Into the Fire

Steven James' latest in his The Bowers Files, Every Crooked Path, follows the prequel Opening Moves. Every Crooked Path was sent to me free for an honest review.

You might recall my post Agenda-driven? Every Crooked Path is the impetus for that post. Steven James remarks in his "Author's Note" at the beginning of the book that this might be his most "important" story yet. And, indeed, from the standpoint of presenting the horrific infection of pornography involving children and their exploitation in the sex trade, it's a very important work, but, precisely because of its subject matter, it's not an easy read. And, again, because of its subject matter, it's difficult to recommend.

I'm a fairly tough reader – "tough" in that I can take a fair amount of grit and horror. I watch crime dramas as in Criminal Minds (although I often ask myself why I watch it). But I must say Every Crooked Path almost hit the "can't do this" button before I was able to finish it. I stayed the course, but I'll be honest: it wasn't easy.

As any Steven James reader will tell you, his novels are well-written, highly complex, involve many different types of characters with plenty of evil to go around, and throw the reader into impossible twists they never see coming. His protagonist Patrick Bowers is highly intelligent, daring, thinks outside the box, and is like a dog with a bone when he finally gets his geospatial ducks in a row. He'll pursue predators whether or not he can outthink their motives, and he won't let up until they're in handcuffs or on a slab often putting himself in extreme danger.

An unsettling, odd suicide begins the search for whatever "Aurora's birthday" might be and opens up the perverted, depraved, and deadly world of kidnapped children used for sexual plunder available on the deepest, darkest, highly guarded web.

We're introduced to Francis, a young man employed by the organization designed to catalogue and register all manner of recorded child pornography. As the reader can imagine, this kind of work – looking at the images of sexually exploited children – renders its toll on the individuals who do this for their life's work. Francis is an unusual character who hears and conducts conversations and arguments with himself, never sure either of his "voices" is correct. One thing he is sure of, his work is important as are the very ill children he visits at the hospital.

This story takes place during the middle stages of Patrick's relationship with his future wife Christie and her teenage daughter Tessa. We see Patrick's struggle between his job and his personal life with his job tending to take precedence over everything else.

We meet a Detective Tobin who's experienced the ultimate of sorrows, and we view the evil counterparts who have slithered to the bottom rungs of humanity.

As I noted, this story weaves all around the pursuit of evil on the dark web with characters surfacing, hiding, dying, betraying, and existing inconspicuously. It's a terrible tale with only minute victories. It's not only "chilling", a word used profusely in the endorsements and description of this story, it's haunting and revolting.

Christie's newer Christian faith separates her from the rest of the characters and gives her a boost of reality and reason while doing her best as the single parent of a very smart and sassy teenage girl. Patrick is less jaded about faith in his early life but clearly does not embrace it for himself.

Every Crooked Path ties up many loose ends but leaves one dangling which might set the stage for the next Bowers Files. Steven James writes an accurate, not graphic, story of this wicked "industry". It left this reader more aware . . . and more sickened by it all.

God, I'm just so sorry for all of our wickedness. So, so sorry. Please forgive me for mine. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.