Forgiveness 4 You

March 2, 2015
Former Catholic priest Gabriel McKenna is working in a bookstore when advertising executive Madeline Murray walks in. Like most people who meet him, she feels compelled to confess her sins. When Gabe helps her come to terms with her guilt, she decides that he has a natural talent for absolution, and thinks of a brilliant marketing schemeâforgiveness for hireâbut is unaware that Gabe's own hidden sins might implicate the business. Gabe's first-person narrative is interspersed with the electronic missives of Madeline's staff and their particularly delightful "marketing" material (sample tagline: "Expert Exonerations for Everyday Sins"). Bauer (Forever Marriage) has hit upon a thought-provoking concept: Can confession and absolution function in a non-religious setting? Can absolution be purchased and, if so, from whom? But though the concept itself reaches towards the literary, the novel reads more like the steamy romances Gabe sells at the bookstore. Creative takes on confession and forgiveness (quoting everything from Oscar Wilde to, of course, the Bible) drown in unbelievable and cliché-filled prose. The great idea and solid plot wish for better writing quality to match.

January 15, 2015
In a time when most anything can be bought and sold, forgiveness and absolution are hot commodities.Though Gabriel McKenna, a former Catholic priest, left the church during an emotional breakdown on the altar one Easter morning, he can't seem to escape his calling. As a bookstore employee who is barely able to afford his modest lifestyle, he finds that people are drawn to him, seeking forgiveness and understanding of their past indiscretions. Madeline Murray, a high-powered executive, stumbles into Gabe's bookshop and almost immediately reveals her deepest regrets about her failed marriage and stint as a stepmother. While this kind of thing might seem unusual, Gabe comments that it happens all the time: "People regularly dissolved in my presence-even those who didn't realize that they were harboring shame." From this chance encounter, an unlikely business partnership is formed when Madeline realizes that what Gabe can offer-forgiveness without religious affiliation, absolution for a price-might be exactly what a media-saturated and selfish society needs. Through a series of emails, text transcripts and feverish memos developing "Forgiveness 4 You" as a brand, interspersed with Gabe's first-person narration, the novel swings between comedy and tragedy, all while meditating on the themes of guilt and forgiveness. Bauer (The Forever Marriage, 2012, etc.) writes with humor and compassion about a business that is both bizarre and entirely all too real and the flawed and ultimately human characters behind it.

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February 15, 2015
Something about ex-priest Gabe McKenna draws confessions out of those he meets. But when the CEO of an advertising company meets Mckenna in the bookstore where he works, she sees a business opportunity and brings him along for the creation of Forgiveness 4 You, a company that offers forgiveness for a fee. Just before launch, though, pieces of McKenna's past, which he went into the priesthood to atone for, crop up and threaten to derail the entire enterprise. The author of previous novels, including The Forever Marriage (2012), has crafted an exploration of absolution that manages to be simultaneously irreverent and compassionate. Bauer is adept at quickly drawing characters during their impromptu confession sessions with McKenna. The ex-priest himself, lost and lonely, is a moving and relatable example of human frailty. McKenna narrates most of the book, while e-mails from the ad-agency staffers give just a surface glimpse into their minds, highlighting the difference between self-reflection and mindless ambition. It's a well-rounded reminder that sometimes the hardest person to forgive is oneself.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)