Shawn Smucker delivers a beautifully allegorical tale with “These Nameless Things.”
Dan and his fellow villagers live on the plains between two mountains — one filled with horrors and one with hope. They find themselves waiting to move on to “the East” while forgetting the terrible events that occurred in the mountain they escaped from, while also trying to remember memories from their time before the mountain. But Dan is also waiting for something else — for his twin bother Adam to come out of the horrific mountain.
When a woman with dubious intentions comes out of the mountain, and an innocent-seeming girl returns from the East, everything changes.
As the villagers deal with these changes, they must find hope and grace to seek out the truth and find their true destiny. And Dan must decide if he can find the strength to go back into the evil mountain to find Adam.
“These Nameless Things” is an intriguing story that leads the reader to think about their own decisions and the impact they might have on others. It also allows us to focus on eternal matters. It is a story about grace, hope and forgiveness, showing us the impact of guilt and how it can consume us; reminds us that grace covers guilt; and the necessity in finding forgiveness for one’s self as well as others.
Smucker took inspiration from Dante’s “Inferno,” and fans of allegorical stories like “Hinds’ Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard will enjoy “These Nameless Things.” Also, fans of authors like James Markert, Mike Dellosso and the Dekkers will enjoy this story.
Five stars out of five.
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.