One Shining Soul

By: Wayne L. Wilson
Publisher: Bookbaby
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
ISBN: 979-8350961256
Reviewed by: Rebecca Jane Johnson
Review Date: September 1, 2024

One Shining Soul by Wayne L. Wilson mixes epic soul reckoning with sci-fi fantasy. This brilliant novel also pulls off cultural critique while telling a compelling, relatable story. Told from the perspective of an ordinary father, Joseph Timmerman, who owns a soul food restaurant in Santa Monica, the narrative wrestles with the question of what it means to be the father of a daughter who is a true miracle worker. Such a wrestling match involves authentic spirituality tangling with some of the most soulless aspects of being human today: big business, politics, religion, and media.

When notorious gangbanger Ernesto Padilla is stabbed to death on July 4 at the Venice Beach Boardwalk, Olisa Timmerman revives him, and the story makes the Los Angeles local news. This publicity concerns Olisa’s father, Joseph Timmerman, because now the family’s secret is out—Joseph’s daughter, Olisa, has been able to heal the sick and bring the dead back to life since she was a child.

The novel’s central story is seasoned with powerful flashbacks: in 1992, Olisa was born in a motel while the Los Angeles riots raged at the doorstep. The riots are vividly described in cinematic detail. Such historically realistic flashbacks throughout the novel help piece together the extraordinary life of Olisa Timmerman, gripping the reader from opening to the final words. It’s a book that could easily adapt to film and is equal parts character and plot driven.

In present day, after Olisa openly performs this miracle on the dead gangbanger, we meet Eva Sanchez, an ambitious reporter who is hungry for an exclusive in-depth profile of the “Good Witch of Venice Beach.” The build-up to Olisa’s national fame is riveting and complex. So, in addition to flashbacks, the main narrative is buttressed by urgent news casts reporting on Olisa’s miracle work, media coverage that is rife with conflict, scandal, greed, and prejudice.

As Olisa’s powers become more widely known, more people visit Venice beach, “the hippest and most popular party beach in the world,” according to Eva Sanchez. The sensational news media roll the cameras when L.A.’s Mayor Halpern Happy Halverson insists on getting a reading from Olisa, though she warns him that this is not a game to her. Private information could embarrass the unwitting mayor. From religion to politics to media to Hollywood to the music industry, every aspect of modern life squirms under the scrutiny in this sweeping novel.

To escape the mayhem, Joseph visits an empty park one evening and encounters a stranger who riffs otherworldly on a golden trumpet. Wilson really shows his writerly chops through gorgeous description of the stranger’s music: “Every note from his horn proceeded to take on a life of its own, a living breathing wave of intense, steadfast emotions. What I experienced was the melisma of a virtuoso who breathed a lifetime into each musical note. The man rhythmically swayed while he played. It seemed like the music poured out of every fiber of his body.”

The otherworldly guides help Joseph and Olisa cope with the difficult choice: should Olisa hide from the spotlight and keep her gifts quiet? Or, should she allow her brother Noel—a wildly successful promoter for various artists and musicians—to build her a platform and promote her as a motivational artist to a world-wide audience?

While Joseph works to protect Olisa, pressures from ambitious reporters and famous actors and influencers feed off Olisa’s growing fame, revealing tension between genuine spiritual healing and parasitic imposters. This tension builds to a feud in the Timmerman family, which only increases during the lead up to a mass event—a universal healing concert in Washington, DC where the vested parties include VPs of Sales from Fortune 500 companies, celebrities, politicians, and musicians. All these characters may seem larger-than-life, but Wilson has a miraculous way of making their concerns and hearts resonate with those of ordinary people. Navigating crises of a broken world that is desperate for miracles, Joseph Timmerman takes action, makes decisions, and lends support in his role as father to a miracle worker.

Quill says: One Shining Soul is a rare gem: an epic story that satisfies the imagination with sci-fi fantasy, while it also makes readers think—maybe the good guys are having more fun than the bad guys and maybe miracles are as real as a belly rumbling for some hearty soul food.

For more information on One Shining Soul, please visit the author's website at: wlwilson.com