Ulterior Motives

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Mark Andrew Olsen

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MARK ANDREW OLSEN whose novel The Assignment was a Christy Award finalist, also collaborated on bestsellers Hadassah (now the major motion picture: One Night With the King), The Hadassah Covenant, and Rescued. Two of his last books were the supernatural thriller The Watchers, and The Warriors.

The son of missionaries to France, Mark is a Professional Writing graduate of Baylor University. He and his wife, Connie, live in Colorado Springs with their three children.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

When an al-Qaeda email is intercepted, threatening an attack on America, it leads to the capture of the group's leader. Yet even under fierce interrogation, the terrorist clings to his jihadist beliefs and refuses to divulge any information. Desperate, the Army resorts to extreme measures--a controversial protocol designed to break a subject's resistance. But the attempt must be masked as an offer of clemency and rely on an outside party, someone who is unaware of the protocol's aims.

They find that someone in Greg Cahill, a disgraced soldier who now serves in a prison ministry. Lured by the chance to restore his reputation, Greg befriends a man the entire country despises. And the result proves combustible, the two men having to flee for their lives. With both in need of redemption, they set out to prevent a major catastrophe...

If you would like to read the first chapter of HERE

MY THOUGHTS:
This was a gripping and suspenseful book. I was a little nervous about reading it, thinking it might disturb my sleep, but it was riveting and difficult to put down. And while it is hard to imagine the scenario actually happening from the standpoint of the protocol used to get information from the terrorist (although I know I can't begin to imagine many of the actual techniques used by the intelligence community as they keep our country safe!), the interaction between him and Greg Cahill was fascinating, not to mention convicting. What if we were given the opportunity to spend several days with someone with this background and history? Would we befriend him and share God's message of love and grace? Or would we consider him beyond redemption? For what individuals would we lay down our lives? Besides an interesting story, this book gives a whole new level of meaning to the commandment "Love your enemies." Read it and ponder it. I'd love to know what you think!