Scary is a simple word, but that is what this novel is…scary! I am impressed with the flow of the story as Oxford “Ox” Christie unravels the mystery. The new church position is a plumy one at first blush, so the Christie family is just happy to have it. Ox has a determination to get the beautiful church filled with a congregation again because for some unknown reason the numbers have dropped off seriously during the past 15 years. And no new people have stayed.
As the sinister cause for the disappearance of The Hidden Congregation comes to light, readers are pretty sure of the identity of the villain and eager to see justice. The remaining congregation teams with Reverend Christie to achieve victory over the evil that has plagued them and to deliver their own justice. Readers will be surprised by the end because the foreshadowing is only clear at the end. Just when your skin begins to crawl, someone says or does something humorous or melodramatic to make you grin. Oxford Christie is blessed with a wife of great mental stability.
I thoroughly appreciate the art of this story and have added it here on this blog because there is more to belief than strict doctrine. I found the congregation’s determination to resist evil once they had a leader who would stand with them fit the measurement of uplifting.
Mature audiences although there is little profanity or lewd content. The evil is not for the faint hearted. Delamar doesn’t specifically identify the denomination of the church, nor the doctrine. The story reveals the flaws in human kind that can show up in almost any situation. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” There is no evangelical turn at any point. The CRIME element is first and foremost.
Not a fluff book, but a well written and well edited novel that earns the stars. When I was first communicating with Mr. Delamar about reviewing this book, I told him that I don’t always give pleasant raving reviews. I purchased a copy for the Kindle so I could get at the story asap and found the story intriguing, if not always in tandem with my convictions.