navigates the endemic narrative pitfalls of contemporary Christian fiction—including saccharine piety and unrealistic characters—with a good deal of skill; his people are largely believable, and he more often than not avoids the annoying straw-man caricatures that tend to provide the conflict in Christian fiction. There are lapses, as when readers are told that Hannah’s Psych 101 class describes “existentialism” as a worldview in which “nothing has purpose, nothing has meaning, things happen to you, and you’re just stuck in it, essentially alone and unloved,” adding, for good measure, “Good and evil are pragmatic, not moral. Nothing is fundamentally right or morally wrong.” More surprising are the frequent notes advocating humanistic self-care, such as, “The Lord doesn’t expect you to submit to abuse.” (This assertion is buttressed, as many of the book’s other points are, by a footnote: “Living with manipulative family members who are struggling with mental health or addiction issues is extremely taxing and can lead to severe effects on those around them.”) Bohlen is particularly empathetic when describing the transformative nature of Christian faith; Josh, for instance, feels “something worth holding on to. A soft, eternal Presence—long ago pushed to the basement of his soul.” This is a refreshingly straightforward and reality-focused example of Christian fiction, convincingly depicting everyday people with everyday problems who will be relatable to Bohlen’s audience. Christian readers will doubtless appreciate the author’s portrayal of the many ways the living current of their faith can find its way into their lives just when they need it most.

A page-turning and heartfelt novel of a group of average folks encountering a new side of their faith.

Kirkus Reviews