Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney

Claudia Mair Burney is not safe.

Wounded is not safe.

Thank God. Thank God for a book that challenges my faith. One that allows me to get my hands dirty and doesn't care that it pulled me in the mud. One that doesn't apologize for life, but rather takes this ugly life and shows me that Jesus is there.

The cross is not beautiful, the cross is ugly. What makes it beautiful is Christ. What he did for us-nailed to it, beaten bloody and unrecognizable, his death. All very nasty things. His resurrection and life are what makes the cross tolerable.

We're ugly people. And this story is about disease, loss, pain, hopelessness. It is about Jesus meeting us where we are and turning the ugly things into beauty.

At first, I had a bit of a hard time getting into the flow of the story. That's not any fault of the author (remember, I almost stopped reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, too. Thank God I kept on.) However, not too far into the book I got the rhythm, and make no mistake, there is a rhythm to this book. Some of the dialogue rang less than true for me, and some of the inner dialogue of the main man sometimes felt a little girly, but that wasnt' enough to make me stop reading and it certainly didn't bother me (like it might have in a book with no story.)

I'm sure I could nit-pick the things people might not like about Wounded, but I give less than a damn what other people think about it. It was a great story. I went into as a woman who remembers her Catholic upbringing, who understands her protestant life, one who is comfortable and confident in her walk with God in the present, and one who wants a story to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. I got what I asked for.

Honestly though, this book is not for everyone. I can guess that most fans of rigid Christian fiction won't like it, however, people who like things like Relief and Coach's Midnight Diner will not have the issues with it that some staunch CBA romance readers might find.

I'm more of a horror-stigmata story girl, rather than love-stigmata story, but this was a fabulous read. I was worried I wouldn't like it. I didn't want to have to tell my friend I didn't like her book. But that's not going to happen. I was not disappointed and I think this story will stick with me.