Shadow Doctor 2: the past awaits (by Adrian Plass)

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I so enjoyed rereading Adrian Plass’s unusual novel ‘The Shadow Doctor’ earlier in the week that I went straight onto its sequel, ‘Shadow Doctor 2: the past awaits’. I hadn’t remembered anything from it - I’ve only read it once before - but hoped it would answer some of the questions that were left open at the end of the first book.

It opens with Doc telling Jack that he’s going to be ‘stalking a lion’ later that day. Jack is still getting used to being Doc’s assistant, or colleague, and he tends to take things literally. He does realise that it must be a metaphor of some kind, but he still isn’t very good at seeing how Doc’s mind works.

Then there’s a fair amount of flashback, sensitively done without being tedious. But I’m not sure how useful it is, as I doubt if anyone would pick up this book without having read the first one. I certainly wouldn’t recommend doing so, as the brief explanations involved don’t begin to cover the situation. 

Eventually, after some discussion, Jack realises exactly what is meant, and he’s almost more shocked than if it had been a real lion. Doc is planning to confront a well-known Christian speaker, someone whom Jack rather idolised in the past. Jack isn’t sure he wants to be involved, but then decides that he will, partly in his role as driver, and partly out of curiosity. 

It’s rather an unpleasant encounter, as Doc brings to life something very wrong in the speaker’s life. But not before the speaker has mentioned several very unpleasant parts of Doc’s life, particularly when he was angry and depressed after the death of his wife. Jack is a bit embarrassed to hear these things, but both he and Doc are slowly learning to be more vulnerable with each other.

On the way back, Doc decides to call in and visit an elderly, sick retired minister who has been writing to him. Jack doesn’t think this is a good idea, but it turns out to be a surprisingly refreshing visit. The minister had been feeling that his life was a waste of time, and that he was clinging onto his faith by a thread. And he shares some terrible things that happened to him in the past, leading him to lose trust in God.

The writing is good, as I expect with Adrian Plass. But both these characters - the famous speaker and the retired minister - seem a tad stereotyped. The famous person is bombastic and arrogant, the minister humble and depressed. And I find myself a little cynical that meetings such as those described would actually make as much difference as they do in the book. Not that I thought it at the time; I was quite caught up in the stories, and moved by the second one. 

There’s a lot of conversation in this book, as Jack explores his new role. He has a whole list of questions he wants answered, though he’s getting better at choosing his moments. The shadow doctor doesn’t like lists, and really doesn’t like answering in a straightforward way. The two men are about as different as possible, personality-wise. But they both like helping people, albeit in very different ways. And they both want to follow Jesus, but recognise that they make a lot of mistakes. 

Jack gets to meet Martha, the lady who takes the initial query, calls for the shadow doctor, and learns about how their ministry started and how it’s funded. He also gets to meet an elderly lady with dementia, Martha’s grandmother, and senses that he should ask what seems like a very bizarre question. It turns out to be exactly the right question, and Jack and Doc talk more about being in ‘the flow’ - which, in Christian jargon apparently means something like following the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit.

There’s a lot more… although really no plot as such, other than Jack meeting a young woman and starting to fall in love. Certainly the open questions at the end of the first book get answers, but I didn’t find this book as inspiring or thought-provoking as the first one. I suppose it's more what Brian McLaren calls 'creative non-fiction' than a novel as such, since so much of it is taken up with exploring Adrian Plass's own ideas and beliefs about the church, and about how to be a follower of Jesus.

I would recommend this to anyone who liked 'The Shadow Doctor' as the sequel, as it does bring a lot of closure. It's also an interesting read, with some digressions into humour and even a couple of puzzles. But I don’t think it would work as a stand-alone, as there’s too much background necessary from the first book.

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