Karen Ball Shattered Justice

Shattered Justice

Karen Ball

Multnomah, Jun 2005, $12.99

ISBN: 1590524136

Avidan "Dan" Justice and his beloved wife Sarah went into the woods with bows and arrows for fun. Her shot struck a yellow jacket nest that she failed to notice. The angry insects attacked, stung and killed Sarah.

Dan moves with his two children Shannon and Aaron to Sanctuary, Oregon where the trio adjusts quickly with the kids healing faster than their dad. Their renewed happiness ends when several children including his two are murdered. Dan discovered their bodies and the meth lab which is the motive for their deaths.

Dan was a believer until he saw the corpses of Shannon and Aaron amongst the dead children. He no longer believes that God is a just being after the yellow jackets and now the random shootings. Shelby Wilson works with troubled teens, but because she has loved Dan from almost day one of his arrival she hopes to reach him with solace. She thinks by matching him with one of her most troublesome teens Jayce Dalton, both will make it through their respective storms. Neither wants it, but she is persistent showering them with love as she fights to save two souls that mean the world to her.

Dan has tried to live up to his name fortified by his belief in God. However, the deaths of his loved ones, fine souls that they were, nuke his conviction as he fails to see the justice of the heavenly master plan. The wise Shelby sees inside the torn Dan and the troubled Jayce believing they were intended to help one another through the darkest night. As Dan has one more Job like test to cope with, Christian fiction readers will treasure the inner war for his soul.

Harriet Klausner