Book Description
Having forfeited his youth to the state prison system, Michael moved back to the only home he'd ever known. An empty shell of a man who now lived--if it could be called living--in the still vacant house of his parents in a town with one stoplight. A town that hated him. Had always hated him. And was ready to pick up where the prison system had let off.
Now he's on the run from men who've tried to kill him once; but Michael is more than an ex-con. A powerful, sinister force creeps inside him, threatening and destructive. Who--and what--it will destroy next is the only real question. From the bold voice that brought readers down Purgatory Road comes a new pulse-pounding, spine-rattling tale of vengeance and justice that will have them up all night.
Now he's on the run from men who've tried to kill him once; but Michael is more than an ex-con. A powerful, sinister force creeps inside him, threatening and destructive. Who--and what--it will destroy next is the only real question. From the bold voice that brought readers down Purgatory Road comes a new pulse-pounding, spine-rattling tale of vengeance and justice that will have them up all night.
Review
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. Here is my honest review.
This book did not meet my expectations - in some good ways, and in some other ways.
Going in to reading this book, I knew it was thriller and I knew it was published by a Christian publishing house. I expected twists and turns in an engaging plot with a conflicted main character AND I expected all of that within a very clean (no language or sex along with toned down violence) narrative.
This book hit every one of those. In fact, the story was a little darker than I anticipated and the action was quick and constantly changing. It was much stronger as a thriller than I expected from a Christian publisher.
What was surprising was the lack of Christianity in this book. God is never mentioned, nobody says a prayer, or any other typical actions one expects within a Christian fiction book. There are some elements of good versus evil or dark versus light. The way this is handled is certainly super-natural; for me, it felt a little demonic (I admit that could be my interpretation and expectation of the Christian fiction genre rather than the author's intent) and so I was hoping for the opposite to also make an appearance. I didn't really see this happen in a way that meshes with any Christian thought.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I do wish the Christian themes had been more apparent in the reading. For me, Christian fiction should point the reader to God and convey Christian values. This book completely missed that mark for me. One review I read mentioned that if you didn't know the publisher specialized in Christian fiction, you wouldn't know this was a Christian book. While this may have nothing to do with the book, it will be interesting to see if this is a change that will continue to be explored by Christian publishing houses.
Going in to reading this book, I knew it was thriller and I knew it was published by a Christian publishing house. I expected twists and turns in an engaging plot with a conflicted main character AND I expected all of that within a very clean (no language or sex along with toned down violence) narrative.
This book hit every one of those. In fact, the story was a little darker than I anticipated and the action was quick and constantly changing. It was much stronger as a thriller than I expected from a Christian publisher.
What was surprising was the lack of Christianity in this book. God is never mentioned, nobody says a prayer, or any other typical actions one expects within a Christian fiction book. There are some elements of good versus evil or dark versus light. The way this is handled is certainly super-natural; for me, it felt a little demonic (I admit that could be my interpretation and expectation of the Christian fiction genre rather than the author's intent) and so I was hoping for the opposite to also make an appearance. I didn't really see this happen in a way that meshes with any Christian thought.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I do wish the Christian themes had been more apparent in the reading. For me, Christian fiction should point the reader to God and convey Christian values. This book completely missed that mark for me. One review I read mentioned that if you didn't know the publisher specialized in Christian fiction, you wouldn't know this was a Christian book. While this may have nothing to do with the book, it will be interesting to see if this is a change that will continue to be explored by Christian publishing houses.
I gave this book: ★★★
