Childless

by Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner

#2 in the Fatherless trilogy

Back of the book description found at the bottom of this post 🙂

Age: Adult

Available from: Hamilton Public Libraries

Recommended? I hesitate a little…but I’d say yes, with discretion! Overall it is thought provoking. I picked up the book simply because it had Dr. Dobson’s name on it.. but don’t let that make you leave your discretion at the front door (or front cover!).

I read the first book, Fatherless, a year ago, but I don’t remember it enough to review it. I’m quite sure both the positives and negatives were very similar.

The authors present a fairly realistic picture of where society is heading, if current trends continue. Except in Christian homes, children and elderly are burdens and interferences to endure. The elderly are expected to ‘volunteer’ to ‘transition’ (kill themselves) to relieve their children/caregivers/economy.

The English major in me may be a bit overly critical of things like writing style, but here are a few thoughts:

• My analytical side says the story is good, but the writing is poor.
• The narrator is consistently inconsistent, shifting from omniscient to 3^rd person limited.
• Overuse of “as if” comparisons
  • e.g. “He inhaled deeply as if accepting congratulations…”
  • “he said, as if mad at the question.”
  • In fact, a quick search on my kobo tells me this phrase occurs 100+ times in the book. (Sometimes used legitimately, other times annoyingly.)
• Unnecessary descriptive sections of intimate moments (if you know what I mean…)
  • I wouldn’t necessarily write off the whole book because of these, but I’m not sure they pass the Phil. 4:8 test with flying colours.

 

 Here is the back of the book description:

“The second installment in the riveting new trilogy from Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner transports readers to a not-too-distant future when the young and healthy strain under the burden of a rapidly aging population.

Everyone is nervous about how Judge Victor Santiago will rule. The case involved the tragic demise of a loving mother and her disabled son. A common medical procedure has somehow created havoc across the legal and economic landscape. The president’s popular Youth Initiative is losing momentum. Political and economic fortunes are at stake. That’s why someone, somewhere, would rather put the judge in his grave than risk a wrong decision.

Tyler Cain, a once respected police detective turned sleazy private investigator, has been pulled into the middle of events way above his pay grade. He hopes the case will restore some measure of dignity. But does he have what it takes to find the potential assassin before time runs out?

He seeks help from Julia Davidson, a newly married journalist, who finds herself torn between the influence she craves and the husband she loves. She wants significance. But he wants a child. In Fatherless, Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner depicted a time in which present-day trends come to sinister fruition. This eagerly awaited follow-up vividly imagines what happens when the abiding joys of parenthood are exchanged for the gradual deterioration of a CHILDLESS world.”

Reviewed by: Esther