Review for "The Soulkeepers"

"The Soulkeepers" is the first book in G.P. Ching's trilogy by the same name.
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The cover is a wash of blue fabric. A young man stares out of the depths of the hooded cowl. His eyes are piercing and intense. The set of his lips is wide and brooding. A spherical medallion hangs from around his neck, a delicious pop of vibrant red. Shadows crisscross the cover, playing on the hood, the man's skin, and everything in between. It is not until I sat down to write this review that I realize that the hooded cowl is not a cloak as I had first thought but a hoodie, a type of jacket worn by sports players and urban youth's alike. Again it was the cover that pulled me in. It would seem I am sucker for a cover that gets me dreaming.
Our story starts with death, the young man on the cover's to be exact. We are introduced to Jacob Lau in the hospital. The fifteen year old still weakened by his near-death experience and the visions of the car accident that put him there has to contend with the knowledge that his mother is missing and that the man keeping watch over him is his uncle. An uncle that he has never met nor heard of in his entire fifteen years. Before Jacob knows it he is swept away from his home in Hawaii and plopped down into the middle of the rural pedestrian town of Paris, Illinois. Haunted by visions he can't understand and people that don't care to understand him Jacob wallows in anger and self-pity. His one friend in the entire community is also an outcast, the exotic Malini Gupta. Malini is quiet, reserved, and a citizen of the world. It's easy to like Malini. As the story progresses Jacob is dogged by secrets and his own ancestry at every turn. When the gorgeous and otherworldly Dr. Silva steps in things start to get interesting.
Anything more and we're entering Spoiler territory.

What I liked about the book:

• G.P. Ching does a reasonable good job with character development. You begin to like Malini at once, for instance. 
• The environments feel fleshed out. You can almost feel the spine-tingling heat of Oswald's garden, and the scene in the jungle village is as equally animated.
• Jacob's dedication to his mother is admirable

• I did love Jacob's gift. Everything about it. From the hum he feels in his veins to the way he unleashes it in times of distress. 

What I didn't like:

• There's a huge stink about race throughout the entire book. People hate our characters with a deep and abiding hate just because they look different or claim a different heritage. The hate is a little over done and comes out over-the-top. Even in a small community like Paris I cannot imagine that every single person would respond in such a way. 
• Jacob stays angry and unevolved for the majority of the book. Just lashing out at anything and everything, distrustful of everyone, doing things because its what he wants instead of thinking of others first. He consistently uses his newfound powers in selfish ways. It's hard to really really like Jacob and I think that's bad considering he's our hero.
• There were several times during the story when a time frame was referenced wrong or just felt off. For instance we see the mysterious figure in the woods early on who gives Dane a one month time frame to bring Jacob and Malini to her, but Dane doesn't even really attempt til much later on. It was disconcerting.
• Now this part is really personal opinion. It's is rife with judgemental religious undertones. Spoiler Alert!!! When I realized it was about angels and the like I almost deleted it right then and there. But I wanted to give it a chance. It dips into the matter of sin and judgmentally accuses us all of inviting it in, not to mention blaming the snake's very presence in the garden on Eve. Come on, give me break.
•  No surprises at least not for me. Way before we're supposed to know Dr. Silva is a fallen angel, and Gideon is an angel, and that the family was broken apart by the race divide I knew. I figured out that Malini was more than a normal girl early on too.
• Last but not least...there were some good scenes laying hidden just beyond the page but they never came into the light. Like the first time Jacob enters the garden and hears the male voice. I would think its Gideon but that's never addressed in the book, not so much as a sentence dedicated to it. And then there's Dr. Silva flying outside his window. Why? It's a wonderful scene so wonderful in fact it seems out of place and never fully fits in.

At the end I considered reading the other two books in the series just to see where the characters went. I obviously hate abandoning any story in its middle. But whereas "The Soulkeepers" is free currently on the Kindle, the two successive books are not. "Weaving Destiny" comes in at $2.99 and "Return to Eden" at $3.99. Granted its not much but seeing as how I was unimpressed with the first one the only way I would continue reading was if they were free or close to free at .99 cents. But that's me and my opinion. You can find more info on the books and the author at www.gpching.com

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3 out of 5 smilies

It's an ok read. Recommended for parents in search of a religious storyline. Not recommended for kids under the age of 13 due to the heavy dose of racial mistrust and the relationship between Malini and Jacob, which doesn't ever cross the line but feels like it could any moment.

Synopsis: "When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. A beautiful and mysterious neighbor offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. But in exchange she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a protector of human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him."