Book excerpt: The title for my novel is taken from a scripture verse out of the book of Revelation. The connection is made by relating that verse to Jeffery Lucas, the main character in The Pretender Lamb. Prior to meeting Jessica Thompson, Jeffery spends most of his early life only pretending to be what others expected of him While he was on a Fall vacation in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, Jeffery meets and falls in love with Jessica, a school teacher from Madison, Wisconsin. A misunderstanding during the single night they stayed on the summit of Mt. Le Conte leads them into a journey of slopes and grades over the following years of their lives. The hopes and dreams of both Jeffery and Jessica are laid bare as they allow themselves to be completely open with another person for the first time in their lives. Jeffery tells of how he was raised in a small Iowa town and learned at an early age to fend for himself. Jessica tells of how fate had found her still single at thirty, but with a satisfied mind. The Pretender Lamb is a love story bursting at the seams with twists and turns. Its pages are splashed with equal amounts of humor, sadness, faith and hope. Those on both sides of the morality issue will get a chuckle from this story although they may need a good supply of tissues to dab at their tears as well. The Pretender Lamb takes a pass at explaining the experience of dejavu from a Christian point of view. Although the explanation is no more than an opinion, it should provoke some deeper thought on the subject. Anyone who has had heart problems, or known someone that has, will feel a strong tugging at their emotions as they get lost in the lives of Jeffery and Jessica. The Pretender Lamb is a story of failing health and healing, and of broken spirits and those lifted up again.