Terri Blackstock
Trial By Fire (2000)
Terri Blackstock:
Genre: Christian/Romanctic Suspence
Plot Summary:
After the ashes have settled on firefighter and pastor Nick Foster's church, the town of Newpointe is horrified to find a dead body among the rubble. Issie Mattreaux, the bad-girl of Newpointe might be the only person in town that knows who was involved in the murder. After Issie's life is threatened, Nick finds himself wanting to be her protecter and they work together to uncover a dangerous group led by a family of white supremacists that might be responsible for the murder and have taken Issie's nephew into their group. Through all this, Nick tries to convince Issie that her relationship with God is more important than she thinks, and while he is interested in starting a relationship with her, he wants to wait to make sure she is interested in him AND and relationship with God.
Geographical Setting: Louisiana
Time Period: Contemporary (2000)
Series: The fourth book in the Newpointe 911 series.
Appeal Characteristics:
Blackstock is known for her suspense and anyone who likes crime thrillers will get a kick out of Trial By Fire. The story is not a gentle one, but features Christian themes that play a big part of the story and makes it uplifting. The setting is in a small town where everyone knows each other and most everyone supports each other. The narration is fast paced, with short chapters that keep the reader hooked. It is difficult to put the book down. The characters are not very developed, leaving the plot and the religious message to carry the weight of the story. But if reader like stories about firefighters or other public servants solving crimes, or romances between "unequally yoked" people, then they will like this book.
Read-alikes: Readers who enjoy Christian Suspense with a little bit of romance will probably also like True Devotion by Dee Henderson. Reader who enjoy series will like it as well, this book is the first book in the popular Uncommon Heroes series. Other suspenseful romances with public servants are James Scott Bell's Final Witness a legal thriller, and Ellen Vaughn's The Strand both also deal with the theme of "unequally yoked" characters, one more deeply religious than the other. Another popular suspense/mystery that takes place in a small town is Nancy Rue's Tristan's Gap and if the reader can handle a little more romance and loves to read about firemen in love, a great pick is Nicholas Evans' The Smoke Jumper a love triangle about a women torn between two men that meet while they are volunteer smokejumpers near a Montana ranch (this one is the only read-alike).
Red Flags: This is not a gentle read, while there is not swearing or sexuality in the story, there are themes of racism and violence.
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