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.

A Life Decision by Laurie M. Lamb

When Joe and Peyton find out that their unborn baby may have Down Syndrome, they are faced with a devastating decision.

August & September New Book Releases

Step into Fall with a Good Book

Most Highly Favored Daughter by Janice Palko

Her perfect life hides her city’s darkest secrets. Can Cara face the light of truth and come to understand real love?

McCracken and the Lost Lady by Mark Adderley

McCracken gives us the grounded swashbuckling Catholic hero that our inner child has always wanted.

Live and Let Bite Review by Declan Finn

The battle with the demons of San Francisco left Marco broken and now Amanda isn’t answering his messages.

Fields of Prosperis By Claudia Leboeuf

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

Celtic Crossing by Len Mattano

Relic lost, and faith found.

The Lion’s Heart by Dena Hunt

A deep, honest story of emotional struggle, temptation, and sacrifice.

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.

The Poppy and The Rose by Ashlee Cowles

While abroad in England, Taylor discovers a mystery linking her to an heiress and passenger aboard The Titanic.

A Truly Clawful Christmas By Corinna Turner

Father Benedict must learn to embrace the adrenaline rush if he’s going to survive being a rural priest living alongside dinosaurs.

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

“Virtue, the good life, tempted him in the dark like a sin.”

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.

Anyone But Him by Theresa Linden

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

Shooting At Heaven’s Gate, by Kaye Park Hinckley

How does an ordinary boy become a mass murderer?

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.

Gevaudan Project

This fun monster story takes themes of God, man, and environmentalism to places deeper than any newsroom can go.

The Table by Dennis Lambert

A table built by the grandfather of Jesus Christ survives the darkest moment in history to bring peace to a widowed musician

Coven (Book 7 of St. Tommy Series): By Declan Finn

St. Tommy fights the CPS and a group of pagans who have taken over a military base.

Death in Black & White by Fr. Michael Brisson, L.C.

Can an ordinary American guy make it as a priest in a world where everything is against him?