Dr. Cynthia Myers
left the Washington D.C political scene following a humiliating episode with her
former fiancé. She went far away to the
jungles in Africa to work as a medical missionary providing obstetric services
to women in a small village. She loves
doing her job and has found fulfillment helping local families. The life she’s settled into is about to be
disrupted when a warlord’s battle come to town.
The warlord’s son is gravely injured, and Cynthia has been charged with
trying to save his life. Captain Rick
Norton and his Army Special Forces team are in pursuit of the warlord, and his army
who have wrecked-havoc in the villages.
I really enjoyed
this book, Hallee is good storyteller.
She is skilled at making the reader feel like they are right there with
the characters in the midst of the jungle.
I liked the characters, especially Rick Norton and his team. I came to respect Cynthia over time, but
initially bristled at this character’s attitudes and views. Hallee did a good job bringing the military battles
and escape plans to life. As a
Christian, I appreciated that faith was an important part of the character’s lives. The book has clean language, and sexual
immorality was not part of the story.
My favorite
character was Rick Norton. He was a man
of strength, was confident in his skills, training and leadership. He wanted to be true to and pursue that which
God had called him to. I also came to
like Cynthia’s father. He
unapologetically made the best decisions he could and gave wise advice to his
daughter.
I struggled with Cynthia
and her “holier than thou” passivist naïve views. Like when she was angry when Rick and his
team had to dispatch the warlord’s army. She believed that it would be better if she
had died instead of men who were doing evil things and harming many people in
their path. The character’s moral
compass was skewed. She didn’t distinguish
between good and evil. Overtime she grew
and had better balanced views…mostly.
Something I took
issue with some of the Scripture references being misused or misstated. The biggest one was in a conversation between
Cynthia and Rick when she referenced Matthew 5, where Jesus Christ submitted
and went with the soldiers who were arresting Him. “Christ defied them without violence. He went with the soldiers peaceably from the
garden of prayer and ultimately laid down his life. Should we Christians not be Christlike in all
things?” My issue with this misuse of
Scripture was that Jesus Christ’s purpose in not resisting the soldiers was not
to show a passivist response to evil.
This was done in fulfillment of God’s plan for the Son of God to willingly die a substitutionary
death on the cross, to pay the sin debt of everyone who will repent of their
sins and believe in Him.
A second misstatement
of Scripture, “God’s Word promises us that He will take all things and make them
good. Even the horrible things.” Wrongly stated. Better to stick with Scripture rather than
misstate it. “And we know that God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who
are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28
I liked Honor
Bound, the first book in the Love and Honor series. It was easy to get into the story, and there
were many likable characters. Hallee
Bridgeman is a good story teller. I
would add a caution to not get your theology from Christian fiction and be aware
when Scripture is misstated or misused.
I look forward to
reading more books from Hallee Bridgeman including the next two novels
in the Love and Honor series.
I would like to
thank Revell Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read
a complimentary copy of Honor Bound by Hallee Bridgeman. I was under no obligation to give a favorable
review.
