Book Review: Firefly Blue

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Firefly Blue     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Jake Thoene
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Religious Fiction
Tyndale, 2003, $12.99, 361 pp.

In Mexico, the police stop a truck driver transporting 100 barrels of sodium cyanide. They kill the driver and steal 52 barrels. Four are placed in a pick-up truck while forty were put inside a semi. They then replaced the manifold with its 100 barrels replacing it with 96 barrels. Not long afterward, the police announce that they found the stolen shipment of 48 barrels.

Agent Steve Alstead heads up the Special Circumstances Operations of the Chapter 16 counterterrorist group that was formed following the Patriot's Act. He tries desperately to regain the cherished relationship with his beloved wife and become a full time father to their two young children. However, Steve soon lacks time, as he must stop an evil terrorist attack involving 4 deadly barrels of sodium cyanide that could prove devastating to the United States.

Though references to the first novel abound (see SHAITON'S FIRE), fans will enjoy this powerful stand-alone thriller, as the bad guys prove quite clever from the start. Readers will find most interesting the debate between individual liberties vs. security as staff of the Chapter 16 group argue about surveillance. However, the key to this tale is the wholesomeness of Steve, a professional who is a religious upstanding individual struggling to balance his work and his family. His dilemma provide a superb reminder that those who try to do the right thing often do so at a high cost, and in many cases the sacrifice leads to family problems.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner