Incensed: The Novel

Sparks's first novel follows three very different seekers in their pursuit of professional success and spiritual fulfillment%E2%80%94or at least the appearance of it. Michaela Thomason, a graphic designer and spiritual skeptic, is plunged into turmoil by a professional disappointment. Rennie Morrow, a handsome but unfulfilled incense salesman, discovers a wildly powerful product that could transform his career if he could only discover how to get more of it. And Dorothea Light is a famous spiritual teacher whose success is matched by her selfishness. At its best, the book is a humorous exploration of the conflict between the pursuit of earthly ambitions and spiritual growth, and Sparks, a spiritual practitioner and teacher, handles her subject matter with honesty and humor. However, the narrative is disorganized and diffuse. Sparks gets bogged down in long technical descriptions of meditation practice, which disrupts the thin and sluggish plot. Although the book has some funny moments, the story is marred by the book's clumsy structure. At time, Sparks writes efficiently and with humor, but the book's engaging moments are obscured by its long-winded failings.