Hands of Darkness by Heather James - REVIEWED

About the Book:

Evelyn Barrett has a new job, a new baby, and a new life—of sorts. Nearly crushed by the horrific abduction and murder of her daughter (book 1, Unholy Hunger), Evelyn is moving on as best she can.

No longer allowed to practice law, she is recruited by one of the detectives from her daughter’s case to become a police consultant. Her inaugural case becomes a baptism by fire as she joins the hunt for a chillingly methodical and sadistic serial rapist and murderer.

Her revulsion and anger fuels a passion for justice . . . and then it becomes personal. Her friend and law school roommate, Jen, becomes a victim. The rapist has made a catastrophic mistake with Jen: he has left her alive and able to talk.

Filled with the chilling tension of Unholy Hunger, Hands of Darkness explores the emotional and spiritual consequences for all involved when justice and compassion collide head-on with the darkest examples of human depravity.

My Thoughts:

“If you ever find yourself standing in a hole, and the hole is dark – creepily and fearfully so – it wasn’t God who put you there.  When God gets invited to the party, He comes in with the only think He Has. He comes with light.”  (p. 85)

“He’s a greedy one, that Devil.  His thirst for us in never satisfied and never quenched, even when he succeeds in picking us off one by one with rape, murder, pedophilia, pornography, drugs, and any other feat of destruction that strikes his undignified fancy.”  (p. 123)

Quite honestly, Heather James latest novel, Hands of Darkness, is a difficult novel  emotionally, and spiritually.  I mean that in the most positive light possible.  But I don’t want anyone to pick this up and think this is an easy read that will only entertain.  It is terrifyingly real, raw and edgy and lives are forever changed.  Lives are profoundly challenged.  There are no easy questions and there are no easy answers.

The entire novel  I found myself begging God to spare Evelyn any more pain.  Yet  as the novel developed, and I was able to see her faith lived out in the real, gritty, edgy context  of Twenty-first century circumstances, I couldn’t help but turn inward and ask myself, could I be that confident in my own faith if this happened to me?  Then I had to realize that the possibility that Evelyn’s life circumstances could, in fact, happen to me,  I had even greater respect for her character.  And I was terrified!

But oh, how my heart ached!  How my heart raced! How my mind reeled throughout the story.  There were times I wanted to read with my eyes closed! There were times  I found myself seeking God for the fictional character’s life!  This is real. This is powerful.  This is something everyone needs to consider and ask God for the confident, strong faith to withstand the Darkness.

WOW!! Just….WOW!!  So powerful!!

About the Author:

Heather James is the author of the Lure of the Serpent Series, suspense novels that pack quick wit into the high heels of attorney turned vigilante, Evelyn Barrett.

In addition, Heather is a practicing lawyer in California and a columnist with The Bakersfield Californian. Her columns focus on the humorous aspects of marriage and parenthood. Heather is married and works at home, raising two young sons.