Title: With Mercy’s Eyes
Author: D. T. Powell
Major Themes: Homosexuality, Suicide, Death, Grief, Acting
Synopsis: After his husband died in an accident, Lane Harris, a struggling actor in Hollywood, was facing the end of everything he ever had—was there any hope for life to get better?
When the offer of review copies of With Mercy’s Eyes came up, I glanced at the description and decided it was not my style. A few weeks later, the request was sent again, because more reviewers were needed. That time, I read the description more closely and decided I could read and review this one.
Publisher’s description:
Six months after struggling actor Lane Harris lost his husband in a tragic accident, he lands a movie role guaranteed to put him on the Hollywood map. But one producer holds the power to shut down his shot at stardom—and she’s a Christian. If she finds out he’s gay, it’s over. Lane is careful not to say too much around her.
When an alcohol-fueled tryst with his co-star ends in humiliation, and his landlord hands him an eviction notice, Lane looks for someone to talk to. He finds a confidant in the Christian producer. After a night of too little sleep and not enough coffee, he lets slip his sexual orientation. Instead of a verbal flogging, the woman recounts recently losing her own husband.
The only Christians Lane knows condemn him upon learning he’s gay. But this one is different. She doesn’t embrace his sexuality, but instead of treating him with disdain, she offers compassion. Christians are supposed to hate people like him. So, why doesn’t she?
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With Mercy’s Eyes by D. T. Powell is an issue-facing contemporary novel for adult churched Christians. It addresses homosexuality and same-sex attraction from a Biblical perspective without falling into the trap of the extreme responses we too often see from modern churches. It holds similar views to Jackie Hill Perry, Becket Cook, Rosaria Butterfield, and Christopher Yuan.
My thoughts:
What a story. As soon as I started With Mercy’s Eyes, I had a hard time putting it down. I was quickly drawn into the story of Lane as he floundered in his grief, and faced one blow after another. We lost a son a number of years ago, and since then, I have said that I can’t fathom how people can survive such a loss without knowing God—this author has given me a glimpse into that. My heart hurt for Lane as he headed into a downward spiral, and I had to keep reading to see how he would snap out of it (because the book is fiction, I knew he had to, although in real life the story could easily have ended any other way).
There are so many minor themes in this story, besides the main one. My mom has mentioned some in the email I quoted from below. One I really loved was the contrast between a Christian’s view of death versus someone who has no faith in God. That was encouraging! I loved the simple faith of a child, and how a child can reach people where an adult can’t. While I cringed all the way through the book at the frequent mentions of Lane’s husband, it was good to see how a Christian should respond. There was a conversation about that at one point in the book that I want to find again and read a few more times.
In short, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to minister to people who are caught up in the “alphabet community,” with the caveat that the author’s warnings, printed in the front of the book and repeated below here, are heeded.
From my mom, who received the physical copy of the book before I read it: When I read the back of With Mercy’s Eyes, red flags started shooting up. The first paragraph was a zinger when I realized that it was a man talking about his “husband”! I really wondered what you had gotten into, but felt compelled to read and find out whether the “Biblical” thinking was the way we see it—and it was! This turned out to be quite a read, and I really appreciated it!
If you have the e-copy, you probably have the disclaimer page at the beginning that lists all the probably objectionable scenes and the suggestion that the minimum age of the reader ought to be 25. I appreciated that! The author was reasonably discreet in those passages, but even so, there had to be enough there to make the scenario clear. I also appreciated the discussion of her interpretation of gifts of the Spirit at the end, though I am not sure I altogether agree. She does make the point, though, that we need to heed what the Lord/Bible says about how to legitimately use our gifts, and I appreciated that.
The main character’s downward spiral and the way Vic told her story and used her writing to draw him to Christ are entirely believable! The contrast is also right there about legalistic or hypocritical Christianity and the real thing.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
WARNING: Mostly from the author’s note in the beginning of the book: Homosexuality, suicide and suicidal thoughts (chapters 28, 34, 39, 42, 46, 60, 70, 74, 85, 85, 127), sexual assault (chapters 7, 10, 14), infant loss (chapters 28, 42), terminal illness, death (chapter 1, 137), domestic violence (chapter 6), depression, mentions of abortion (chapter 9), violence (chapters 56, 124). Not recommended for people under 25.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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