Title: The Inheritance
Author: Paul Peters
Publisher: Joint Venture Publishing
ISBN: 978-1968149079
Pages: 140
Genre: Fiction / Inspirational
Reviewer: Susan Brown
Hollywood Book Reviews
How do you assess the measure of a man? By evaluating integrity? Of course. Determining moral character? Absolutely. Experiencing how they deal with power? Yes. Or how do they face adversity? Definitely. What about their commitment to their community? Certainly. The protagonist of this novel embodies every one of these attributes. Author Paul Peters has created a character in Jacob Steel who is extraordinary and an exceptional human being. Generally, an inheritance is monetary, received at the end of someone's life. In The Inheritance the gift is so much more valuable than money. It is Steele's legacy to his family and friends of how to live an exemplary life; a life that changes the lives of others. He did just that throughout his lifetime.
Steele overcame considerable adversity and suffering, throughout his life which eventually forged in him an unfaltering faith in God, and ultimately an acceptance of His plan for his life. But the journey, as so many are, he was fraught with mental anguish, physical pain, survivor's guilt, grief from the loss of family and friends and despair to the brink of suicidal darkness.
There were moments throughout his journey, however, when he felt God's presence. As a soldier in World War II, he found himself clinging to life after the Navy ship he was on sank. His survival, when so many others died, instilled in him a desire to, "further understand why God had been with him underwater, and why he actually felt His hand pull him up." Upon reflection he felt, "It was both gentle and powerful, and also an act of love." He didn't understand these moments and questioned if "God's hand, or madness , or both — he didn't know. But it was something to cling to, when everything else slipped away."
Out of Jacob's darkness came the light of God's purpose for him, which he accepted without hesitation. His mission was to "turn salt water into drinking water" so that "all who drink it will no longer thirst again." So he does. With the help of many, he builds a company that improves the lives of millions of people throughout the world. His personal wealth allows him to become an altruistic and inspiring philanthropist, again starting in place of many opportunities for change.
Near the end of his life, he is directed by God to create opportunities for youth around the world that would "teach them a basis of morality, principles of truth and the distinction between right and wrong." This is the embodiment of his "inheritance." This is such an uplifting story with a main character that represents all the good we want to see in ourselves, and who actually puts it into practice. The Inheritance is a beautiful narrative that captures the most illuminating aspects of the Bible, those aspects are used to teach us how to live our lives and become better human beings, ones that personify what Jesus asks of us, to simply love and treat each other as we would want be loved and treated.
Add The Inheritance to your library and pick it up when you need to be reminded of God's love. When the past refuses to stay buried, the future hangs in the balance. The Inheritance is a compelling novel of secrets, sacrifice, and the ties that bind us across generations.