The Samaritan’s Patient  by Chevron Ross

If you read my review at the end of 2023, I said “on to something more original.” And I found that something and more in the first book I read for 2024. This book is amazing. It’s about redemption. It had justice and vengeance themes running throughout. It’s not crime fiction, though there are crimes committed in it. This is a must read for just about everyone, especially teenagers, parents of teenagers, and grandparents of teenagers.

This book deals with several current and important topics. Teenage suicide. The out-of-control social media and people’s overreaction to it as well as ignorance of what is actually being posted. Teenage romance. Homelessness and the people caught up in it. It deals with following God’s prompting even in the face of hopelessness. And it deals with hope.

Paige Abernathy is the main character. She’s a seventeen-year-old who started a website / social media platform to try and help other teenagers who were feeling hopeless. Unfortunately, many of the visitors are teenagers contemplating suicide. The platform gets out of control and Paige shuts it down, but not before some very bad things happen. I don’t want to spoil it, so you can read it to find out what. This leaves Paige devastated and unsure what to do or where to go. She starts out on a journey of self-discovery and along the way grows tremendously in faith, maturity, and hope.

The cast of characters is fascinating. There are very few “normal” people. But then, in real life, there are very few normal people as well. We all want to think we’re normal, but we’re not. Everyone has their idiosyncrasies, their oddities, their uniqueness. And Mr. Ross has put together a wonderful collection of people that Paige encounters on her journey. Some help, some hinder. These characters range from a group of people in a homeless shelter, hospital staff, lawyers, parents, computer nerds, chefs, and more. Paige’s father is a world-renown chef and Paige is a chip off her father’s block. Be prepared to be hungry while reading this. Many dishes are described in detail.

The setting is a small town in Texas and some of the surrounding area. The attention to detail is at a good level. Enough to get a picture, but not enough to slow it down.

My only complaint is the denouement drags on a bit too long. But it was good to know what happened to all the characters I grew to love.

The pace of the story moves well. I didn’t want to put it down and usually read much larger chunks than I had originally planned. Mr. Ross has created a page-turner without needing suspense or thrills. I wanted to know what would happen next with and to Paige. She is a remarkable character who endures an incredible amount of pain and suffering, yet in the end comes out the better for it.

This is a Christian centered book. It’s clean. No profanity. No on page sex. And no unnecessary violence. It does deal with difficult subjects and Mr. Ross portrays these subjects tastefully yet drives home the issues.

It’s the first book of 2024, so of course, it sits at #1. I anticipate, though, it will stay in the top three all year. I am reading a Charles Martin book next, so it might not stay #1. We’ll see.

1. The Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron Ross
   

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