Sparrow wasn't sure why she was compelled to go to an Arizona canal during a thunderstorm. She followed the urge anyway and was struck by lightning. Since then she's been hearing the voice of Joan of Arc and discovered she's pregnant even though she's still a virgin. Sparrow is part of a prophecy, she is the mother of the new Messiah.

Not everyone is happy about this, a Cardinal in the Vatican hires someone to kill the young pregnant woman. A priest named Kilian has also had a vision and goes to find and help the girl. There are dark forces at work though and the world may not be ready for the second coming.

Lightning Child by Martha Pound Miller was kind of a mixed bag for me, I love the characters and how they changed throughout the story and the story itself was excellent. For instance I loved that the mother of the new Messiah came from a rough background and things get worse for her as the story moves along. You see her go through the hardships that teenage girls face when they become pregnant. She wants to do what's right but she isn't sure what the right thing is and you see her become a much stronger person do to her hardships.

In the case of Kilian you see him in the beginning as someone who has lost his faith and is at a low point in life. When he has his vision life gets worse for him but he never stops trying to do the task that he was given. I thought it was interesting how he is trying to do the right thing for Sparrow and is still met with judgement from others. People in the story think that he got sparrow pregnant but despite people not believing in him he still does the right thing, which is why I admired the character.

The down side of this book was that there isn't much action or suspense, I liked the main character's stories but there was never a moment where I thought they wouldn't have a happy ending. There is a couple of action scenes that just didn't seem to work and another one that didn't make sense. The story has a couple of great villains but I never felt they had a chance to stop the protagonists. What I was wondering was if the bad guys would face some kind of redemption and that is where the story got interesting.

Lightning Child by Martha Pound Miller is a book that has its moments. This is a story about Faith change, perseverance and redemption. There is a good message here about how it doesn't matter what background you come from, you are important no matter what. Another message is that even in the darkest moments there will always be a light if you look for it. If you like great characters and a great message, you will like this book. ( )