Elijah's Coin by Steve O Brien

Elijah's Coin is the story of Tom, a young man who has suffered a tragic loss and is spiraling out of control. He's angry, antisocial, and rapidly descending into a life of crime. Then, during a night of folly, as he brazenly commits burglary, Tom encounters the night watchman Elijah King, a mysterious figure with a shrouded past. Elijah, unexpectedly, doesn't turn Tom in but instead becomes a stern and rather cryptic mentor to him. Rather than laying his lessons out in a straightforward manner, Elijah gives Tom an enigmatic coin and sends him on a mission of self-discovery. Each step of the journey enriches Tom's sense of the world and of the contributions an individual can make to it, so that through searching for others he ironically comes to know himself. Each meeting also provides a piece of the puzzle that is Elijah and his give to get philosophy. A serious conflict between his new values and a thirst for vengeance arises, however, when Tom finds himself face-to-face with the darkest figure from his own past.

My Review:
This is a cool book. The story is told from the main character, Tom's view. He is a young college student who decides to rob a store and meets a man, Elijah King, who gives him a coin and turns his life around.

I review Christian books, and usually Christian fiction. This book is not what I would call Christian fiction, but the themes of the book are Christian: doing kindness, good, etc. And the author got the idea for the story from stories of the prophet Elijah in the Bible. There are stories, almost legends, about Elijah the prophet and coins, which led to this story. More on that here.

It is a short book, not taking me very long to read. The book is geared for young people, but anyone would enjoy this book. It challenges the reader to not sit back and be average, but to go out and do something with your life, and do more to help others.

Added to the "coolness factor" of the book, is two actual coins sealed in the back of the book that are replicas of the coin described in the book, down to the "EK" on one side, and G2G on the other, with the reader being encouraged to keep one coin and pass one on.

About the author:
Steve O'Brien is an award winning author and lawyer. He is an experienced litigator and international businessman who serves as General Counsel for a global consulting company. O'Brien earned his juris doctorate from George Washington University Law School and served on the editorial board of The George Washington International Law Review. O'Brien lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Becky; they have two children.

Elijah's Coin is available from A&N Publishing.

Thanks to Cadence Marketing Group for the review copy.