I am the Messenger

My goal is to read 100 books by the end of 2013.  I just finished book 41.

I am the Messenger

Summary (via the book jacket):
Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future.  He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman.  His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.
That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.  That's when Ed becomes the messenger.
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

My Opinion:
It's inevitable that when an author writes a book that many people not only love but would rank as one of the top books they've ever read, anything that follows will be compared to that book and will often pale in comparison (what a great problem to have, right?).  This likely letdown didn't worry me because I'm apparently one of the few people that didn't loooove The Book Thief (don't slaughter me - I liked it, and I'm planning on rereading it since there may have been external factors that influenced my opinion), so now that I've addressed the elephant in the room, on to I am the Messenger with a clean slate...

What a beautiful story.  This is the kind of book that sneaks up on you gently...you may be able to put the book down during the first few chapters but be warned:  use the bathroom and grab a snack before the messages start.  You won't move again until the book is over.
But the ending?  Ummm, no.  Deflating.  I don't know what would have been a successful resolution to the book, but that wasn't it.
Read this book.  The brilliance of the story and the opportunity to know such characters as Milla (my favorite message by far) makes the last few pages worth it.  Read it.

Quote from the Book:
"There's an aura to this card, and it's been given to me."