Have you ever read a book and thought, "Well, that was definitely not one of my favorites, but I am glad I read it," afterward? That is how I felt after reading "Heaven Lake" by James Dalton. In short, it's about a good guy, gone bad, gone good. More eloquently put, it is the story of a young man whose attempt to be the utmost example of moral behavior leads to a drastic fall from grace and continuous attempts to rectify his situation.

Vincent is a young college graduate who decides to leave his small-town home in Illinois to become a missionary in Taiwan. The young man is so eager to begin his long journey, he rises at 4 a.m. As the train travels over the terrain, "every dark or shadowed feature of the landscape [holds] a private luster that [seems] in some contrary way, hopeful, auspicious."

Upon arriving to the town of Toulio, Vincent hopes to reveal the word of Jesus Christ to the people in his foreign surroundings. However, he is not prepared for the pangs of loneliness, nor the unexpected temptations he faces.

Although he is known to his Taiwanese neighbors as "Jesus Teacher," Vincent does not exactly follow Jesus' teachings. Instead, he gets involved with a girl much too young for him and is forced to make a quick decision regarding his future in Taiwan. He decides to accept a job offer he would have otherwise refused from immoral acquaintance Mr.Gwa. Vincent is paid handsomely to travel to Mainland China and marry a young woman Mr. Gwa is in love with and bring her back to Taiwan so Mr. Gwa can marry her.

So Vincent embarks on an extremely long and harrowing voyage across the entire country of China, on his way to a tiny desert village in the north. The only true asset to this town is its proximity to one of the most beautiful places in China, Heaven Lake. What makes this trek over thousands of miles pass more quickly is the company of his Scottish friend Alec, whose colorful lifestyle brings them both fortuity and misfortune.

Finally arriving at his destination, Vincent finds himself in yet another predicament when the woman he is supposed to marry and bring back to Taiwan with him decides she would rather marry another man. Instead he is forced by his financier to marry the girl's sister, Jai-Ling, who, although she is less beautiful than her older sister, is also far more clever and determined than she. Little does Vincent know that this quiet young woman will be his salvation and, faced with the possibility of losing her, brings out a side in him we have not seen since his arrival in Taiwan.

The end of this book grants a reprieve for Vincent, who at many points throughout the novel made a complete idiot out of himself. For a good portion of the book I did not really like him at all. His character was very high and mighty, and he looked down on the people in his town for their own spiritual beliefs. For a moment when an even more radical Christian comes to work at the mission house, it seems like he may finally come to his senses. Instead, he goes to the other extreme and just makes you angry at his stupidity.

The majority of the novel takes place during Vincent's trip, and it is fascinating because of the many parts of China you come to know just from the well-written descriptions of the bustling streets of Hong Kong, Guangzhou and the other less glamorous industrial cities that he passes through.

Vincent's journey also provides readers with supporting characters that help give comic and dramatic relief to the intense situations and, at times, despondent moods Vincent often finds himself in. They also help to counteract the feelings of loneliness he often experiences.

The Scotsman, Alec, is an especially jovial and carefree character, which oftentimes gets him into trouble. However, his wealth of travel knowledge and life experiences as well as his ability to have a good time wherever he is makes him an excellent traveling partner and confidant. As their succession of train rides take them farther and farther north, it is refreshing to see Vincent growing up a little.

By the time he is back in Toulio with Jai-Ling, he is a fuller person than he ever was before his arrival in Taiwan. At the end of "Heaven Lake," the reader has a new hope and expectation for Vincent that he will make the most of his life and the people who are now in it. Despite the many frustrations Vincent's actions have caused, perhaps that flawed aspect of human nature is what Dalton means to represent, as well as the possibility of reparations and new beginnings.