Allah's Fire
Chuck Holton and Gayle Roper

After being severely injured in the Ivory Coast due to stopping to help a woman in labor whose father performed an honor kill, Special Ops Explosives Ordinance Detachment Master Sergeant John Cooper recovers at Fort Bragg. At about the same time at the Hotel Rowena in Beirut, a suicide bomber decides not to set off his liquidly devices because so many of those in attendance are innocent Palestinians, but the bottles are jostled and a fiery explosion occurs that kills many.

Reporter Liz Fairchild originally believed her sister Julie Assan, married to a local, died in the blast, but soon finds evidence otherwise. The mastermind behind the suicide bombing Imad Hazari abducted Julie as proof that his group committed the "freedom" act in the name of Allah. John and his EOD unit head to Lebanon to capture terrorists with an undetectable bomb at the same time Liz begins her quest to rescue her sibling. When the true believer Liz and the doubter John meet, they argue over her insistence of finding her sister and the presence of God in their lives as they search for the same terrorist.

ALLAH'S FIRE is a fabulous inspirational romantic thriller that provides readers with an insightful look at the hypocrisy of those who claim God as the rationale to kill whether that is an honor kill, a blowing up of an abortion clinic, or a suicide bombing. What is really interesting is the contrast between Liz and John. She turns to God for comfort while the doubter rejects a violent creator as not worthy of his adulation. The first task Force Valor novel is fast-paced from start to finish, but also contains a strong message that God is benevolent even if free will enables people to use his name to rationalize atrocities.

Multnomah, Mar 2006, $12.99, 400 pp.
ISBN: 1590524055
Harriet Klausner