I Am The Messenger

by: Markus Zusak

I read this book for 2 reasons.  1.  My mom downloaded it to our kindle.  2.  I read The Book Thief by the same author and absolutely loved it!  Okay, maybe the 1 and 2 should be in reverse order.  The Book Thief hit me right where I love to read, historical fiction.  It was set in WWII Germany and was told from the perspective of death.  Yes, you read that right, death told the story.  It was an amazing story of a young girl who went to live in a foster home during the WWII time and how death surrounded her with friends, relatives, etc as the family harbored a Jew, went and fought in the war, and battled sickness and disease.  AMAZING book!  I would recommend it to anyone! 

Okay, back to the book I am actually reporting on, I Am The Messenger.  One of the things I loved about The Book Thief was the personification and death telling the story.  I Am The Messenger did not have that and I was disappointed at first.  However, I eventually got lost in the book and couldn't put it down.  I Am The Messenger is about a young man named Ed who receives strange messages printed on Aces of playing cards after he helps stop a bank robbery.  The messages lead him to people who need help in one way or the other and Ed has to figure out how to help them on his own.  Basically, Ed was a nobody before all these messages begin to happen and they very positively impact his life.  Aside from the crude language occasionally, I really liked the book a lot, especially near the end when the messages started to become a little more personal for Ed.  I felt like the story could be "based on a true story" even though it wasn't and probably couldn't be.  It inspired me to think of more ways to do nice things for people, even if I don't get messages on playing cards!  Check it out...a great read!