How often have you scanned books in the book store or on Amazon and thought "That sounds interesting?" That's what I did when I found the paperback "Going and Coming: A Minnow Saint James Metaphysical Adventure (Volume 1) by Christopher Stone. Here's what I thought...I thought the book would be about the doctor's quest to prove reincarnation through his regression therapy. It was actually about him fighting the thought of previous lives until he encountered a student who regressed so far she went back to a previous life..I thought it odd that a regression therapist wouldn't believe that people would regress back to a previous life, but that's just me.
The author spent a good deal of time establishing the main character's life in a coastal California town where he's on the city council. The characters and personalities are what kept me wanting to read more.
Although the character is promoted as being gay, he didn't have to be. His being gay really had nothing to do with the storyline. There were no romantic interests. One thing that irritated me is that this successful doctor was afraid to come out to his 70 plus year old Republican parents and be who he is. The character is 40 years old (not 20), and professionally established and successful. It didn't sit well with me that someone so successful was still afraid to be who they really are just because their parents would be mad. Regardless, the second half of the book was really interesting when the writer took you into the young character's past life and afterlife experiences. 4 of 5 stars.
ABOUT THE BOOK: For gay, metaphysical sleuth Dr. Minnow Saint James, the workplace spans time, space, dimensions, and the entirety of the vast, incomprehensible affair that is God's Creation. At forty, Dr. Minnow Saint James, "Minn" to his friends, is a gay, metaphysical sleuth who, through Past Life Regression therapy, spans time, space, dimensions, and the entirety of God's Creation to discover the past, or future, life origins of his patient's most challenging present day problems. Minn did not always hold his current beliefs. He was born into an affluent, atheistic, Republican family in Beverly Hills, California, and raised to believe only what his five physical senses reported. In 2001, after receiving his doctorate from UCLA, Minn opened a highly successful traditional Hypnotic Regression therapy practice in Beverly Hills. For six years he enjoyed his life, until a patient spontaneously regressed herself to a past life in Eighth Century Coba, turning Minn's world upside down. Soon he was questioning his entire worldview. Now Minn is hoping that his past just might save his future.
