With embryonic cell research garnering headlines in the media, this novel from the author of Refiner's Fire
(a Christy nominee and Silver Angel winner) is a timely tale for CBA readers, but will likely miss a larger audience in the general market because of its cut-and-dried approach to the abortion issue. Thor Emerson, a mediocre and corrupt physician, is about to lose his wife, Teresa, and son, Eric, because of the long hours he works at his chain of six abortion clinics and his sexual dabbling. He's charging top dollar for abortions, but has found bigger bucks to be made in fetal tissue harvesting. Becky Taylor, a young teen in her first sexual relationship, finds herself pressured by her parents to end a pregnancy. She is taken to the clinic, where she is sexually molested by a doctor and caught in the middle of a bloody massacre. Pro-life readers who are looking for fictional reinforcement of their beliefs should be satisfied by the content, but will be hampered by choppy transitions and several overly contrived scenes, as when Teresa pours out her heart to a counselor and ends up in church. Pro-life characters are painted as virtuous (with the notable exception of the mentally ill clinic gunman) and pro-choice characters are uniformly portrayed as unenlightened or even sinister. Although it may please some CBA readers, this is a disappointing, marginal novel in which plot and character are subordinate to the author's pro-life politics. (Nov.)
