Book Review-The Grace Effect

THE GRACE EFFECT                
By    
Larry Taunton     

     I just finished reading this book and would absolutely recommend it to all of you.  It has opened my eyes to a lot of things.                           
     In his book, The Grace Effect,  Larry Taunton describes the joy as well as the horrors of adopting a 10-year-old  girl named Sasha.  We in the United States would normally think of this as a joyful experience, this story.  However, this story takes place in the Ukraine.  Yes, I know there were differences in foreign countries.  Yes, I know there were inequities in foreign countries.  But, Mr. Taunton wrote this story in such a manner that I found it to be a double horror.
     The first horror was that there is a present day country so steeped in antiquated, inhuman traditions that it defies the American imagination.  Graft and corruption were the norm.  Basically, taunting the Ukrainian traditions in the face of an “American” seemed to be the rule of law.  Very little value was placed upon the lives of orphans.  It seemed that very much value was placed on seeing how much money could be wrenched for the hands of those who sought to adopt.  When it wasn’t money they Ukrainian government wanted, it was simply the “let’s make them wait” game that they wanted to play.
     Mr. Taunton not only told the story of his trials and tribulations in this matter, he also shared some of the Ukraine’s history.  The despotic rulers that prevailed over these people down through the years, created a truly Atheistic lifestyle.  As I reflected on their history, their current day actions began to make sense. 
     The second horror that Mr. Taunton brought to light is how the United States of America could very well be headed in the same direction as the Ukraine and several other European countries.  He had made that statement in his book and I wanted to take issue with him about it at first.  However, the more he described his trials throughout the adoption process, the more I began to see that his statements were correct.  Without intervention from God, the United States is headed in the same general direction.
     Thomas Nelson Publishers sent me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.