The Thin Line Between Good and Evil

Jagger Baird has lost his faith in God. He lost his arm when his best friend and his friend's family were killed by a drunk driver. Trying to recover from the trauma, Jagger moves his family, Beth and Tyler, to St. Catherine's monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai where Moses received the ten commandments and the Israelites turned to the worship of the golden calf. Jagger thinks, with Beth's love, he may be finding his way back, but then strange and violent things happen.

I thought this book was excellent. It's filled with violence and high-tech weaponry, but underlying the fast moving story are many of the essential questions of Christianity. What does it mean that grace is given to us by God and cannot be earned by good works? A very difficult question. The book doesn't answer it, but it does give an interesting illumination.

I particularly liked this book because it wasn't all action and violence, although those scenes were very well done and some may want to read the book for the action. The book also portrays two different ways of dealing with God's promises. Is he the vengeful God portrayed in some chapters of the Old Testament, or is he the loving God of the New Testament, or some amalgam of the two? The book doesn't answer the question, but it makes you think.

If you like high-tech adventure and violence, this is an excellent book. It can also be read for the author's understanding of our relation to God. I highly recommend it.

I reviewed this book as part of the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze Program.