Into the Fire

I don’t do book reviews. Not in the classic sense, I guess. However, I do express my love for a good book. And since I just finished Randy Alcorn’s new release Deception, I’d like to write a few things about the experience.

Since I’m a huge fan of Randy Alcorn’s fiction, I wasn’t at all surprised to thoroughly enjoy this third novel in a series that began with Deadline, followed by Dominion, and now Deception. In the many years since Dominion was written I would have to say that among the many books I’ve read of Randy’s, Safely Home touched my heart so deeply it was impossible to speak of the book without tears for quite some time.

Deadline’s story, centered around the loss of a friend, introduced a unique and compelling perception of heaven based on Randy Alcorn’s scriptural deductions. He has a non-fiction book entitled Heaven where he puts all the scriptures in context, giving his evidence for his interpretations of what we can expect as Christians when we leave this earth. I own the book but am waiting for the right time (for me) to read it. The integrity of his research for the novels presents a convincing case for his perceptions.

From a writer’s standpoint he passes the “first 20 pages” rule in Deception. If you aren’t hooked by both his protagonist and the language of this first person POV, I don’t know what it will take to interest you in a murder mystery/cop story. Ollie Justice Chandler is cynical, comical, and committed to being a good detective. Each chapter is headed by an amazingly apropos Sherlock Holmes quote. The clichés throughout are humorous, intentional, and fitting for each of the characters using them.

The sense of loss and a hardened emptiness in Chandler is unflinching and consistent until it finally begins to erode near the final chapters. The never-ending chain of events and murders keep multiplying theories and suspects, hunches and mistakes, and causes the reader to be suspicious right along with the detective as Chandler tries desperately to either eliminate or discover who of his fellow detectives is involved in the unsolved, seemingly unrelated, series of murders while surviving more than one nearly successful attempt on his life.

I especially like these novels because of the lengths of both Dominion and Deception. The stories don’t rush, they meander after those first 20 pages, and the introductions to peripheral characters and situations is totally believable and fulfilling for a patient reader like me. I like the extras, and Randy doesn’t disappoint.

So, if you’re a fan of murder mysteries, likeable and detestable characters, situations which inspire both compassion and judgment, investigation and elimination, and plain old good writing, you will love Deception.

Father, please pour out your Spirit on Randy Alcorn for all the work he does for your kingdom, for all the pleasure and insights he provides in his fiction and non-fiction, for his love and devotion to you. May your blessings continue to rest upon him for his obedience to you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.