BOOK REVIEW: The Chosen

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve has always been a time for me to pamper--me! Not that I do that much anymore to get ready for the Holidays; it just seems that I don’t feel guilty taking time to do what I want to do and in my case that means reading.

One of my favorite authors is Sharon Sala and because her books tend to be very different, I feel that I can get away with reviewing her now and again.  THE CHOSEN may sound like an odd choice for this festive time of year, but maybe that is why I enjoyed it so much.

The last thing that pimp Jay Carpenter remembered was slapping one of his girls for holding out money on him. In the hospital the medical team removed part of a brain tumor and successfully brought Jay back from death twice. The near death experience was so shattering to Jay that when he returned to the street he took his first step in what he believed was the perfect redemption. He would live as Jesus Christ lived.

January Delena’s job as a well-known journalist has not made her many friends on the police force. The police feel that her on site reporting interferes with their ability to solve the crimes.  Doing research for a piece on near death experiences, she hears of a man called The Sinner who claims to have been to Hell and back. Through Mother Mary, the nun who runs a homeless shelter, January learns that a series of street people have gone missing and several bizarre murders have taken place. January feels that they are somehow connected.

First a street preacher known as Bother John is found beheaded. Then a man named Matt, one named Mark, and Jude, a bouncer at a strip club have disappeared. Later, the police find that the body of recently deceased Walter Leopold Lazarus has been dug up and arranged seated on the bench near his grave. The book races to a finish as the “connection” includes Mother Mary and January Delena herself.

Sala is not your typical sweet little, comfortable murder mystery writer. This book has some horrific scenes in it and a very tense conclusion. The author has a knack for creating such good side characters that the reader gets caught up in their stories, both good and evil.

This is an author that goes on every vacation trip with me. Fortunately, she is prolific and I am able to have a “stash” waiting for the future.