FROM BROKEN TO BLESSED

In this Christian memoir, Petty recounts how a failed suicide attempt renewed his faith and eventually led to an international career.

Petty’s three years of troubled marriage ended in heartbreak, domestic violence, a short stay in jail, and separation from his two children. Depressed and lonely, he attempted to kill himself, only to awaken in the hospital to feel the pain of his pumped stomach. While recovering, he met a compassionate nurse full of tough love for the despondent 27-year-old. Leaving behind New Jersey for Savannah, Georgia, he found himself in a place quiet enough that he could hear God lead him. So began an unexpected adventure, starting with a stint as a correction officer in a youth detention facility, where Petty found himself singing Sam Cooke songs to the troubled offenders. Crediting God’s guiding hand, Petty writes that his experience as a guard allowed him to transition to a military security position on a U.S. Army base in Kosovo, a career that took him to the Red Sea, and the Robben Island cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. He uses quotes from Scripture (“Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?”) to encapsulate the lessons of the highest and lowest points in his journey. In an accessible, candid tone, Petty provides a direct account of how God saved his life, conveying how his beliefs have buoyed him since his failed suicide attempt. The details of the act of domestic violence that punctuated Petty’s marriage are addressed straightforwardly but left vague. Color photographs document the bulk of the author’s travels in the Middle East and Africa, though they would have better served if placed throughout the book where relevant rather than being assembled in two groupings. Although this is primarily a Christian text, secular readers might find value in this tale of redemption.

A modern, worldly Christian testimony full of encouragement but light on specifics.