Book Review: Saving Elijah

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Saving Elijah     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Fran Dorf
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Mystery   Supernatural   Psychological Suspense   Thriller
Putnam, Jun 2000, $25.95, 380 pp.

The ways of God seems mysterious especially when a child is ill. Psychologist Dinah Galligan can only wonder why her five-year old son Elijah has suffered so much from physical and developmental problems. Now the lad lies in a coma in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

However, the strangest twist of all comes when Dinah meets the ghost of her former lover Seth Lucien haunting the hospital's corridors. Soon Seth confronts Dinah wherever she is, forcing the despondent mother to face truths better buried in her subconscious. As Dinah begins to lose her grip on reality, her two older children and her spouse flee from her. Ultimately believing that Seth is real and not her imagination, Dinah strikes a bargain with the ghost: her body for her son. Elijah soon awakens from his coma with new abilities that appear supernatural.

SAVING ELIJAH is a taut psychological thriller that centers on a mother willing to sell her soul to save her child. The story line is exciting, intense, and yet often humorous as the reader wonders whether Dinah is losing her mind or actually consenting to a Faustian pact. Dinah and Elijah are intrepid charcaters and Seth (real or not) seems so devilishly tempting. The remaining family members cannot hide their exasperation or frustrations, rounding out a fabulous tale that should make Fran Dorf a household name.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner