Into the Fire

                                (Originally posted on August 6th, 2008)

Okay, a few days ago I “reviewed” (and that’s the final time I’m going to use quotation marks, okay?) James Scott Bell’s Try Darkness, the second in this series which will produce at least three books, although the third won’t be out until next year unfortunately. So now I have read the series so far, albeit backwards. What a knockout character for Jim. Ty Buchanan is just cocky enough to gain a grudging respect and just devastated enough to evoke compassion.

Let’s start with the covers. Why you ask? Because number one I really like them. Why you ask? The titles are readable instead of drawing the eyes all over the dust jackets to find them because the author’s name dominates the cover and nearly conceals the title of the book. I really, really don’t like that. So I’m thinkin’ James Scott Bell has enough rep established to allow the cover art and book title to entice and pique the readers’ interest without the oversized author name. Good job, Hachette. I respect that. [Not the original covers but still applicable.]

Try Dying introduces us to the clever, smug, zealous, and so in love attorney Tyler Buchanan. Before we know it, his fiancée is found dead in her car after what appears to be a freak accident following the suicide of a murderer. Willing to accept the oddity of her death, he is cast into a traumatic turmoil after being accosted following her funeral when a mysterious man implies she survived the initial accident only to be murdered in her car afterward.

This incident begins two things: Ty Buchanan enduring more than one serious assault and Ty Buchanan eventually being accused of murdering someone who is supposed to be helping him uncover whether or not his fiancée was the victim of a murder.

Through this course of events, Ty comes face to face with a part of himself he’s never known, the desire to see justice accomplished at any cost, and a new revulsion for those he’s worked with in establishing his upwardly mobile career as a sharp young attorney at a prestigious law firm.

If you like intriguing legal suspense with a cast of smart, charming, lethal, ugly, unpredictable, and appealing characters, do not resist this two book series by James Scott Bell. It’s just too good to miss, and Jim’s having way too much fun creating it.

Father, I continue to thank you for the gifting you disperse to your people. What a joy to share in it. Thank you for writers who share you and honor you in their writing. You are the ultimate. I pray once again that you would keep inspiring Jim and leading him in your ways everlasting. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.