This review was posted on Amazon by A Look Inside: Book Reviews and Podcast. The writer of this review did a followup podcast with me Saturday, May 17. Thank you and God bless.
Robert Drews’s Look for Something Good is a beautifully written, spiritually rich novel centered on James Joseph “J.J.” Werth—a sixty-one-year-old financial advisor whose life unravels after an unexpected layoff. Told in a warm, reflective third-person narrative, the story chronicles J.J.’s descent into emotional and spiritual isolation and his path toward rediscovering meaning through faith, service, and human connection.
From the opening pages, Drews paints J.J. with empathy and clarity. We meet him in the throes of a depressive spiral, aimless at home in pajama bottoms, picking at wilted salad, and questioning his worth. The turning point comes when he steps into a quiet church and offers a hesitant confession:
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. My last confession was a long time ago.”
This moment marks the beginning of a gradual, deeply personal transformation.
At the heart of J.J.’s renewal is Father Thomas Kearns, a towering, cigar-loving, baseball-obsessed priest who once served in Vietnam and now shepherds the congregation at Saints Peter and Paul. Through their chance meetings at Dodgers games and their eventual friendship, Father Thomas offers both wisdom and compassion without judgment. One of the book’s most meaningful exchanges comes when the priest reminds J.J. that the blessings of life are not to be hoarded, but shared:
“With our blessings, we have a duty… to reach out to others, to not stay within ourselves but to share the Lord’s goodness.”
What sets this novel apart is its groundedness. There are no grand plot twists or dramatic turns—only the quiet realism of a man trying to put his life back together one act of kindness, prayer, or reflection at a time. The pacing is gentle, even meditative, but never dull. The prose flows with rhythmic grace, and J.J.’s inner thoughts feel honest and deeply human.
Faith is central, but Look for Something Good never comes across as preachy. Instead, it draws strength from simple truths: the healing power of confession, the value of purpose, and the importance of showing up for others. When J.J. eventually decides to set out on a cross-country journey—guided by a dart-thrown map and a new sense of purpose—it feels like an act of both whimsy and calling. He’s not just looking for a destination—he’s looking for someone to serve, something to believe in, and maybe, as the title promises, something good.
Readers who enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, or Gilead by Marilynne Robinson will find similar themes of redemption, quiet spirituality, and late-life reinvention here.
Final Thoughts:
Look for Something Good is a deeply moving novel that reminds us it’s never too late to start over, never too late to serve others, and never too late to reconnect with faith. In J.J. Werth, Drews has created a character many will see themselves in—flawed, wounded, and searching, but ultimately willing to hope again.
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