review of Ian Morgan Cron's "Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

What can I say? I liked the book “Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me”. Ian Morgan Cron writes in a delightfully engaging style, which invites the reader to come into his world, to share his pain, and more importantly, to share in the grace he experienced which allowed him to overcome the demons of his childhood and young adult years.


Billed as ‘a memoir…of sorts’, Cron describes a childhood and adolescence of trying to please a father who couldn’t be pleased. Along the way he describes the terrors of life with an alcoholic parent, his own descent into alcoholism, hitting his bottom, and, thanks to the grace of God, his road to recovery. As he writes about his parents, his Nanny, his wife and children, life on two continents, adolescent angst, disillusionment and joys, things seem so real that at times I thought I must be reading a book of non-fiction. This is the gut-wrenching stuff of life, which usually comes across as sounding false when we try to accurately describe it.

Learn about the difference in jumping and falling, a deliberate descent versus spiraling downward, totally out of control. Be reminded that sometimes it’s not about you (page 212). Learn about God as the grace of glue that mends us (page 248) and be reminded that no one should eat alone (also on 248)

This book is so readable on so many levels: are you struggling with the idea of a loving God? Read this book. Read this book if your family has been torn apart by alcoholism, or if your alcoholism is tearing your family apart. Read this book if your life seems to be a roller coaster ride that the attendant won’t let you get off of. And you can even read this book if you’re just looking for a feel good story with which to curl up by the fireplace.

Warning: (tongue in cheek) One of the great things about this book is that Christian writers endorse it, and you won’t find any gratuitous sex, profanity or violence. Cron is also the author of “Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale”. My prayer is that he has more books waiting to be written

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”