Watch Over Me

Written by Christa Parrish

Narrated by Neil Shah

Christian Book Award finalist Christa Parrish has garnered an ECPA Book of the Year nomination for this poignant tale. After Deputy Ben Patil finds an abandoned newborn in rural South Dakota, he and his wife Abbi seem the perfect foster parents. But the infant's arrival opens old wounds for Abbi and reveals how much Ben has changed since his devastating tour in Afghanistan. "Parrish's deft characterization pulls readers into a storyline filled with raw emotion."-Romantic Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449837136

Reviews for Watch Over Me

[kdf_333_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

LOVED THIS BOOK it had the same kind of themes as a Charles Martin book, loss, love, forgiveness, and healing with time. it did not have the lyrical quality of writing but it engaged me none the less. the characters were very real. and the healing and the time it took was very real. a great book. i could relate to them very well.

[carriewuj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm systematically reading through this author's work -- having started with Stones for Bread -- so far none measure up, but I can see her progress and growth as a writer. This story about a cop who finds an abandoned baby and ends up fostering her with his wife who is unable to have children really gets into some interesting issues. Essentially at the heart of the story is a crisis of faith, but it plays out differently for each character involved. Parrish is very talented at creating complex characters that the reader cares about and weaves a complicated plot (sometimes too much heaped in) and while the ending may not be happy, it is meaningful.

[karin7-11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4 stars

Benjamin Patil, Deputy, is struggling with depression and survival guilt after serving in Afghanistan, his wife Abbi suffers from an eating disorder and guilt and their marriage isn't really alive at all when Ben finds an abandoned newborn after receiving a call about a bloody towel which contained a placenta.

Matt is a brilliant, deaf teen who needs dialysis three times living with his aunt and four cousins who have three different fathers, sleeping on the couch, there only because his aunt wants the money since his mother, a drug addict, is unable to care for him.

As Ben and Abbi foster the baby and Ben works on trying to find out who abandoned this child, Matt starts working for them in order to save money to visit his long gone father in hopes of finding a kidney donor, and their lives become intertwined. Ben and Abbi are struggling with their faith and Matt feels lost in his church despite his strong faith.

In a deftly woven novel, Parrish manages to capture the cultural difference between Abbi and her inlaws, the depth of feeling involved in each of the three POVs, and if I'd read the entire book I might have rated it higher. The audiobook reader does well with Ben Patil's POV, in part because he is also East Indian, but not so well with Matt and is very annoying with Abbi's POV. I was ready to quit reading until I started reading the book in print.

[violet_nesdoly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Abbi works a regular shift at the local grocery. Her husband Benjamin Patil is a member of the local police force. But Ben’s tour of duty in Afghanistan has changed things between them. They’re no longer the easy-going newlyweds they were when they first came to Beck County, South Dakota.

The day Ben finds a newborn girl abandoned in a grocery bag beside a dried-out stream near town starts a chain of events that alters their lives forever. When Ben can’t find out who the baby belongs to, he and Abbi agree to foster it. They call the little girl Silvia, and over time looking after her draws them together. Abbi stops stalking the laxative aisle, and Ben begins sleeping at home again instead of at the station. The crowd at church, oblivious to their problems, welcomes them back as the happy family they are becoming.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Matthew Savoie wonders what his medical condition will take from him next. The brilliant but deaf math whiz lives with his aunt and her four daughters. In an attempt to raise money to visit his father – maybe, just maybe he’ll agree to give Matt the kidney he so desperately needs – he gets a job helping Abbi and Ben cut the grass and look after Silvia. His involvement with them leads to the uncovering of a tangled web of relationships, emotions and coping strategies. Watch Over Me is a tour de force of a second novel by Christa Parrish.

Parrish’s very real and flawed characters make this book a delight. They are drawn with a particularity that brings them to life and makes them feel like people one has met.

Abbi is especially convincing with her hippie outlook, her anti-establishment views and her veganism (she’s even true to the latter in her bulimia, binging on bags of baby carrots).

War-shocked Ben is often unpredictable, though one can’t miss his sterling qualities especially as little Silvia brings them out. The cultural tension between Abbi and Ben’s immigrant parents feels believable.

Matthew the brilliant is the most sympathetic of the three. Who couldn’t like a kid who looks after his little cousins like a mother and takes comfort during hours of dialysis with thoughts of how God is like his favorite math concept:

“In pi he saw the reflection of God. Pi was constant, always the same – today, tomorrow, and forever. It was irrational, like the cross, foolishness to those who didn’t believe. It was transcendental; no finite sequence of operations on integers could ever create it.
It never ended.” pp. 50, 51.
Parrish’s writing is also a treat – brisk, particular, gritty and poetic. Note, for example, how this description of eating cereal rings true:
“The cereal, a store brand that came in a huge plastic bag, lost its crunch before Matthew sucked the first bite off the spoon. Still, he finished it, the soggy flakes filling the pits in his molars. He dug the mush out with his tongue, a silvery pain shooting through his jaw as he brushed the cavity he needed to have filled.”  p. 21
In another poetic passage she brings together the setting with the emotional state of Abbi and Ben:
“He heard Abbi come out of the bedroom, the swollen door opening with a sticky pop. Everything swelled in the heat. Problems. Fears. Sins. All puffed with humidity and ready to rain out with the slightest change in air pressure.” p. 27
In telling the story she alternates between Abbi, Ben and Matthew’s viewpoints (all third person) – giving us a rich experience of the workings of three very different personalities. The dialogue rings true. Deaf-and-dumb Matthew’s notepad contributions, rendered within the book in a hand-printed-type font, deliver an unexpected but effective layer of realism.

Watch Over Me takes on some heavy issues. Parrish weighs in on things like love, marriage, family, the church, forgiveness, and redemption. Though it has many bleak moments, the story left me feeling hopeful about my very flawed self and the ability of God to redeem the most unlikely situation.

[fiercebunny · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an unexpectedly enjoyable book for me. Far outside the genre I usually ready I found the story moving and really liked Parrish's writing style. This was a good easy read, great for vacations or just relaxing and yet it still had very poignant moments. Even if you aren't usually a reader of religious based fiction, this is a good book to check out.

[raenolt · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I started this book, but never finished it. Not sure WHY I couldn't finish it, but it just did nothing for me. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a book, or maybe it was just a "flat" book. I"ll give it a break...and come back and try it again in a few months. Maybe then, it will be a good book.

[klsimpson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well-written, good plot, and a non-cheezy ending (I dislike endings that tie everything up into an unrealisticly neat, perfect, happy ending). I love that the couple weren't your run-of-the-mill Christian protagonists. The husband is Indian ("with a dot, not a feather" ) and the wife is a vegan, tattooed, wanna-be hippy (sounds wacky, but it works in the book). All the characters were likeable and believable. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I'll be on the lookout for more books from Christa Parrish.

[pam1960ca · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Watch Over Me'. No, I didn't realize when I chose this book that it was 'Christian' fiction but actually, that didn't change my opinion of the book at all. I did enjoy it. Christa Parrish knows how to weave several different storylines quite seamlessly and I found it a totally satisfying read. I loved the characters (especially Matthew and Benjamin). Yes, it was heartbreaking when Silvia's parentage was discovered and she was taken away from the only home she had known but in real life, this can happen and in the book, it did. I would definitely recommend this book, as 'Christian' fiction or just plain fiction - it's a good read.

[artisu_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was my first exposure to "Christian" fiction and although I am a believer, if this is a typical novel in the genre, I won't be coming back. The plot with the vet, unconventional wife, infertility, abandoned baby - PTSd, just tried to cover too much ground and consequently the issues were dealt with just "lightly" with a heavy dose of evangelical fervor. I believe God heals, but with all the problems brought up by these characters, it still takes a good deal of therapy and a long, long time to resolve them. Some are never "healed" despite a devout heart. Better do some careful editing of spelling, sentence structure etc. May appeal to some, just not me.

[mcghol_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Like several other reviewers, I requested this book not realizing it was categorized as "Christian Fiction." I read it, reminding myself to be open-minded, but wondering all through it why I love so many novels with overtly religious themes and characters, but can't stand those called "Christian Fiction." To me, the book sounded promising, with themes and characters I'd be interested in reading about. But in the end, it came off like "chick lit" or any other formulaic, fluffy read. The thing that bugged me the most was how stereotypical everyone was. Ok, ok, I get it--vegan, pierced, attachment-parenting mom can be evangelical Christian; so can Indian, son-of-immigrants, ex-soldier cop. Do we have to have it drummed into our heads with every description of them? None of it felt realistic to me--that they'd be married in the first place, that they'd heal their deep rifts so easily, that kneeling in prayer on the kitchen floor could suddenly solve so much. Maybe it's better than most "Christian Fiction;" I don't have much basis for comparison. But that doesn't make it a great book.

[karieh_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was unaware when I requested this book that it was Christian fiction. When I figured that out – I almost stopped reading it because I thought it might not be fair for me to review it…since I am not a Christian. But after a few days, I decided that it was still a book, containing characters and a storyline, and regardless of religious slant, could be reviewed as to the content and quality of the story.That being said, it took me quite a while to get involved with the characters. Despite the plethora of major issues facing these people (easting disorders, PTSD, infertility, life threatening illness, baby abandonment, etc.) there was a flatness to their words. There wasn’t much emotion behind their actions. I couldn’t connect to them until I’d read enough to have a great deal of backstory in my head.The main characters are Abbi, Ben and Matthew – struggling with major issues and with each other. Though through the first half of the book (or so) they seem very wooden, after time, the reader has experienced enough with them to bring them to life. They each have their own versions of Christian faith, and struggles with that faith.Matthew’s faith is combined with a deep appreciation for the natural or scientific world. “In pi, he saw the reflection of God. Pi was constant, always the same – today, tomorrow, and forever. It was irrational, like the cross, foolishness to those who didn’t believe. It was transcendental; no finite sequence of operations on integers could ever create it. It never ended.”At times, though, the book hits home with an everyday bit of living. “Benjamin went to work wearing fatherhood under his eyes and on his shoulder.” Anyone who has spent a night with an infant can relate to that.Abbi is a pacifist and Ben has returned from war, which makes up one of the biggest conflicts of the book. At times, I think Abbi’s position is presented in a simplified and slightly condescending way, but I did think there were moments that got the heart of the problem rather well. “He went off to shoot at things one weekend a month, coming home afterward to shower away the smell of mock combat, wash and roll his fatigues into a bag he kept in the trunk of his car until next training exercise. And she spouted the flaws of the just war theory and “blessed are the peacemakers” from a comfy armchair at the coffee shop two blocks from the college. Neither thought they’d be forced to become who they said they were. And then the war started.”While I can’t say that I would recommend this book highly or read it again, there were a few moments of insight that made the reading worthwhile.

[jhedlund_7 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book fell completely flat for me. The story strings together a whole series of implausible events bound by characters that are at best, skeletal and at worst, downright unlikeable. So much went wrong here it's hard to know where to begin. Let's begin with implausible events. One of the main characters, Benjamin, serves in Afghanistan with his lifelong best friend, Stephen. Would the armed forces allow lifelong friends to serve together in the same unit? I doubt it. Ben returns scarred physically and shattered emotionally to his pacifist, vegan wife. Needless to say, there are problems. So it seems plausible that he would, in the line of his detective duty, find an abandoned newborn baby in the woods and bring it home to raise with the wife that he hasn't really spoken to in months. Oh, and having a NEWBORN in the home would begin to make things better between the couple!!So much is left unexplained with threads that never come together. Abbi comes from a supposedly privileged but emotionally barren family. She's liberal and vegan but we don't know how she came upon those views. She can't have children, and the author only hints that the reason is because she led a promiscuous life prior to meeting Ben (offensive message, in my view). Meanwhile, Ben comes from an immigrant family with parents whose marriage was arranged. The significance of that and how it shaped Ben's views about life, family or marriage is never explained. Nor do we truly understand why it is he wanted to serve in the military. While the author leaves gaping holes in developing the characters, she smacks us upside the head with a brick with near constant references to Abbi's vegan-ness. Okay, we GET it, that she's unconventional and crunchy without constant reminders. Abbi has a nose ring, wears recycled sari skirts, uses baking soda for deodorant, cloth diapers for the baby, eats carob and cranberry bars, her friend drives a Toyota Prius, she drinks soy milk, and on and on and on and on. What would have been FAR more interesting was understanding WHY she did those things. There are vague references to her views being outside the norm in her church. Why? We don't have any idea, but we DO know what she ate for breakfast.Then, there are complete contradictions in the story. Abbi's friend Lauren, for example, comes to bail her out of a breakdown. Abbi asks why she's there, and Lauren responds (paraphrasing), "That's the church. We're called to help one another in a time of need. Where else would I be?" This after refusing to speak to Abbi for 13 months because Abbi's husband survived Afghanistan and hers didn't. Seems a pretty sanctimonious statement given their history. It's not that I don't think people can be contradictory, but we don't know how Lauren came to her change of heart because the author only provides a trite explanation during an "all-of-a-sudden" reconciliation scene. I could go on, but I won't. You get the idea. I didn't like the book. If you read it, I hope you will. There are a whole set of other characters and story lines, including that of the baby, that are more interesting than Abbi and Ben. I won't go into it here so as to avoid spoilers. Those other characters were what enabled me to finish the book.

[loosha_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Christian fiction? OMG they sent me this (Early Reviewers)...did I misread the promo? Oh well, I’ve enjoyed books about all kinds of ideologies, so why was I hesitant to read a book touted as ‘Christian fiction’? Why was I sure I wouldn’t like it? Trepidation due to past experience, I guess. But I am open minded above all, so I approached the book with manufactured positive vibes.And I was pleasantly surprised . The plot was complex enough to sustain my interest and the biblical references were logical, minimal, and mostly non-intrusive. There is a lot going on in this book. An abandoned 3-hr old baby is cared for by Benjamin, an Afghanistan veteran with his nightmares and Abbi, his unconventional war-protesting vegan wife. Their marriage is not going well for obvious reasons, and one wonders how they got together in the first place. Matthew, a teen-aged math-whiz neighbour, is deaf and needs a new kidney. He gets dialysis three times a week, cares for his younger nieces, does odd jobs for Ben and Abbi, and manages to get himself a girlfriend. Needy people, needy families in a small community, finding a way to survive and thrive. Fine details give the narrative a sense of reality, details like references to Abbi’s vegan diet. A full cast of minor characters round out the tale. But something is missing. The author tells us too much, does not trust us to make inferences. Abbi and Benjamin repair their relationship but the progress is unclear, even with the excess of examination of thoughts and feelings. And I never could believe that a girl could hide a pregnancy and birth, especially living as she does (I’m trying not to give anything away here.)I think many people would enjoy this book. A great improvement over ‘Christian fiction’ that I’ve tried to read in the past, fiction that left me rolling my eyes.

[judyg54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a story I wasn't sure at first I would "get into to". Why? Because it was too much like real people, living in a real world, and to paraphrase from a section of the book, they , Benjamin and Abbi Patel, thought the trials they faced should draw them to the Lord, but it tore them away, and it was because they had had a comfortable easy journey. Nothing prepared them for the "upheaval true pain could reek on the soul". Their faith "had no calluses". Benjamin and Abbi are trying to understand each other after he has come back from the war. Things aren't going well. Then Benjamin finds a newborn in a bag in the weeds and they end up taking the baby into their home. Who would abandon their baby like this? I will not give away that answer, you will have to read the book. This book made me think about how I respond to certain people and in certain situations. Very thought provocative book for me.

[msh09_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is written in a style I am not accustomed to reading in Christian fiction. It took an adjustment on my part, but it was well worth it. Life is gritty and Christa Parrish portrays that clearly in her characters throughout the book. In Watch Over Me, the reader meets real people with fears and insecurities, trials and victories. We see real relationships and a real God…..Real redemption.Benjamin Patil is a sheriff living in a small town in South Dakota. The story begins as he finds an abandoned infant left to die, only hours old. As the story unfolds we find out that he fought in Afghanistan and is struggling silently with PTSD. His wife, Abbi, struggles with the affects of Ben’s PTSD on their marriage as well as coming to terms with her own insecurities and flaws. We also meet Matthew Savoi who is a deaf high school student in the same town, living with his messed-up aunt and her daughters. He basically cares for the girls while the aunt moves from man to man. Matthew needs a kidney transplant in order to survive many more years. It was fun to watch the characters struggle, live and grow…working with and through their various issues. The two seemingly different stories come together in an unexpected way. The reader will laugh and cry and, in the end, will put the book down with a sigh of contentment.

[love2readnovels_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Deputy Benjamin Patil and his wife Abbi have been dancing around issues in their marriage for awhile but since Ben's return from his tour in Afghanistan it seems to be pretty hopeless. Each have closed themselves off from the other to avoid being hurt yet they each crave the closeness they once knew. They have nothing left...not even their faith. Then one day Ben finds an abandoned newborn in the woods. With no leads as to whom the baby belongs Ben and Abby take the baby in. They name her Silvia and as they both care for her day-by-day she becomes a kind of healing balm for their wounds especially Ben. What will happen to them if they find the mother of the baby? And what of the father? Will Ben and Abby reclaim their faith and fight for their marriage? I found this story to be gritty, honest and soul-stirring. The characters were VERY realistic and I found the dialog to be true to life. Even the secondary characters were very well drawn. It was somewhat of a dark tale yet filled with the light of hope in what God can do.