The Betrayal

Jenkins has moved from end times (the megaselling Left Behind series) to crime times, and it's a smart move. Boone Drake is a Chicago police detective who was almost fatally shot at the end of the earlier novel (The Brotherhood) in the police thriller series Precinct 11. As he recovers, Drake faces a profound conundrum: someone in the Chicago PD appears to have leaked information to the shooter, violating the strict code of police solidarity. Worse, evidence suggests it could be his new girlfriend Haeley. Jenkins is a consummate novelist: his plotting is nicely sneaky, his dialogue crackling. Evangelical Christian fiction plot elements logically fit in a life-and-death crime thriller; a lot of people talk to God in high stakes situations. The motivation of the villain might be better developed, but that's relatively minor. This is good popcorn, with more to come. (Sept.)