The Queen
by Steven James
Grand Rapids: Revell, 2011, 516 pp., paperback

The Queen maintains the expected high tension of its predecessors in the Patrick Bowers series. Some series fade by the time they get past three books, but this one just keeps getting better. FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers once again finds himself torn between convoluted mysteries on the job along with the mysteries of trying to raise his teenaged step-daughter Tessa without her mother, Bowers' late wife. As with the other novels, this one is written partially first person from Bowers' view, and partially third person. Although I disliked that approach at first, by now it wouldn't seem right to read a Bowers thriller any other way.

This riveting tale takes Bowers to a Wisconsin town where a double homicide is far more significant than it originally seems to be. Soon buried Cold War secrets and the turbulent current world of the Middle East collide with Bowers in the middle, trying to stop a major terror attack.

I've noted in prior reviews that the series is not blatantly Christian, but this novel conveys a more up-front Christianity than most of the others. Bowers seems a little more real and a little less James Bond than before, and Tessa continues to play a key role in the story. Part of the appeal of the series is that Christian characters struggle more than expected, and even some brutal killers have their sensitive and laudable sides.

I wish I didn't have to wait until next year for book six, undoubtedly titled The King. Considering we also get The Hobbit movie in 2012, it should be a good year!

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