The Reason by William Sirls

When Facing the Impossible, Can You Only Believe?

Storm clouds gather over a small Michigan town. As thunder shakes the sky, the lights inside St. Thomas church flicker . . . and then go out.

All is black until a thick bolt of lightning slices the sky, striking the church’s large wooden cross—leaving it ablaze and splintered in two.

When the storm ends—the search for answers begins.

James Lindy, the church’s blind minister, wonders how his small congregation can repair the cross and keep their faith in the midst of adversity. And he hears the words “only believe.”

Macey Lewis, the town’s brilliant young oncologist, is drawn to Alex, a young boy who’s recently been diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia. She puts her hope in modern medicine—yet is challenged to “only believe.”

And Alex’s single mom, who has given everything she can to her boy—is pleading with God to know the reason this is happening . . . to save her son. But she only hears silence and wonders how she can possibly “only believe.”

The Reason is a milestone debut novel, opening with a blast and never letting up as it introduces us to everyday characters who are wrestling with the questions: where is God when bad things happen? And does God ignore the prayers of the faithful? The answer each character receives will astound readers while offering an unforgettable call to hope, to change, to . . . only believe.

My review:

   When this book was first offered for review, there was another I had been watching for, so I passed on it, though it sounded really good. I was happy to see it available again, or still available, a while back, so I requested it. Due to the busyness of the holidays, it sat unread for a while, but I finally picked it up and read it. This is a terrific book. It is fiction, and one might scoff at the things that happen in the book. They are miraculous, and don't seem to happen, but yet they are things that happened with regularity when Jesus walked the earth.

   The author came up with a great plot and cast of characters, and wove them together to create a masterpiece of a story. Though this is a fiction novel, and the people and events are fictional, it left me with a sense of wonder and amazement, and this thought:  If we truly had faith and believed what we asked of God, just imagine what could happen. Unfortunately, we have pigeon holed God, and relegated miracles to the time of Jesus.

   This is a great story, and well written. It is also a message to Christians, a message we need to take to heart. God is capable of doing so much more than we ask and expect of Him. He is just waiting for us to have the faith and belief for Him to do it.

   I enjoyed this book a lot. It was definitely worth reading, and I would recommend it to anyone. A great read.

About the author:
Born on April 3, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan, to a construction worker and a homemaker, William Sirls grew up the youngest of six children. Active in both sports and imagination, he aspired primarily to become either a professional golfer or attorney. Realizing he didn’t have the talent or the grades for those careers, he shifted gears and went in another direction.


Over the course of his life, he has experienced both great highs and tremendous lows— some born of chance, some born of choice. Years before the publication of his first novel, he worked 60 hour weeks as a senior vice president at one of the nation’s largest investment firms, somehow finding time to read three to four books per week and to rough out ideas for different stories of his own.

In early 2004, while visiting his oldest daughter at a Detroit hospital, he came across a young cancer patient that was being pulled in a little red wagon by his parents. At the time, Sirls had no idea that he was looking at three characters that would appear more than eight years later in The Reason.
He was incarcerated in 2007 for wire fraud and money laundering. While in prison, Sirls learned a great deal more than he ever bargained for.

Life lessons involving faith, grace, patience, and forgiveness are evident in The Reason.
He is the father of two and makes his home in southern Michigan.

“Prison is one of those things I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but at the same time there are few things I would trade that experience for … From a spiritual standpoint, it gave me the opportunity to slow down and realize what is important. As my faith grew, I became anxious to share the things I learned, so I figured what better way to do that than to rewrite my manuscript in a way that was a lot less magical and a lot more spiritual.”

The Reason is available from Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy.