Into the Fire

The CFBA Tour features the first novel in a trilogy written by Julie Cave entitled Deadly Disclosures published by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group located in Green Forest, Arkansas. The novel presents an attractive cover design and an interesting format for this first effort by Julie Cave with just a few missed copy-editing errors. The stated objective of Master Books reads as follows:

“The world's largest publisher of creation-based material for all ages.”

Julie Cave lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her family which kind of makes the plot of this novel unusual—at least to me. Deadly Disclosures takes place in Washington DC and centers on the FBI investigation of the kidnapping and murder of Thomas Whitfield, the Secretary of The Smithsonian, his being the first of four eventual killings. I can’t find any evidence of Julie ever living in the United States, but this story reads like an American novel.

Before I get to the particulars of the story, I will say I can see the potential for Julie’s writing, but this novel displays the flaws of what I call “first novel syndrome”. Repetition, clichés, a lot of adverbs—which I agree can be overused—along with too many dialogue tags, over explanation of biblical principles and the way to salvation, all of these things tend to point to a first effort. They’re easily recognizable because I did all of them in my first novel.

FBI Special Agent Dinah Harris has been demoted from the field to teaching a classroom at the Bureau because of a breakdown suffered after debilitating loss in her personal life resulting in an additional tragedy at work. Her former partner FBI Special Agent Ferguson talks her into joining him on a case after he gets her clearance to help him find out where the Secretary of The Smithsonian has disappeared without a trace.

Choosing to make your heroine a suicidal alcoholic with a snarky personality is a daring venture for a first novel, but Julie does a fair job of transmitting Dinah’s pain and inability to cope with her losses. We’re given minimal information about the origin of her suffering, and I think we’re forced to wait too long for it to be revealed. The portrayal of her indulgences with alcohol is realistic and honest.

Deadly Disclosures is somewhat agenda driven by the mission statement given above. The story incorporates a group of organized atheists using politics to eliminate Christian values as the source for morality while denying and attempting to suppress the biblical basis for mankind’s existence professed by creation scientists. This group is discovered during the investigation of the Secretary’s disappearance while trying to determine the reason he’s missing. Included in this ambitious plot are several school shootings, beginning with Columbine, and their impact on the backstory of atheistic Thomas Whitfield and the relationship he develops with his opposition in debates of evolution vs. creation, Andy Coleman.

Much of the backstory is dropped in via separated passages which refer to past events in the lives of the characters. It feels like a convenient gimmick—or information dump—to fill in the blanks of their history but explains the process or “evolution” of the character’s journey. This method is used in television and film to show different past encounters between characters and is incorporated in other novels usually with a distant historical connection rather than those matters of recent history.

With the discovery of Thomas Whitfield’s murder the investigation keeps coming back to the Board of The Smithsonian. However, after a few people are interviewed by the FBI, more people turn up dead. The tense final confrontation leads to the revelation of the real intentions of the atheistic group as well as the identity of the major players. The “perfect ending” is left open but accommodates a certain justice with a perhaps too convenient resolution. 

Dinah Harris is well done but tedious in the repetition of her bitter sorrow and loneliness. It’s established why she buries herself in alcohol after the first two accounts. To continue to emphasize her reasoning without giving the reader the true source of her heartbreak gets old.

As I said, the potential is there for Julie Cave, and hopefully the next books in this series will show her progress as a novelist.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0890515840

Father, there’s no question Julie’s desire is to serve you. Please open the doors for her to do just that. Bless her in all she does to honor you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.