Former CIA agent turned evangelical pastor John Cross is busy caring for the small community of believers he ministers to in Virginia. Journalist Christine Lewis is busy with the demand for her talents from top news agencies in New York City. Neither has any time left for their relationship, which began eight months before when they paired up to prevent the detonation of a chemical bomb in the nation’s capital.
But when Christine hears that her stepbrother has been arrested for murder in Texas, they team up again to discover the truth about the crime. Untangling a web of conspiracy, the couple finds themselves in the center of another dangerous situation-and in trouble far deeper than they expected.
With an assassin on the loose, a trusted colleague acting as a double agent, and unreliable artificial intelligence connected to mercenaries who have Cross on their hit list, these two may not get out of the Lone Star State alive.
If you’re in the market for a super-masculine thrill-a-minute action story, look no further: Cross Shadow by Andrew Huff is the book for you!
Huff continues main character John Cross’ personal angst as he tries to protect girlfriend and journalist Christine Lewis from a sticky situation when investigating her stepbrother’s murder charge. You can feel Huff’s confusion as he tries to live up to what he thinks God’s plan for his life is while also trying to serve as the ultimate protectorate for those around him. The life lesson that comes at Cross is one that we all need to learn: that there’s no better place for us to be than in the center of God’s will.
The book included some relationship drama, which definitely had higher stakes than in the first book, but these two issues made up the sum total of emotional drama for the story – the rest was all action. The story literally jumped from action sequence to surveillance sequence to another dangerous action sequence. It felt like reading a spy movie; I couldn’t help but wonder at the cost of all the cars that got destroyed as I read!
I love a good action flick, and suspenseful stories are actually my favorite to read, but this left me craving more drama. I discovered like I like the balance between character – drama and action-motivation than I thought! I felt as if the characters and their emotions weren’t as fleshed out as they could be, and I wanted to go deeper with them both. I wanted to know more about what they were thinking and feeling, and I think they both got the surface treatment. If you read for the action sequences, though, you definitely don’t want to miss this book.
I did enjoy Huff’s way with words quite a bit. Several times throughout the story I found myself pausing and rereading over the last few lines, thinking that they would make excellent graphics or quotes – things that I wanted to stop, and hang up somewhere, so that I could ponder their meanings later.
Either way, Cross Shadow makes an excellent summer read!
I received a free copy of Cross Shadow. All opinions are my own.
Want to know more about the book that started it all? Read my full review of A Cross to Kill here.
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