Reviewed by Jaimie Bell
The third installment of the To Catch a Thief series, this latest story continues to be action packed and thrilling. Security consultant Desiree Jacobs is in the middle of her latest job which is to steal the precious Crown of Pakal before her competitors, Greybeck and Sons. Once outside the museum she realizes it is a fake and is about to throw in the towel and go home to Boston when a call comes in from the president of Mexico. He requests that Desi find the real crown plus several other artifacts thought to be stolen by the dangerous Fraternidad, the Mexican underworld. On route her ancient gold and emerald medallion is stolen, her pack is snatched by a local urchin who believes the medallion is still in her possession, and the home she spends the night in gets broken into. Not a promising start.
In the meantime, her fiancée who works for the FBI has just been informed of a human trafficking ring that has smuggled women from Mexico to Boston’s port. It turns out there may be a link between this and the missing artifacts. A huge snowstorm does not help matters and Tony falls in the icy water and ends up in a coma. Desi drops everything and flies to Boston where Tony is still in serious condition. She had intended to return to Boston to plan her wedding but it looks as though it might be a funeral instead.
I don’t usually read Christian fiction of this caliber and was quite impressed. Desi is a strong, intelligent woman with a fascinating job. Wearing all sorts of disguises she must think on her feet, tough it out with local hoods, and possesses a well-developed social conscience. The research done on Mayan artifacts is exceptional and descriptions of both the beauty and poverty of Mexico are compelling. There is a huge period in the middle of the story where the action dies but it eventually starts back up and the conclusion is very exciting and satisfying.
The situations and personalities of most of the characters are very real and the full range of human emotions is expressed freely. Typical tag-along philosophies like stoicism, politics, and temperance principles are mercifully kept in the background and replaced with a genuine Christ-like concern for others. Some strides are taken towards ecumenicalism, which opens up the door to more readers.
If this is an example of where Christian fiction is going, I believe it is headed in the right direction.
Jill Elizabeth Nelson has also written Reluctant
Burglar
and Reluctant Runaway.
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