Nancy Moser, The Ultimatum

The Ultimatum

Nancy Moser

Multnomah, Mar 2004, $12.99, 418 pp.

ISBN: 1590521447

In Steadfast, Kansas, Annie and Cal McFay love each and their eight year old daughter Avi, but a man has come between the two adults. Annie has found Jesus while Cal shuns anything religious. Frustrated with her piousness, Cal informs his wife that he loves her but will not compete with Jesus for her affection.

Before Annie and Cal can come to a head over his ultimatum that she tapers her religious fervor, Jinko Daly and Jered Manson take the McFay family hostage to elude the law. Annie finds strength in Jesus and even influences the feelings of the young distraught Jered who cannot fathom how he allowed things to so quickly fall apart. As Jinko makes his break needing one hostage to take with him, Annie volunteers because she fears that if something goes wrong Cal is damned for not finding Jesus.

Though Jinko shows no redeeming quality even if he took Jered off the street, fans will feel awe for the sacrifice of the heroine willing to die so her spouse has time to find redemption. Along with risking her life, Annie's forgiving nature and inner strength buttressed by her belief in Jesus makes her an individual that readers will admire. The rest of the cast plays key roles in the drama, but they pale next to the heroine who stays steadfast in her beliefs refusing to surrender her soul.

Harriet Klausner