Takeaway: This really is as good as people have been saying. A story of a boy seeking after God in a round about way. Told wonderfully and with great love.
I was intrigued by Ian Cron’s first book, Chasing Francis. It was one of the early books I reviewed on this blog. I have followed Cron from a distance since then. I was mixed in my review about Chasing Francis. I am not mixed about Jesus, My Father, The CIA and Me. It is a fabulous book.
Cron lived an interesting life. His early years were living in London with an elegant mother, a father that in the movie business (and undercover for the CIA) and the wealth and privilege that you might expect. Within a couple years the family was back in the US, his father was an out of control alcoholic, and Ian was adjusting to life in the US, avoiding conflict with his family and trying to understand what it meant to know God.
I do not want to reveal too much of the actual story, but Cron takes us through his growing up years, college, and early marriage. An epilogue of sorts catches us up with where he is now. It is a story that I hope he will continue and give us more.
Cron clearly knows how to write, and tell a story. He is clear in the introduction that this is a memoir and he has taken a few liberties with memory to make it a good story. I am glad he is up front about that. It may put a few people off, but what he is communicating is the story of how Jesus changed him. What is important is the arc of that story. The details of the color of someone’s shirt or who said what really does not matter much in the grand scheme of most memoirs. I hope other memoir writers take notice and tell a good story.
Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook (Audiobook is discounted to $3.99 with purchase of Kindle Book)
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The book was provided by the publisher for purposes of review. I gave away the copy once I read it.