The Spirit Man

Rating:
Summary: 'Spirit Man' Takes Reader on a Heartfelt Journey
Review: "The Spirit Man" asks "what if?" What if, like the book's hero, Johnny Sullivan, we had a second chance? What if we could go back and correct past mistakes?

The themes of "The Spirit Man" may be universal, but its impact is very personal. Maybe we all have a little of Johnny in each of us. Johnny's time travel reflects our own individual journeys into our past to come to grips with the choices we've made.

Sean K. Murphy's novel combines suspenseful storytelling, a touch of fantasy and a lot of heart to reach out and touch its readers. It's a confident, compelling and fast-moving narrative that's hard to resist. I truly enjoyed "The Spirit Man."

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Summary: "Spirit Man" Touches Your Soul
Review: Each of us carries a little piece of Johnny Sullivan inside of us. Who hasn't wondered "what if I had to do it all over again". Johnny has all the appearances of a successful life but his success cannot fill the void in his heart. This book is a wonderful reminder of the power of the 'small' choices that we make every day.

The characters are so real and familiar - beautifully developed by the author. The story touched my soul and took me back to a time when young love was all that mattered and dreams were pure and filled with possibilities. "Spirit Man" reminds us that the possibilities are still there if we just take the time to look for them.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to re-open their heart to their dreams!

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Summary: Innocence never lost
Review: Forty-something Johnny Sullivan, superficially successful (but inwardly empty) businessman stops his green Jag at a little spot in the road in the Arizona desert and meets a weathered Native American named Huber. "Probably Navajo." "Odd name for a Navajo."

He is the spirit man and he takes Johnny back in time to his last year in high school, to three days prior to the accidental death of his high school sweetheart, the love of his life, the only love of his life. What's Johnny to do? Save her, of course. But what will be the consequences? Beware. "Nature rights itself."

Murphy does a good job of maintaining the tension throughout. He has a nice sense of story and spins it well. Only problem is, after reading this 108-page novel of a perfect love retrieved from death, I felt as though I had experienced a Disney production of a romance novel written from a male point of view by a very skillful and dreamy teenager who dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" in the young adults fictional canon. It was like a visit to Pleasantville or a mid-fifties sit com. I mean, how perfect is Amanda? She's flawless. What about Johnny Sullivan, Golden Gloves Champ who in one lifetime conquers the business world? "...[T]he story of his life read like a resume. MBA by twenty-two, graduated at the top of his class. A successful management consultant. High tech entrepreneur made rich by an exuberant stock market." In another life he is set to "take advantage of his blue-collar roots and tell the stories of average people" inspired and helped in publication by his "guardian angel" who is, clever guy, a black CEO.

I think what Sean Murphy needs to do for his next opus is to give his players some really bad qualities, something worse than a little arrogance and the mercantile use of people, and have them commit some crime worse than punching a bully in the stomach. And no use of wise and wrinkled Native Americans and wise and black mentors. No more cliches. Just the awful, banal truth. A little fantasy is okay, but dream up something original. No Don Juan Coyote medicine men. And please make your heroine just a little bit of a...witch.

Rating:
Summary: A Mystical Journey
Review: I found this mystical journey to be fun and insightful. I found myself imagining what it would be like to take a similar journey back in time -- on my own time line. What choices would I make? How would nature reconcile those choices? What would happen to the people I love today? I read it straight through and had a great time doing it. Time to read it again!

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Summary: Old Friends,An Unforgettable First Love and Choices...
Review: Murphy does a phenomenal job of moving the reader through an experience all of us have dreamt about. Who wouldn't want to go back in time to "right the wrongs" or to change an event? What the reader may not have anticipated is the journey the Spirit Man takes us on as a result of having this opportunity. Filled with moving events and believable characters, the reader finds that, like any choice in life, there is something else one has to give up in order to follow a chosen path.

Read the Spirit Man and enjoy the unexpected twist at the end. After reading the book, I found myself thinking about old friends, old loves, and appreciating what I do have in my life today. For I know now that I wouldn't have these things had I made different choices 20 years ago.

A truly, moving, thought provoking, and inspiring story. Thank you Sean Murphy!

Rating:
Summary: A Romance Novel That Will Make You Think
Review: Part romance, part mystery and all compelling, "The Spirit Man" by Sean Murphy offers an inventive and thought-provoking twist on the fantasy of going back in time to change a pivotal event in one's life. For Johnny Sullivan, the novel's protagonist, that event is the death of Amanda, the love of his life. Twenty years later, a chance(?) encounter with a mystical Navajo gives Johnny the opportunity to prevent history from repeating. In the process, he learns that second chances carry unanticipated consequences.

Although its central theme is a fantasy, the novel is solidly rooted in reality: the characters, plot developments and emotions all ring true. It also shows how even seemingly-insignificant choices can shape our path in life. As it entertains and challenges the reader, "The Spirit Man" accelerates to an unexpected yet rewarding conclusion that leaves open the possibility of sequels to come...and I hope the wait won't be long.

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Summary: If only we could!
Review: Sean K. Murphy's "The Spirit Man" is not only an intriguing story but also offers a compelling incentive to search our own past and contemplate the choices we make in life. How many of us would change the past in some way if at the time we had known the future? You cannot read this book without relating to it. A very enjoyable "read."

Rating:
Summary: If only we could!
Review: Sean K. Murphy's "The Spirit Man" is not only an intriguing story but also offers a compelling incentive to search our own past and contemplate the choices we make in life. How many of us would change the past in some way if at the time we had known the future? You cannot read this book without relating to it. A very enjoyable "read."

Rating:
Summary: A compelling written novel
Review: Sean K. Murphy's The Spirit Man is a compelling written novel about Johnny Sullivan, a middle-aged man who seems to have everything, yet carries bitter regrets over the death of a high school sweetheart years before. A mysterious Native American grants him the power to go back in time and change the history of his life - but to what ends? Emotional, gripping, and thoughtful in its portrayal of love and the human struggle for redemption, The Spirit Man is highly recommended reading for those who enjoy an original and well crafted story. The Spirit Man is also available in a trade paperback edition (1401058019)

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Summary: Let the Spirit Man speak to you
Review: Sean Murphy captures the pure and powerful promise of teenage love in the '70's. If you want to remember the fragrance of 'Love's Baby Soft', the beat of Earth,Wind,& Fire, and the too long-ago feeling that you could and would right all wrongs in the world, then let "The Spirit Man" speak to you.