Return Policy- Book Review

This is the book I considered my favorite for the year 2009.  I’m not sure how many would agree, but there’s something that just pulled me in with Return Policy by Michael Snyder.

The quick synopsis is that this is the story of three main characters who are wildly different, but whose lives are pulled together through twists and turns.  Willy Finneran is a washed-up novelist who wants to destroy an expresso maker that reminds him of a lost love.  Second you discover Ozena Webb, the single mother of a handicapped son and who happens to work for the maker of Willy’s espresso maker.  And Shaq, a small homeless man who deals with amnesia and lives at a mission with a priest who has a past, Father Joe.

If you’re looking for an action-packed read, turn somewhere else, but if you’re looking for a novel that’s different, whose characters you’re going to care about, and you like twists, then this is a good read.  Insert a healthy dose of humour and Synder really has put together something unique and fun. 

But this book isn’t just focused on amusing the reader, there’s something deeper involved.  Despite all the dry humour and twists, this is a book that deals with people and the question of hope.  How do you keep hoping in the midst of loss?  When do people quit hoping?  How can hope be restored?  It almost surprised me how well Synder was able to keep the narrative flowing through the turns and little quips, still moving in a purposeful direction.  When I was done, I felt like the novel had taken characters who were anything but common, and yet in the midst of their uncommon struggles, there was something very real about their reactions and the way the book restored hope.

There’s a real truth there for Christians to understand.  So many people in this world have or are in the process of losing hope, and rediscovering it is not easy.  Yet when we trust God to more our lives to interstect those of others, there is a chance for redemption.  After all, God worked through some incredible twists to bring about redemption in his son.