Blameless    by Thom Lemmons Order:  USA  Can WaterBrook Press, 2007 (2007) Softcover    Reviewed by Jessica Weaver The back cover of Blameless touts it as a retelling of the biblical Book of Job. The Job-figure is Joe Barnes, a college English professor at a small university under financial turmoil. Joe has a burgeoning relationship with the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Alexis. When past events cause Joe to get into difficulty with the college authorities, he must decide whether he can risk his relationship and love for Alexis to have her save him from the fire. After reading and being very impressed with Lemmons' Sunday Clothes, I was quite disappointed with his newest novel. His writing is exquisite, but the plot falls far short of what I would consider necessary for the reader to have an enjoyable experience. The relationship between Joe and Alexis is not believable, as all the reader sees is an attraction which is vaulted into an undying love by the climax of the novel. The Job parallel seemed only to come in the final chapters. I found the whole work confusing, but felt that it could be a very good novel with more editing and clarification in the plot. For a Christian novel, I also felt there was very little spiritual talk except for Alexis going to church one Sunday and Joe being counseled by Alexis' pastor. I felt that this book must have been rushed to print, for I can see no other explanation for its weak character development and confused storyline. Lemmons has written other wonderful novels, and I would recommend you turn to one of those instead of Blameless. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews