Angela Hunt. Uncharted. Nashville TN: West Bow, 2006. Print.

Let me begin by saying that if you liked the TV series Lost, you would get something out of Uncharted. It does a few things like Lost—a group of people stranded on an uninhabited island, lots of backstories, weirdness in the environment. However, this is not a Lost knock-off. As a whole, Uncharted is much closer to another famous drama.

For the Lost fans who have seen the DVD extras—yeah, my family and I were really into it—there is an interview with one of the writers in which we are told that they were thinking of killing off Jack Shephard in the first season. They thought that having the main character die at the beginning would be a real attention-getter! They did not do that, of course, so when he does die at the end, he is the “good Shephard” who lays down his life for his sheep. (John 10:11)

In Uncharted the main character really does die in the first fifty pages. David was one of six college friends who, mostly through his efforts, have stayed in touch for twenty years. A successful surgeon, David had been planning to go on a volunteer mission construction project on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. The five remaining friends decide to go on the trip to complete the work in honor of their departed friend. We also learn they each have their “real reasons” for going that have nothing to do with building a school for a remote and needy church.

They end up taking a slightly circuitous route to Kwajalein and never arrive. Uncertain how it happened, all five appear to survive a shipwreck that kills the boat captain, his mate, and another volunteer.

But this island is no tropical paradise. There is no water or rain, though it is always cloudy. The beaches are black sand. The vegetation is fruitless and even waterless. The only other living creatures are biting ants and other tormenting insects. There are subterranean caves which offer the castaways some respite from the elements but no respite from each other or from their pasts.

This island is more like Sartre’s No Exit with hints of the underworld from Dante, Vergil, Homer, and others. We are told that one of the shipwrecked quintet is a New York actress who once played in No Exit. The island is Hell. Sartre says at one point, “Hell is other people.” Their friendships are tested as it begins to dawn on them and the reader where they are.

As the story goes on, we learn how all five end up here rather than the other place.

One of the college buddies has a secret life—Mark is actually a notorious criminal. We can understand why he goes to hell when he dies. “Assured by countless psychologists, talk-show hosts, and intellectuals that life would end with his last breath,” (303) he figured he could do whatever he wanted without consequences.

The others, though, appear to be “good people.” The business executive and his actress ex-wife both love their daughter and appear to be responsible citizens. The drop-dead gorgeous widow is active in civic affairs and appears well respected in her hometown of Houston. And Lisa, never married, has devoted much of her life caring for her invalid parents, serving in church, and running a day care. How “bad” can she be?

Uncharted reminds us that “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7) Different parts will affect readers differently. Two parts affected me.

There is a description of Mark committing one of his crimes, and we learn how he manages to cover it up and get away with it. It made me think of when I was a child and used to watch shows like Highway Patrol or Perry Mason with my father. I used to imagine myself being the criminal, only thinking how I would do it so that Broderick Crawford or Perry Mason would never catch me. I am happy to report that I have not lived a life of crime, but I know have often been more fascinated by sin than repelled by it.

We also read how David, our hero who dies early, once was unfaithful to his wife. As I read the story about that, I had to ask myself if I were tempted the way he was, would I have remained faithful? Again, I love my wife and have been faithful, but I would be lying if I said I never noticed other women.

After reading about David’s sin, I flipped back to a scene at David’s funeral where his widow meets the adulteress. I knew there was something going on between the two women, but it was not clear. Looking back at it, that encounter ennobles both David’s wife and her worldview.

Other scenes may resonate with other readers. There is something for nearly everyone, I am sure. There is a sense of irony, but this is too serious to be really funny. It was a bit difficult to keep track of the various characters at first, but each one becomes more fully developed as the story proceeds. It is a reminder, too, as the author says in her afterword quoting author Randy Alcorn that people in Heaven “will no longer have any illusion that fallen people are good enough for Heaven without Christ.” (311)

Postscript:
I should add that there is another character, John, the volunteer on the boat who does not end up on the island. He is pushing eighty, and twenty years before is the person who brought the six friends together. They were all looking for a job to help them through school at Florida State. John had written and self-published a book entitled Happily Ever After. They sold the book door-to-door. (Confession—I related to this as I sold dictionaries door-to-door when I was in college).

While all six made money selling the book, David appeared to be the only one who read the book and took its message to heart. Like Lost‘s Evil Twin, there is a book in Uncharted‘s backstory. Hunt has posted a summary on her web site. It is worth reading, but not necessary to enjoy Uncharted as the novel liberally quotes it.