Fiction Addict

Genre: Romance/Suspense

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Publication Date: March 2010

Reviewed by Elizabeth Olmedo

In an attempt to flee her past, underwater archaeologist Shiloh Blake moves to Mumbai, India, hoping to put as much distance as possible between herself and her father. At a dig, tragedy strikes, leaving a colleague dead, her best friend fighting for his life, and Blake running from an unknown enemy. Searching for answers, Blake finds herself caught in the middle of a nuclear terrorist plot. Those behind it will stop at nothing to see her dead. To survive, Blake must remember everything her father taught her and even do the one thing she vowed never to do — become a spy.

Former Navy SEAL, Reece Jaxon, faces the task of keeping the feisty and stubborn archaeologist alive. But how can he make Blake trust him when every man in her life has betrayed her, including her own father? How can he show her that despite the bruises and battering the world has inflicted, God has never abandoned her?

Ronie Kendig shines with her debut novel Dead Reckoning. She seizes the reader from the beginning and doesn’t let go until the end, leading her audience through a labyrinth coated with lies and dangers. She expertly keeps the reader flipping through the pages anxious to learn what follows. Though God and faith play a part in the novel, Kendig is never preachy.

Kendig could have offered more details and provided a bit more closure in a couple areas that affect Blake’s personal relationships, but regardless, I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and suspense. Once started, the reader will struggle to put down the book. It is a refreshing to find a book where clean doesn’t mean cheesy and page-turning action doesn’t mean foul language or inappropriate scenes. I eagerly await many more books from Kendig.

Review copy provided by Abingdon Press.