Elijah's Coin: A Lesson for Life

Steve O'Brien

Jan 2009 · A & N Publishing

About this ebook

"Story of Tom, a young man who has suffered a tragic loss and is spiraling out of control. He's angry, anti-social, and rapidly descending into a life of crime. Then, during a night of folly, as he brazenly commits burglary, Tom encounters the night watchman Elijah King, a mysterious figure with a shrouded past. Elijah, unexpectedly, doesn't turn Tom in but instead becomes a stern and rather cryptic mentor to him. Rather than laying his lessons out in a straightforward manner, Elijah gives Tom an enigmatic coin and sends him on a mission of self-discovery."--Amazon.com

Ratings and reviews

By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) Almost without realizing it or even without wanting to become involved with what seems like another self help book, ELIJAH'S COIN gets under your skin and likely will be one of those books that commands attention so strongly that the entire book will be an evening's entertainment - and enlightenment. The full title of Steve O'Brien's little jewel of a book is 'ELIJAH'S COIN: A LESSON FOR LIFE', but what makes this book so different from other books with a similar philosophy of how to improve your life is O'Brien's ability to create a story with characters about whom we care very much. It is one choice to preach to the reader about how to approach the possibilities of success and happiness in a didactic manner, and it is an alternative choice to place those same goals in the experience of a lost student. It just works better. Tom Wagner is a disillusioned student. 'I'm going to take what I want, when I want it. I'm going to enrich myself. I'm going to set myself on the path to instant riches. The future will be mine. I will be in control. You see, one hour from now I will be a criminal.' And with that degree of anger Tom breaks into a Sporting Goods Store to rob it, but is caught by a night watchman named Elijah King who instead of turning Tom into the police, talks to him and offers a philosophy to act in a manner of 'Observe, Think, Believe, Act' and leaves him with instructions to return for more lessons and gives Tom a coin that has EK on one side and G2G on the other. What follows is Tom's tutelage interrupted by Elijah's disappearance, leaving Tom with three names of others Elijah has helped. The remainder of the book is how these three disparate characters affect Tom's belief system and then how Tom lives a life immutable altered by the sage advice of the mysterious Elijah King. To relate more of the story would be to diminish the impact of reading this fine little book. Steve O'Brien, himself a lawyer, proves his ability to write not only the ideas in this book, but also some of the more creative courtroom writing around. There are secrets for the reader to discover and there is much to take away from this book as far as philosophy goes - in addition to an included coin that encourages the reader to pay it forward. More books like this would help our current global problems, but start with your own pleasure and edification and read and absorb this fine book. Grady Harp

Tom Wagner was in trouble. He had just been caught trying to rob a store by a lone security guard, who introduces himself as Elijah King. Elijah offers to not turn Tom in to the police if Tom agrees to meet with him three times. Elijah tells Tom that he’s going to learn a lesson about life. Tom thinks the guy is nuts but will do anything to keep from getting in trouble with the cops. Elijah tells Tom that he helped three other guys learn this same lesson and now they are very successful. One is a big-time lawyer, another is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and the last one works at the city mission. While Tom doesn’t understand how the last guy is in the same category of success as the other two, he realizes that Elijah’s lesson could be worth learning. After all, it would be great to be that rich and powerful. When Tom goes to meet Elijah for the third and final lesson, Elijah has seemingly disappeared. Tom can’t find him anywhere, but he wants to finish learning the lesson so he can be successful. So, Tom sets out to find Elijah. His search leads him to the three men Elijah had mentioned mentoring. Steve O’Brien has created a character that many teenagers and young adults will be able to identify with. Tom is not perfect; he’s made mistakes. When the reader first meets Tom, he’s in a bad place. He is still very angry about his mother’s death and that anger leads him to make some bad choices. Elijah’s lessons make Tom realize how he can be a better person and make a difference in the world. Although this is a life-lesson book, it isn’t preachy. O’Brien was able to create characters and situations that demonstrated the lessons he wants his readers to see without lecturing or talking down to them. Even if you’re not looking for a life lesson, it’s a good story. During the lessons, Elijah asks some tough questions and encourages Tom to think for himself and to dig deeper into the answers. While Elijah was confusing sometimes, I didn’t feel bad for not understanding him because Tom didn’t get it either. Eventually, Tom does understand what Elijah was saying, then he explains it to the reader.