Into the Fire

Is that a fabulous cover or what? Ronie Kendig has written the second novel in "The Tox Files" (aka Toxic; aka Cole Russell), and it's another speculative affair going back centuries and jumping to the significance of an ancient dangerous crown in the present tense.

Tox learns that a fellow "brother" in arms (Alec King) has gone off the deep end because those in command ordered Tox's Spec Ops group to "Stand Down" after several of their fellow brothers were killed by a major terrorist. They could've killed the terrorist, but Tox followed orders as much as it disgusted him to do so. When Tox is shot on the beach at a 4th of July party with his team and his FBI agent girlfriend Haven, he knows who did it because of how he is wounded. What he doesn't know is why.

Crown of Souls switches back and forth from the ancient story of this cursed crown which consumes the intentions of those who possess it to the possibility that it's been resurrected in this present predicament with Tox and some recent executions. Much like the ring in the Lord of the Rings novel/film, this crown drives those who wear it to pursue personal power over their perceived enemies – including those who were once friends – while losing their souls to evil.  

Tox and Haven are awkwardly establishing their relationship through the challenges of a huge secret Tox carries keeping his unworthiness to be with Haven in the forefront of his mind. After he's wounded and not fully recovered, he reveals who he assumes the shooter is. This results in the tedious and dangerous pursuit of Alec King after discovering the history of the mysterious crown from the archaeological characters in the first novel (Conspiracy of Silence) of this series and the seemingly supernatural assistance of one of them. The deadly search takes them through some Indiana Jones types of experiences and forces one of the team to discover a possible way to counteract Alec's weird telltale evidence of his locations.

Crown of Souls is a busy novel with intersecting parts involving speculative history, supernatural rescues, emotional declarations, gut-level determination, and a near cliff-hanger ending which changes the scope of the next books in this series.

Tox is still second only to Mitch Rapp for me which is no small accomplishment for Ronie Kendig. A strong character who exemplifies a warrior, who wants to be a lover but is uncomfortable with his self-proclaimed unworthiness, who is a faithful and obedient soldier, but is in turmoil when he can't protect the woman he loves. At odds with God, he wars with faith but weakens as this story continues.

I'm not a fan of speculative fiction, but Ronie has written a wonderful character in Tox, and her stories give me enough of contemporary thriller energy with a fabulous protagonist to sustain my interest in the series.

Father, please continue to fill Ronie with your abundance, giving her more stories, and blessing her work. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.