A sad but beautifully uplifting story here, one I enjoyed immensely even tho it’s not my usual bag, will stay with me a while this one, just stunning.

This is a heartwarming and meaningful story of a man who has lost his wife, and the people he meets on his journey of grief. Highly recommend.

Ben Sharpton has previously written thrillers but The Awakening of Jim Bishop is a different genre, being literary fiction. It begins with the introduction to six different characters connected to a hit and run accident. As each of their lives unfold, the interconnectedness to each other is revealed. Jim Bishop is the main protagonist whose wife has recently died of a stroke and so, a homeless veteran, minister, nurse and two employees of a major Charlotte Company have their lives changed. Opportunities, new friends and meaning must be found amongst the story of loss, hope and healing in life. Overall, an average feel-good story, if somewhat idealistic, so only a two-and-a-half-star rating. With thanks to Black Rose Writing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given, without bias.

I found this story to be ultimately uplifting, which is what I was in the mood for. This writing here is pretty good, and I stayed mostly engaged. Connections between the characters was interesting too.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

A tragic but beautiful story by Ben Sharpton that will stay with me for a long time.
Jim Bishop recently lost his job and then unexpectedly his wife, Jean, suffers a stroke whilst she was out helping some homeless people. They looked after her until the emergency services arrived but sadly she lost her battle in the hospital.
Jim is distraught and left feeling incapable of life without her.
The story tells the steps he took to find meaningful ways to survive and the people he met along his journey.
A wonderful storyline and meaningful characters who were intrinsically entwined. Highly recommend this to all readers.

This story was not what I expected when I requested the book.

Jim Bishop’s beloved wife, Jean, dies suddenly from a stroke. She has been out doing some survey or something with the homeless when she collapses. They stay with her and try to help her until an ambulance arrives and do not steal from her.

Kerry Noland, CEO of Bell Intelliservices, knocks a young man off his bike one night and, seeing there are no witnesses, flees the scene. The next car along is being driven by Todd Sanders, coincidentally one of Kerry’s employees, he drives over the bike and thinks HE has killed the young man. There was, however, a witness - a young pregnant homeless woman. These lives and others intersect in various ways as Jim tries to give back by helping the homeless.

I don’t know how this book ended up in the mystery/thriller category as it was not mysterious or thrilling. To me it read as rather aspirational and sentimental. Although it could be considered heartwarming, I found it to be a little cliched and saccharine. There was a character called Eugene who seemed to appear all over the place offering pearls of wisdom. I think he may have been supposed to be like some sort of guardian Angel. I don’t know about that but I do know that I didnt enjoy reading this. The plot was thin and there was little in the way of character development as the book was mercifully short. Thanks to Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

The Awakening of Jim Bishop
This Changes Things
by Ben Sharpton
I will say I LOVED The AWakening of Jim Bishop. . Full of inspiration, hope, and feelings for those with less.. The homeless have ways of teaching others they are aware of, have been more than less always. After losing his wife, Jim Bishop sets out to help and thank those the homeless who helped his dying wife. His life is changed, and he is not alone in grieving his loss.
This book touched me to the heart. Bless Ben Sharpton for writing the Awakening Of Jim Bishop.