Uncharted (WestBow, 2006) is the second book of Angela Hunt’s that I have read and while I much preferred, The Novelist, it must be said that Hunt is a great story teller. I must confess to enjoying happy endings which Uncharted does not provide, though it doesn’t end without hope. Since this story has been inspired by one of Jesus’ parables it is difficult for me to criticize the ending. The fact is life doesn’t always end happily.

The story focuses on five college friends who reunite after many years of not seeing each other. They plan to travel together to a remote island to complete a service project to honour the memory of a friend. However a storm disturbs their plans and their lives forever.

It took me a little while to connect to Hunt’s characters in this book as they are not people I would generally relate to. However Hunt has a great talent for weaving people’s lives together to create an engrossing story. This story challenges the reader’s beliefs about the way we spend our time and talents. Are we investing in temporal pleasures or in eternity?