Deb’s Dozen: Small town pastor or Black Ops Specialist?
Either can get you killed.
Andrew Huff started his Shepherd Suspense series with a great action/adventure yarn titled A Cross to Kill. John Cross serves as a small town pastor with a backstory–he “retired” from being in CIA black ops— until they call him back for a special extraction.
Christine Lewis, a journalist captured by terrorists, faces beheading. She’s the package John must extract. But everything goes wrong, and they race for their lives. Will they make the extraction point in time? A dicey escape, but success wins.
Christine wakes up in a hospital, but John is nowhere to be found. Acclaimed a heroine, interviews take up much of her time. But the story they told her—that a team got her out—was not her reality. Determined, she seeks to find the man she knows only as John.
John is back home. Back to his church. Back to his sermons. But thinking about Christine almost constantly. He doesn’t understand why the op turned so rotten but knows Christine thrives from watching her interviews. John simmers that they called him back in for this action, because when he became a Christian, he turned his back on his previous occupation, that of an assassin.
Christine thinks constantly about the mysterious John and calls in some markers to find him. In the pulpit one Sunday, John looks out and sees Christine. Then follows the shortest sermon ever. He agrees to talk with her, get it over with, get her out of his life.
But good intentions seldom work out for a man like John—especially when a woman like Christine entrances him. And we’re off and running on another mad chase, including one where John and his pursuer fight on the top of a moving train. Huff tells the battle in interminable, unprobable detail, excessive description being one of the few weaknesses in his writing. He spins a good yarn, though, especially if you like action/adventure. You’ll want to get this book—four stars.
Andrew Huff’s background intrigues me. Presently he holds the position of product director at Igniter Media, one of the largest church media companies in the US. He served as a youth pastor and a creative arts pastor. Now a new endeavor occupies some of his time–trying his hand at writing an action/adventure series.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science in Religion degree from Liberty University and a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife presently live in Plano, Texas. Learn more at andrewhuffbooks.com
Kregel Publications gave me a copy of A Cross to Kill, but I was in no way obligated to write a review. I am an Amazon Associate, so if you click on one of the links and purchase this book, I may get a small commission.