Review – A Mile From Sunday

Jonna Lightfoot McLaughlin’s week started normally-at least until she got to the Denver Dispatch office, and God calls her on the phone. Jonna is flattered that God would call her personally but she’s a bit put out that God can’t seem to get her name right (he keeps calling her Jenny) and that he seems a bit whinier than she expected God to sound. Deciding to ignore him, she checks her phone messages and starts her normal day as a reporter. Until God emails her?

God’s attention is getting a bit creepy, and a second phone call from God has Jonna calling the police department. They promise to keep an eye out on suspicious activity. As a religion reporter, Jonna gets a lot of offers to write about church potlucks but this week she actually has news: a Buddest temple catches on fire, a Catholic church has started a community center (with a hunky director) and a church that was splitting might have decided to unite. Then there’s the church that wasn’t a denomination, but now is considering becoming one?and of course, God’s too-real attention. With the help of chocolate, a chocoholic coworker, and Jonna’s big brother, Jonna is on the path of the biggest story of the year-if it doesn’t find her first.

A MILE FROM SUNDAY sounded like a fun read. It is written in first person, and has a bit of sass. Jonna is a real character who instantly won sympathy, with her chocolate loving ways and her bad hair days. I couldn’t wait to find out how the news stories all tied together-and who was calling her pretending to be God?

Jonna was raised with parents who changed religions as often as some women change shoes. I am a traditional protestant, and found the story a bit difficult to understand at first with karma, and other New Age terms that I’m not real familiar with. Jonna, however, is a perfect person to be a religion reporter as she is familiar with Buddist, Catholics, Protestant, and other religious jargon. A MILE FROM SUNDAY is the first book in The Lightfoot Trilogy, and a teaser from the second book in the series is included at the back of the book, as well as discussion questions. There is also a guide to religious places to visit in Denver, and a guide to writing newspaper articles. A MILE FROM SUNDAY is Ms. Kadlecek’s debut fiction novel, she has several nonfiction books out. Ms. Kadlecek is definitely a name to watch.