Finally, “Christian” fiction with a bite!

I’ll admit it up front. Although I’m a pastor, I have never been much of a fan of “Christian Fiction.” All too often the characters are two-dimensional, the plot is linear and predictable, and the message is spiritually simplistic and heavy handed. Far too many authors feel that for it to be a Christian book, the gospel must be overtly explained and every moral question must be black and white. So, it was with some reluctance that I sat down to read Life Support by Robert Whitlow. Well, I’m happy to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised.

Life Support is a legal mystery that will grab your attention and keep you up most of the night. The question isn’t “Who done it?” We learn that in the first chapter. The question is, “Will she get away with it? And what will she do next?” But it’s even more complicated than that.

The heroine is Alexia “Alex” Lindale, a bright young divorce attorney with her eyes on a partnership at her law firm in the southern town of Santee. But soon the law becomes a matter of life and death as one man clings to life in intensive care, while his wife and father battle over who will decide whether, or when to remove life support. Greed, insanity, guilt, and fear drive Alex into an ever deepening web of deceit.

Meanwhile, Alex starts to fall in love with a local pastor who shares her love of classical music. The romance is realistic, tentative, and satisfying. Whitlow manages to write the pastor character as a real human being instead of the typical caricature of a saint, a buffoon, or a hypocrite found in so many other stories.

While there are clear Christian themes throughout the novel, Whitlow succeeds in weaving the spiritual with the temporal in a way that feels as natural as breathing. What pleased me most was Whitlow’s comfort with moral ambiguity. This isn’t to say that there’s no sense of right and wrong. It’s just that, as in the real world, we sometimes have to make judgments between shades of gray. Because Alex is such a well-written and sympathetic character, you can’t help rooting for her even when she is (unknowingly) working on behalf of a client who is up to no good – even murder!

Go ahead! Take the plunge! Life Support is a satisfying journey that will leave you asking, “I wonder if that could happen to me?”  Check it out yourself on Christianbook.com.

The publisher, Thomas Nelson, provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.