Fiction Addict

Publisher: Nordskog Publishing

Publication Date: March 2010

Genre: Contemporary Adventure/Drama

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

I admittedly struggled with the approach to take with Jungle Sunrise. First, the conditions weren’t ideal—My review copy arrived via email, and reading off a screen automatically propels me into “editing mode.” Furthermore, trying to read while monitoring a study hall, well, has its own challenges. But the more important reason is this: Any story, whether biographical, autobiographical, or fiction-based-on-real-events, that deals directly with saints, missionaries, and martyrs creates in me emotions so deep I can’t quite articulate them. This is true whether it be the gut-wrenching Tortured for Christ, the mind-boggling collections of what Muslim converts to Christianity endure, the novel Safely Home, dedicated to the persecuted church in China, or the stunning tragedy of Beyond the Gates of Splendor and The End of the Spear (both about Jim Eliot and Nate Saint and their families).

There is something in me that resonates with the writer of the book of Hebrews when he so curiously declares these men and women “men of whom the world was not worthy.” If you’ve read anything on the persecuted church—past or present—I trust you understand what I mean, because this is the very thing that Jungle Sunrise is.

The editor/writer in me knew immediately why the book begins with the delightful missionary couple in the deep parts of Peru—Memphis and Abigail Jones—rather than its featured protagonist Jonah Frost. I’ll admit, Jonah is both difficult company and ominously understandable as a disgruntled creative type who’s hit complete rock bottom. But that’s really the beauty of Mr. Williams’ craft, here: I am Jonah Frost, lost and hopeless, desperate. Jonah Frost is me. And Memphis Jones is the hands and feet of Jesus his Savior. Memphis, this sort of American titan with both physical and spiritual prowess—by far the favorite, is everything Jonah wants and simply isn’t. And, without any condescension or emasculation, he helps Jonah out of the whale, so to speak. (No, I’m not giving a tired cliché. Jonah is in a place of despair, death and darkness—which is exactly what the prophet would have experienced in his living, underwater coffin.)

It’s really taken me several days to process this. Whenever a book is based off an author’s real-life experiences, I really do hesitate to criticize the unfolding of events that probably really were that out-of-this world. Christianity’s all about the supernatural anyway, right? I mean, we do maintain God came to earth as a man, ran around a strip of the Middle East for a few years, died, and came back from the dead.

But I had to wonder why Williams devoted so much time to some parts of Jonah’s journey. And I think I understood: There’s a subtle development as Jonah’s experiences in the jungles of Peru begin to turn death into life, and it can only be seen by first watching Jonah unravel.

I’m already risking spoilers in this review, so I won’t say too much more. I will say this: The jungle is amazing. In places it felt like The End of the Spear, Apocalypto, and Safely Home all rolled into one (assuming it isn’t sacrilegious to put those in one sentence)—even beginning with a jaguar hunt complete with a celebration. Williams chose a variety of characters: a feisty Spanish photographer, a snotty anthropologist, a dedicated linguist, a dead-in-the-water writer, and an energetic, lovable American missionary couple.

All of that to say, I really did enjoy the story of Jonah’s adventures, which proved all-around moving, one of those that lingers awhile after the final pages turn. It’s a worthy tribute, I think, to the saints who pave the road ahead, and a tale of hope and encouragement to the rest of us—we Jonahs—coming up behind.

Review copy provided by the author.