Jamie Blaine - Midnight Jesus: Where Struggle, Faith, and Grace Collide . . .

ACCOLADES FOR MIDNIGHT JESUS

Gorgeous, brilliantly written, deeply moving, life-affirming, and just plain stunning. Jamie Blaine is an astoundingly talented writer. His debut is packed with beauty and will blow you away.

AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RUNNING WITH SCISSORS AND THIS IS HOW

If I had reached the end of my rope, the edge of my hope, and darkness was prevailing. If I stood there on the ledge of lost and losing stilland somehow managed to crawl to some dark barstool corner of the world for one last shot before I gave it all up and caved in, I hope it would be this Jamie and Jesus that walked in behind me. That they pulled up a seat and told me a story and that their telling of it found me right where I was, drowning in this sea called life. And that their story would perform its magicone funny, dark, raw, honest, loving, wild word at a time, and in so doing, revive my soul. And so they did. This is that book. Read it.

RIVER JORDAN, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PRAYING FOR STRANGERS

Jamie Blaine is such an expert at demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Midnight Jesus is a collection of stories that show people at their most vulnerable, lonely, and prideful moments when they are crying out for a savior. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and sometimes the most profound truths are looking you right in the eye. There is such a great reward in putting your faith completely in God, knowing that the same God who parted the seas works in our lives today. This is an amazing book that is sure to make an impact on your life.

MATTHEW BARNETT, COFOUNDER OF THE DREAM CENTER AND SENIOR PASTOR OF ANGELUS TEMPLE

Its so refreshing to see an author with such an honorable background come out of obscurity to share his treasure of experience with the world. Real and rare is what this world deserves, and Midnight Jesus by Jamie Blaine packs a powerful punch like no other.

BRIAN WELCH, LEAD GUITARIST KORN

Jamie is a mystic of memoirists, a gonzo of evangelists, a Solomon of suffering in the backwaters that too few writers set their sails toward. I find his work arousing for its lyrical beauty and consoling for its gritty wisdom and when I put down his work, I say, with all the meanings of the word converging, man, hes good.

JOSHUA WOLF SHENK, CREATIVE WRITING INSTRUCTOR AT NYU, AWARD-WINNING AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LINCOLNS MELANCHOLY AND POWERS OF TWO

Prophets have nearly always come from the wilderness, raw and a bit angry, to tell us there is more than what we've seen. Jamie Blaine does the same, but he comes from long experience in the wilderness of the human soul and he tells us of the God who dwells there too.

STEPHEN MANSFIELD, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SEARCH FOR GOD AND GUINNESS

Jamie Blaine articulates a rough faith, peopled with desperate believers, heretics, and in-betweenersthe too far gone and not gone enough, with those who try and fail and fail again. There are no easy answers here, but there is a steady stumbling toward a place where hoping is more important than knowing. This is a Christianity that could save us from ourselves, and from each other.

DONNA JOHNSON, AUTHOR OF HOLY GHOST GIRL AND WINNER OF THE BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE AWARD

With all the hurt and pain in the world today, especially the less desirable roads we find ourselves on, Jamie takes readers on an incredible journey of hope. No matter where you find yourself, read this book to be reminded of the constant truth that every person may experience a new beginning, and that in Christ, beauty can come from the ashes.

PETE WILSON, SENIOR PASTOR OF CROSS POINT CHURCH AND AUTHOR OF PLAN B AND WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?

Jamies sharp writing takes us into the most intimate and dark moments of these vivid and truer-than-life characters. Super stylized but absolutely authentic, these stories are told visually and with a musicality that punctuates the humor and heartbreak of crisis work and its haunting side effects.

TONY SHAFF, FILMMAKER/TELEVISION PRODUCER, MTV NETWORKS

If Saint Paul had written his letters to the guy in the middle row screaming for Freebird they would read something like this: a raucous, streetwise, crazy quilt of questioning saints and half-hearted sinners, pumping the jukebox for answers and roller-skating toward redemption, one step ahead of the devil.

DAVID GIFFELS, WRITER FOR MTVS BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD AND AUTHOR OF THE HARD WAY ON PURPOSE

If I ever require emergency saving, I definitely want it to come from Jamie Blaine, the coolest dude on fat quad skates. A man filled with genuine empathy, killer licks, and the sense that inspiration is often found in a pair of receding taillights. Deadpan and surprisingly funny, these tales of everyday madness are half Thoreau, half Aquinas, and totally human. Like Raising Arizona for the Bible Belt or deep-Tampa David Lynch. The best and most unlikely book you will buy all year.

SEAN BEAUDOIN, WRITER FOR THE ONION AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WISE YOUNG FOOL AND WELCOME THIEVES

In the vein of Don Millers Blue Like Jazz, Blaine uses everyday interactions to draw closer to the meaning of our existence. Unlike Miller, however, Blaines interactions are with those who have not only lost their place in society, they have lost their place in the world. With pitch-perfect prose filled with raw heart and humor, Midnight Jesus reveals the hole in all of us that cannot be filled with anything but divine love.

JOLINA PETERSHEIM, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE OUTCAST AND THE MIDWIFE

If Christianity has become a stale institution, then Jamie Blaines Midnight Jesus might be the perfect antidote. A raw reminder of the gospels power.

PHILIP GULLEY, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A PLACE CALLED HOPE AND FRONT PORCH TALES

Somewhere between Bukowski and Billy Graham, Blaine packs a spiritual gravity that transcends sect or biaseven for an atheist like me. Sincerely funny, sincerely serious, utterly contemporary, and unexpected. A dangerous, exceptional book.

JOSH AXELRAD, FORMER PROFESSIONAL BLACKJACK PLAYER AND AUTHOR OF REPEAT UNTIL RICH

Balancing faith and psychology, Blaine comes up with new perspectives on lifes biggest questions in a smart and smashingly enjoyable read.

JOEL MCIVER, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF JUSTICE FOR ALL: THE TRUTH ABOUT METALLICA AND ICE CUBE: ATTITUDE

Blaines got the gift that all great storytellers havethe ability to convey the crush of emotions in the tiniest of details. He renders otherwise ordinary people in resplendent detail, painting vignettes in heart-stopping strokes. Jamie is one of a handful of writers who makes me forget that I own a cell phone.

JOE DALY, CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE AND METAL HAMMER MAGAZINE

A stupendous achievement. Exhilarating, hilarious, a virtuosic exploration of mental illness in America. Seething with fury and frustration, Blaine captures the reader with great conviction.

JEFF RAGSDALE, ACTIVIST AND AUTHOR OF JEFF, ONE LONELY GUY

Blaine shares his sharp stories of grit and grace, faith and doubt, humor and heartbreak, details and depth. Midnight Jesus is a compelling, hopeful invitation for the reader to pay attention to life, to stay alive to the surprises and the search.

KENT ANNAN, DIRECTOR OF HAITI PARTNERS AND AUTHOR OF FOLLOWING JESUS THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE

Incredibly compelling, at times laugh-out-loud funny collection of short stories.

BRAD SCHMITT, THE TENNESSEAN

A powerful work of creative nonfiction... what emerges is the portrait of a man of simple faith, great humor, common doubts and uncommon heart, and readers will likely be glad that Blaine has put his experiences down on paper. They are, quite simply, a revelation.