by John Woodbery
Review by Rick Michels
Hidden by John Woodbery, tells the story of Horatio “Montana” Blake, an up and coming anthropologist, somewhat in the mold of Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones. Montana is seeking to make a name for himself by swashbuckling through the jungles in search of valuable artifacts. But there the similarities end. While Indiana Jones is a heroic, larger than life character: handsome, witty, brave, even noble, with a penchant for beautiful women, Montana is somewhat of an anti-hero: arrogant, self-seeking, married to a similarly status-seeking wife, both neglecting their two young boys while they climb the pretentious ladders of academia. Thus the man needs redemption.
Horatio has his good qualities: he is a serious academic, hard-working, intrepid, doing serious anthropological research. But his focus is on his status, his career, his fame. He goes deep into the Amazon jungle to retrieve a rare artifact, a stone idol of a primitive tribe. But not because it belongs to the world in a museum, but rather to serve as his own tour-de-force, the feather in his academic cap, which will separate the great Horatio Blake from the rest of the academic rabble, all hoping to someday become the next Margaret Mead. Blake goes seeking an idol, and in the process, finds the Living God.
John Woodbery weaves a wonderful tale of a man seeking glory, while hiding an awful truth in the capture of the stone idol, which the tribesfolk fully believes does NOT belong in a museum but is vital to their survival and so must stay in the village and in the capable hands of their witch doctor. The scenes shift from the jungle, to Woodbery’s own native North Florida. From there, the serious academic book with self-serving supposed exploits Blake publishes of his conquest gets into the hands of a publisher looking for movie script jackpots. Woodbery then moves from the world of academia and into the world of Hollywood movie making, with lively characters who all seek to find their own treasure with a Hollywood hit. Accurately sensing deception in Montana’s self-serving depiction of his exploits, the movie scriptwriters and producers engage in a deception of their own, hiding their decision to re-write the script to shoot a movie depicting a more realistic yet satifying climax and finish and exposing Montana Blake’s own feet of clay.
The story builds slowly, but stick with it for the payoff: a story of God’s intervention in the foolishly dangerous folly of self-seeking men and women who have some “Hidden” and need the redemption God offers. Nearing the end, I had to wipe the tears from my eyes repeatedly as God began his redemptive work in unforeseen ways.
Order Hidden here
Below: John discusses Hidden and his life as a lawyer and writer:
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