By Janice Cantore

I’m always on the lookout for quality Christian suspense. When I saw the author of this book was a former cop, I figured I had found a book with a shot at being more realistic than your average suspense novel. So how did it stack up?

Leah Radcliff knew what domestic abuse was. She witnessed it frequently on the calls she responded to as a police officer in Table Rock, Oregon. But it’s one thing to encourage someone else to flee an abusive relationship. It’s another thing entirely when you’re the victim.

When Leah is forced to defend herself against her own abusive husband, the town of Table Rock is turned on its head. What happened in secret has ramifications that could bring down the leading citizens and heroes of Table Rock. And in the subsequent turmoil in the police department, Leah and fellow officer, Clint Tanner, will have to be careful who they trust as they dig through the layers of corruption and lies.

Pros: The first thing I noticed about this story was how different the timeline was. Most romantic suspense books wrap things up in a short amount of time. This book spans years. The legal system is slow, and I appreciated the author not sacrificing accuracy for the sake of genre norms. I also didn’t notice any errors, which made the fact-checking part of me very happy!

Overall, this book stands out from the rest of the romantic suspense genre with its fresh story and detailed research.

Cons: …but, we can’t have everything. The writing style was not my cup of tea. Lots of telling instead of showing, and plenty of info dumps. It wasn’t so bad as to ruin the book for me, but it was rather frustrating.

Bottom Line: A better-than-average romantic suspense story, just not my favorite writing style.

3.5 stars