Review and Giveaway for “Leaving Darkness”

About the Book

Title: Leaving Darkness

Author: Greg Schaffer

Genre: Christian Fiction

Release date: October 31, 2018

Long-haul truck driver Lowell Ferguson is on the brink of suicide. He is haunted by the guilt of a horrible secret from his senior year of high school. Therapy and antidepressants aren’t able to lift him out of depression. At twenty-eight years old, he believes his life has dissolved into a meaningless annoyance. Only the strong bond with his lone friend—a Chihuahua named Rufus—keeps him from choosing death. But when Lowell learns Rufus may have cancer, he fears there will be no reason left to live if his beloved dog dies.

While awaiting the diagnosis, he comes across a flier for a Christian support group promising hope and freedom. A skeptic and an apatheist, he nonetheless reluctantly decides to join the group. Through this joining, he finds what he has been yearning for—a path toward leaving the darkness of depression. This first step provides Lowell the courage to do what he must to escape his guilt and finally confront his past.

 

Click here to purchase your copy.

Leaving Darkness is one of those books that took me a while to enjoy reading.  However, I do have to say at no point in the book did I like Alan.  I thought he was a self-involved control nut who I wanted to see get his just reward.

On the other hand, the main character, Lowell Ferguson, became my favorite character in the book.  Stuck in his belief that his friend Alan had struck and killed a man while driving tore him to pieces.  He found himself in a dark place he could not escape.  Moreover, he had no real friends, was estranged from his family and worked as a long-distance truck driver, unable to let anyone into his life, except his dog.

But through a series of events, Lowell finds himself attending a recovery group.  This group helps him open up, take chances and finally move forward with his life.

In the meantime, Alan believes he has it all – money, power, a great job, a great home, a beautiful wife and two kids.  He has everything a man could want.  But he ends up throwing it all away and losing everything.

In the meantime, Lowell finds God, friends, his family, and more.  By the end of the book, Lowell has more than Alan.  So if you want to read a book that involves dreams that are lost and then found again, check out this book for yourself.

About the Author

Greg Schaffer participated in a small Christian-based group ministry in 2011 and became a facilitator with the ministry to help others find their direction toward a purposeful life. His firsthand experiences of lives transformed through such healing groups led him to write Leaving Darkness, hoping the tale of transformation through God’s grace may encourage those lost in their own darkness to reach out for help. The author of two previous novels, Greg lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and three rescue dogs.

 

Guest Post from Greg

As first a group participant and then a volunteer for Restore Small Groups for many years, I’ve seen firsthand the healing power of small group ministries. Many want to change but don’t know how. Leaving Darkness tells the fictional story of one lost in depression to the point of contemplating suicide who happens upon such a Christian-based ministry. Although he is reluctant at first, he gives the process a chance, and through it leaves his darkness, finds his faith, and becomes the person God meant for him to be. I was called to write this story in hope that someone with similar struggles may read Leaving Darkness and realize that there is a way out of the darkness when everything else has failed.

Blog Stops

Godly Book Reviews, February 16

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, February 17

Bukwurmzzz, February 18

Girls Living For God’s Glory, February 19

Power of Words, February 19 (Spotlight)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 20

Maureen’s Musings, February 21

Stephanie’s Life of Determination, February 22

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 22

Bibliophile Reviews, February 23

Janices book reviews, February 24

Carpe Diem, February 25

Texas Book-aholic, February 26

A Baker’s Perspective, February 27

Just the Write Escape, February 28

Bigreadersite, March 1

Artistic Nobody, March 1 (Spotlight)

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Greg is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link the below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/db11/leaving-darkness-celebration-tour-giveaway