Bethesda a Novel by Paul Nigro

One page is bent shown in picture St. Fred's is not your typical church. On the surface it seems like any other declining congregation struggling to hold its own in a decaying neighborhood, frustrating the efforts of its burned-out pastor, Carla Donovan. But something strange is going on, suggesting to Carla that her work is far from over. Isabella Ruiz shows up hoping for a quick food handout one night for her and her deaf daughter, Miranda. As Isabella and Carla talk, three-year-old Miranda wanders down to the basement of St. Fred's and splashes in water bubbling up in the bottom of an abandoned swimming pool. Something happens for the very first time...she can hear! Carla, already skeptical, comes under fire from St. Fred's church board for letting in riffraff. She is discouraged, ready to leave the ministry. Then another healing occurs in the pool. Now crowds clamor to be allowed into the basement pool, which is inexplicably filled with gurgling water. Carla begins to doubt her own doubts after a third miracle occurs. And the church board insists that Carla resign from the only place of ministry that would have her in the first place. But before Carla can even begin to sort through her own tattered faith (and life), violent threats lead to an attempt on her life. Carla discovers that her greatest danger may not be from those outside St. Fred's, but perhaps from someone within the church, who wants the truth—buried beneath the miracle pool—to be concealed.