It’s been some time since i have read anything which
could be called Christian fiction and that was Frank Peretti and Stephen
Lawhead, both of which I enjoyed as a teenager so I was very interested to read
The 13th Tribe to see how well the author combined an action book
with the Christian faith.
The premise of the book, a 13th
tribe of Israel roaming the earth in punishment for idolatry at the time of the
10 commandments had loads of potential but for me never quite got there.
Thinking back I’m not sure if
any of the characters really came alive for me, although at times we delved
into their backgrounds I still found them a bit flat, none more so that our
hero, Jagger Baird. Having said that I did find his struggle to believe in the
goodness of God after his friends were killed in a car crash believable, much
more so than him as an action hero.
I have read a few of these ‘ex-soldier
wants to be left alone but is forced to use his deadly skill to right a wrong
or save his family’ I’m afraid this one fell short in that regard. The hero’s
of these books tend to be mean guys who get the job done with no mercy and then
switch off the bad guy when they are back in the bosom of their family. This of
course would not work with an action hero who was also a Christian, he can’t be
mean and merciless and that I think is the weakness of the book.
I suppose I came to this book
expecting one thing and was disappointed not to find it. It is certainly well
written and the plot, though under developed, was a good one with lots of space
left for more books in the series.
I would still recommend this
book, as long as you know what you are reading. I’m not going to give anything
away about the ending but there is a twist in the tail that the author should
probably have resisted unless he is going build on it in future books.
