4 out of 4 stars
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The Arrow That Flies by Day is a deep and inspiring story that cannot leave anyone who reads it unchanged. The challenges that John Thaddeus, the protagonist, faces are a multitude, but through his faith and the support he got from his loved ones, he somehow manages to overcome. This work of fiction by John Servant got me so absorbed and entangled to the story that I refused to put the book down. This could be because it covered a wide range of themes I was inclined to, which involved loyalty, love, persistence, determination, faith, and authenticity.
The story is set in Paterson, United States of America. John had been a trouble child when growing up. When his father passed away due to heart-attack, him and Joan, his mother, were left to mend for themselves, and it was not easy. The principal of John’s school, Sister Francis, stepped in to assist the family and later on, became like a parent to John when his mom died to cancer. After graduating from high school, he served as a Marine, and learnt tough skills that shaped his tough character, and built up an unrelenting attitude of a fighter within him. Before he was deployed from the Marines in Afghanistan, he had incurred a gun wound in his lower abdomen that changed his whole life forever.
After leaving the Marines, he did not know what was next for him in life. He wanted to find a purpose for himself. He wanted to matter, and he wanted more in life that what he was getting. He prayed long to God asking for guidance and direction. His prayers eventually got answered, and he discovered he is supposed to be a kicker in football. Without any hesitations, he followed his calling with determination and became not just a highly esteemed NFL kicker, but also a good neighbor and friend to the many he met on his journey. He was also very humble and loving. When he was slapped on his left cheek, he turned the other cheek as well.
I loved everything about the book. The author made the book short, just 74 pages, yet profound and insightful. However, I must say that the book took a turn I was not expecting in the end. While enjoying reading about John’s consistent achievements, something terrible happened to him. Everything was going well in his life - he just won for his team, and was ready to tell Susan, his high school classmate, how he felt about her. I must say that Susan and I did not see the author’s surprise coming. We even cried over John. He was such a good, handsome, tough gentleman, and he did not deserve what he suffered.
Other than the surprise hit by the author, there was nothing I disliked about the book. I only noticed just one grammatical error, where the pronoun “she” was used instead of “he”. The flow of the book was smooth, and not deterred by any editorial errors such as misplaced punctuation marks. Due to this, reading the story not only made it easy for me to visualize effectively as though I was watching a movie, but it also made me felt like I was being featured in the movie itself because the story felt so real and tangible!
I enjoyed how the author described the football matches. He captured and emphasized every details of John’s actions on the field, from the angle at which he kicked the ball at, to the kilometers the ball reached, and even more. If ever the author’s writing career does not become successful later on for some reason, (though I doubt it might ever happen because he is a great writer) he would fit just fine as a football commentator! I even watched a few videos online to see what this American Football was all about, because it clearly was not the same as ours here in South Africa - based on the thorough description given by Servant. That was how fascinating and enthralling Servant got me into this sport.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I picked up a lot of life lessons from this book, and everything in the is worth reading. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to build up on their faith in God, because John was a believer, and he quoted the Bible verses every once in the while. However, a non-believer alike would benefit from reading the book since it does not just focus on religion entirely, but on the meaning of loving and caring for others, being motivated, and following your dreams through fire and storm. My favorite line from the book was John's response when asked why he thought he could play pro ball. He answered, “Because no one ever told me I couldn’t.”
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The Arrow That Flies By Day
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