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Book
Review – House of Gold
by
Bud Macfarlane, Jr.
Publisher: St. Jude Media
Book review by Tom Gilbert
In the latter part of 1999 there was some speculation,
even predictions, of an eminent doomsday when the calendar clicked over
to 2000. Remember Y2K? In hindsight it was more a “why worry”? The big computer
meltdown fear was a fizzle.
What if a computer chip problem embedded in machines across the world
really did cause a collapse? Plunged into technological dark ages,
food and medicine would run out and anarchy would ensue. Everyone
would suddenly face challenges that are more immediate and intense
than our normal concerns.
Bud MacFarlane’s third novel, House
of Gold,
takes the premise of a millennium bug and weaves
another terrific, page-turning tale of fear, doubt, faith and perseverance.
The story
combines the apocalyptic suspense of Pierced by
a Sword with
the tight knit band of friends from Conceived Without
Sin,
but the end time scenario is based on the possibility
of technology backfiring rather than biblical prophetic doom. This
makes the book
more plausible for a wider audience. MacFarlane
does have an agenda with his novels (and they are a loosely connected
trilogy of sorts),
but he’s not pushing his religion as much as demonstrating how
faith in God and divine love can carry us through
the bleakest times.
The key character is Buzz Woodward, the recovering
alcoholic and decidedly “beat to a different drummer” individual who
struggles with personal past demons while walking through some very
tough present tribulations. This walk takes on a literal, and epic,
dimension when he embarks on the several hundred mile journey from
Cleveland to the promised land of New Hampshire where his family has
holed up in preparation for the new millennium computer crash. He’d
been convinced of this endeavor by his buddy, Sam Fisk, and his own Internet research. This
remote hideaway is stocked with provisions and planned with painstaking detail. When the
lights go out they knew their families would have little chance of survival in a metropolitan
area.
The irony is Buzz's unforeseen accident that leaves him badly
injured and in a coma a couple of months before the New Year. He comes
to after the computer crash confronted by a throwback world echoing
the hard life of colonial settlers. These survivors are left to defend
themselves with guile, common sense, hard work and a faith that gets
tested constantly.
Without modern medication a flu epidemic the first winter of this new era wipes out a large portion
of the population. Food is scarce, vigilantes are ransacking towns and good people
and the intimacy developed between Buzz and his companions (including Mark Johnson, Sam and Ellie
Fisk, and a friend known to most as the Man) allows us to peer into the often troubled hearts
of believers. We identify with these characters and mourn their losses. There’s a couple times in the book where
I nearly yelled out loud, “no!” when heartrending sorrow threatens to overwhelm our heroes.
House of Gold raises some good questions. How would
we react to living in a world where daily survival is a challenge
and when despair can be a frequent traveling companion? Lest you think
it’s all a tale of woe, be assured there is much to cheer about,
too. In the end it is relationships that matter: those of your family, friends,
wayfaring strangers, enemies, and God. It lends credibility to the idea that redemption
is not a one time event, but a continuing process to be worked out over our earthly lives.
Bud MacFarlane
chooses to give his books away free as part of
the St.
Jude Media/Mary Foundation ministry
(you can choose to make a small donation to cover
shipping). To get your copy and find out more
visit the web
site
at CatholiCity.com.
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