First-rate supporting characters complement the sprightly pastor, who remains impeccable in this thriller.
In this seventh entry of a series, terrorists attacking Christians in the United States must contend with the proficient recurring protagonist armed with Scripture and a Glock.
When a bloody, nearly dead Fred “Freddie” Pederson stumbles into St. Mary’s Lutheran Church during a service, he has a message for his old SEAL pal Pastor Stephen Grant. Undercover for the FBI, Pederson just managed to escape an Islamic terrorist group planning strikes against “Christian infidels,” a specified target being Pastor Richard Leonard, son of another fellow SEAL. The warning’s unfortunately too late: men strapped with explosives walk into six churches in five states. Leonard, along with badge-carrying congregation members, fights off terrorists at St. Mark’s on Staten Island. But fearing Leonard will still be a target, Grant, who’s also a former CIA operative, offers pastoral assistance as well as protection. Meanwhile, an interrogated terrorist hints at additional attacks, putting many on high alert, including Paige Caldwell, Grant’s CIA partner, who now co-runs a private security firm. No one can foresee or prevent a subsequent assault that rattles the entire country. As a result, Grant and law enforcers are determined to ensure that no one else falls prey to terrorism on American soil. By now, fans of Keating’s (Wine into Water, 2016, etc.) thriller series will anticipate skillfully drawn characters. Grant, for one, is a considerate husband and unquestionably capable in action. But TV interviews with Leonard and Imam Anwar Abdullah bolster the tale by shedding positive light on both Christianity and Islam. The narrative’s swift momentum is retained even during profound moments, as in a scene in which terrorists debate their cause after murdering two men that’s intercut with clergymen reciting biblical passages. Though sequences of Grant or Caldwell and her team engaged in combat are exhilarating, the story’s brimming with everyday heroes. One political figure, for example, is rescued by a neighbor whose courage is measured by the hefty Desert Eagle gun he brandishes.
First-rate supporting characters complement the sprightly pastor, who remains impeccable in this thriller.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5489-6418-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.
Pub Date: April 28, 1967
ISBN: 0449911543
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967
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