Friday, February 1, 2013

Congo Dawn, by Jeanette Windle



Congo Dawn, by Jeanette Windle

Reason for Reading: This is my first (and feature) book for the 2013 Social Justice Theme Read. An ARC was provided by the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review. 


Review

When Robin Duncan takes on a security/translator contract in Democratic Republic of Congo, she doesn't expect all of her old wounds to open. Then she meets a man that she hoped to never see again, and she is reminded not only of her disappointment in humanity but also of the senseless death of her brother. Duncan must struggle inwardly with these issues while she maintains military efficiency in her team's efforts to capture a deadly insurgent leader. Soon, she learns that not all is as it seems - sometimes, good seems evil and evil seems good. Sometimes well-intentioned people can become monsters while fighting monsters. 

Most Christian Suspense I've read is fairly fluffy, so I was surprised (and impressed) with the meatiness of this plot. I found the intensity of the mercenary action against the insurgency convincing. Often, I found myself unable to put the book down for suspense. The romantic tension was delicious, and added emotional depth to the characters without distracting from the suspense plot. And, of course, I always find stories about social justice medical personnel heartwarming. I also learned a lot about the Democratic Republic of Congo while reading this book. Windle has done a lot of research to back up all aspects of her plot - and it really shines through.

The only con would be a con ONLY to people who specifically avoid Christian Fiction. At one point, the suspense is, well, suspended by a philosophical discussion about why God allows bad things to happen to good people. This discussion would be interesting to any reader of Christian Fiction (i.e. the target audience), and the philosophy is demonstrated in the story by action. For those of you who generally avoid Christian Fiction because you feel it is "preachy," I recommend that you give this book a try anyway. Yes, there is that short section, but the rest of the book is all philosophy-demonstrated-by-action. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I am eager to read more of Windle's works now that I've had this taste. :) 

14 comments:

  1. I have yet to read a book by this author so would welcome the chance to do so. The book sounds really good.
    JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

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  2. This sounds really interesting.

    I would also say that as a non believer, I would find a discussion on why God allows bad things to happen to good people fascinating, even if I happened to disagree with the author's conclusions. I really enjoy pondering the ideas of others, even when they do not match my own.

    Though my knowledge of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is far from comprehensive the civil war that has been going on there for a long time sounds terrible indeed.

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    1. Actually, I'm not certain there's much to disagree with here. The author's conclusions were basically that bad things may seem bad when they're happening, but they can shape us into stronger people if we allow them to. I think most people can agree with that, even if they don't believe in God. :)

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  3. I would love to enter this give-away, the author and book both seem brilliant. a(dot)pembles(at)gmail(dot)com

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  4. This sounds great, I've heard such good things about the author but haven't had a chance to pick up any of her books yet.

    goodbooksandacupoftea(at)live(dot)com

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    1. You've been entered! Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. I love books set in Africa and can't wait to read this one. She's a fab writer and look forward to more of her works.

    JOY!

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  6. Hi, Rachel. Thank you for visiting my blog. I'm glad you found the mermaid book interesting. I am now one of your followers. Happy reading!

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  7. Not that we should ever judge a book by its cover but this is obviously more deep than the cover suggests. Great review, thanks for the recommendation.

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    1. I agree. This isn't one of those books that I could look at the cover and say "that's my type of book." Not that there's anything wrong with the cover, but the book was much deeper than I expected!

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