"Wounds" A Christian Novel with Seminary Prof as Main Character

I'm a voracious reader and like to read Christian novels. Last night I finished "Wounds" by Alton Gansky. I thought I'd say a little bit about it since one of the main characters is a seminary professor which I thought would appeal to people on BB.

This is not your typical Christian novel--a romance novel with no imagination and written for women. The book is a police procedural crime story revolving around a serial killer in San Diego. I would describe it as gritty, (somewhat) gory, suspenseful and unpredictable. There is some humor thrown in mostly in the banter between the two main detectives. The author sneakily inserts two mini-sermons into the narrative. Usually in Christian novels this is clumsily done and contrived but it fits perfectly in this story.

The seminary professor character, Dr. Ellis Poe, is living a life of shame and regret due to a traumatic experience he had as a senior in high school. This life changing experience happened shortly after he became a Christian and has defined his personality for 30 years. He hides his feelings by getting lost in his work. He doesn't have much of a life, in fact he's anti-social. He's not a likable character but he is compelling and interesting (in a weird voyeuristic way.)

The other main character, Carmen Rainmondi, is a homicide detective. She's in her mid-40's, unmarried, hasn't dated in years and not concerned about it. She's been victimized by a wrenching experience in her past as well. This experience caused her to give up her dream of becoming a doctor and instead becoming a police officer. She's not very likable either, but you are interested in what happens to her.

These two characters paths cross when a student at Ellis Poe's seminary is brutally murdered. Then a Jewish man is killed and dumped in the front yard of his Rabbi's house. I don't want to give up any more of the plot but because of his background in Bible and theology Dr. Poe becomes reluctantly involved in the investigation. There comes a point where his contribution to the mystery is revealed, and man, oh man, I did not see that coming! A jaw dropping shock for me and as I said, I read a lot, so I was really impressed I was surprised. Almost as impressive were some things that did not happen, plot-wise, in the story. Props to the author on that count as well.

If you like suspense thrillers with a police investigation angle, I highly recommend "Wounds". Here's a link to the Amazon page.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1433677180/?tag=baptis04-20