“Deliver Us from Evil,” by Robin Caroll, combines adventure, suspense and romance into an entertaining read that was difficult to put down.

The characters felt very real, the narrative flowed well, and the dialogue was crisp and natural. Caroll’s well-drawn characters pulled the reader into their plight. The story was well written, even if the ending was a little predictable, and thus slightly disappointing. “Deliver Us from Evil” was a fast paced novel which kept my interest to the very end.

My only objection to the book was the almost constant insertion of Bible verses. I felt the author should have either written a book centered on the Bible verses or written an adventure story with less emphasis on specific verses. As a Christian, I enjoy Christian fiction and have read many Christian novels. However, I felt that Caroll overdoes the Christian theme and hits the reader over the head with the large number of verses, and by doing so, he interrupts the natural flow of the story.

I enjoyed reading the book as it was a fun read. I would recommend the book with the caveat that the Christian theme is a little overwhelming as I felt the author went out of his way to beat the reader over the head with the multitude of Bible verses in the text. Other than that, I was pleased with the book and enjoyed it very much. ( )

There's a federal witness ready to help bring down a Tennessee child-prostitution ring, he's just too weak to do so without a heart transplant. US Marshall Roark Holland is assigned to escort the heart on the flight from North Carolina to the hospital where the former money-man lies near death. This racket is very well-connected and very profitable and the US Marshall service isn't taking any chances. But there's little they can do against the blizzard settling in over the Great Smoky Mountains. Or even the hand of God Himself, who shows He also has plans in motion.

I don't know that I've ever read a Christian Romantic Suspense novel before but the blurb on this one had several angles that caught my attention. The 'faith' elements didn't bother me, I think I could have done Christian Suspense or Christian Romance but all three together just didn't work out. I felt the author reaching to pull it all in and that lessened my enjoyment of the story. Sometimes the language was annoyingly repetitive - one passage used the word 'attraction' over and over again. And the timing was wonky. Some of the action scenes flew by with hardly any details at all but a description of one kiss took over a page, in slo-mo like the movies. So, kudos to Caroll for an ambitious plot but the execution wasn't my cup of tea. ( )

I thought this was a really good book. It was well-written; the characters were engaging; the plot was interesting.

This was one of those books I couldn't put down. It was a little predictable at times, but I had to keep reading to find out HOW things would happen.

I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd book in this series, and Robin Caroll is an author I'll be watching for in the future. ( )

This is a Christian adventure novel set mostly in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Knoxville, and surrounding areas. A key witness is a child-trafficking scheme is in need of a heart transplant. Bad weather forces down the helicopter transporting the donor heart. That's when the National Park Service rangers get involved in the case. This was one book where I didn't need a map to help me navigate since the action is set right in my own backyard. It took me about fifty pages to really get into the novel, but once I became engaged, it was a quick read. It's the type of novel that would be more appealing to Christians than to non-Christians as faith is an integral part of several characters. ( )

While adventure books can be gripping and really fun to read, the characters themselves usually draw the reader into the action. In this case, the two main characters seemed a bit like stereotypes to me. The hard-working and sensitive woman with something to prove meets the insensitive, yet protective and earnest man. The woman's back story was interesting, and the revelation of the child slavery plot was also interesting, but the long crisis on the mountain and the relationship between the two protagonists was somewhat stiff and predictable. The Christian portions of it were also disappointing to me, feeling like a sermon rather than an integral part of the story. I wish I could rate it better. I think 2.5 stars is more like it. ( )