Genre
General Fiction, Thriller, Novella
Audience
Adult
Author’s Worldview
Catholic
Year Published
2021
Themes
Death, Justice, Mercy, Forgiveness, Salvation, Priesthood, Redemption, Last Rites, Vocation, Death Row, Criminal Justice,

Reviewed by

A.R.K. Watson
In the first book we met Father Jacob, an ageing priest working to save the souls of death row inmates. Although he is close to the end of his life he felt called to minister to heartless killer for hire, Carl Jarrold. Now that Jarrold’s is fate sealed, Father Jacob is left to deal with the consequences of book one. Not everyone is enthusiastic about his enthusiasm to show love and compassion to death row killers. Chief among these critics are the families of the killer’s victims. Even worse, his friend, prison guard, Tomás Flores, might be about to lose his job because he helped the old priest. Carl Jarrold’s story came to it’s conclusion but now Fr. Jacob and Tomás are left to face the music. But even apart from the trouble man has in store for them, they aren’t prepared for what God is going to ask them to do next. 

This book is a direct sequel to book one and not a stand-alone story. Readers will get the most enjoyment out of it if they read the Three Last Things stories sequentially. Catholics and other Christians are the intended audience, but I think secular readers will find much reason to cheer on Fr. Jacob and Tomás, particularly as part of Fr. Jacob’s story involves some rather blunt criticism of hypocritical attitudes among Christians. Like the first novella, this story is as thought-provoking as it is fast-paced and thrilling. It will cause you to ask yourself just how far you’d be willing to go to love your neighbor.

Themes of vocation and the priesthood are prominent in this book. Catholics will especially find the deeply personal exploration of Fr. Jacob’s vocation to be moving. Other Christians should also enjoy the story and find its meditations on the costs of loving thy neighbor to be edifying. Secular readers will find nothing objectionable but the true audience for this story is a Christian one.

This is a quick and exciting read that will also make you feel and think deeply. At the end of the novella we are reminded that death is never the end of our stories and while there isn’t a cliffhanger ending, readers will be eagerly awaiting the third installment to see what happens next.

Bread from Home by Fr. Stephen Siniari

We all hunger for the same food from heaven. A collection of short stories exploring an Albanian Orthodox church community, their Catholic and Evangelical neighbors, and the hunger for heaven that unites them all.

Shooting At Heaven’s Gate, by Kaye Park Hinckley

How does an ordinary boy become a mass murderer?

Island of Miracles by Amy Schisler

When she finds out her husband had a whole other set of wife and kids Kate starts over in a small beach town.

A Good Girl by Johnnie Bernhard

When an old man dies his daughter must trace her family tree to find the ability to forgive him.

A Hero for the People by Arthur Powers

Stories from the front lines of the Church’s mission to protect Brazilians farmers from theft and greed.

Absence by Kaye Park Hinckley

Absence will chill you with the stark reminder that human beings are not just bodies, but souls whose spiritual influence cannot be suppressed, even when the bodies have gone missing.

Ghosts of the Faithful by Kaye Park Hinckley

The O’Murphy family gets help from beyond the grave as they deal with long held secrets.

Hussar by Declan Finn (St. Tommy NYPD Book 8)

It’s been a few years since St. Tommy saved the world. Now his son Jeremy and ward Lena have joined the fight.

Deus Vult By Declan Finn

Detective Nolan returns home for a well-deserved vacation only to find himself fighting hordes of gunmen, Lovecraftian monsters, and a demon straight from the pit.

Anyone But Him by Theresa Linden

What if you woke up one day and didn’t recognize the person you were sleeping next to?

Four Catholic Philosophers: Rejoicing in the Truth By: Richard A. Spinello

The rigors of philosophical thought can inspire remarkable physical courage.

Fields of Prosperis By Claudia Leboeuf

A bingeable space opera with the best written complex villains out there.

Zeal & Zest: Where to Begin with Hillaire Belloc

Belloc was known as a Catholic polemicist with a vicious talent for skewering his opponents. Anyone struggling to persevere as a Christian in the fields of journalism or media should read him. His children’s books have an acerbic humor that will appeal to bored veterans of political correctness, especially teens.

Champion of the Poor: Father Joe Walijewski by Voyage Comics

Meet the priest who spread the love of God in Peru.

My Son, The Father by Jim Moore

The story of a young priest through the eyes of his father and friends.

Books for Lent

Deepen your Lenten reflection with these stories of repentance and forgiveness

Sydney and Calvin Have a Baby by Adrienne Thorn

Sydney writes romances but living her own romance will require more courage than anything yet required of her.

Lying Awake by Mark Salzman

A cloistered nun confronts her faith when she realizes that the private revelations she has been given might be the product of epilepsy.

Three Last Things or The Hounding of Carl Jarrold, Soulless Assassin by Corinna Turner

The last day of a convicted murderer’s life: Can he save his soul in time?