Review on Pieces of Light by Julie Cave

Pieces of Light by Julie Cave

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Well, it’s 2 books for the price of one! You’ll get a who- dunnit mystery suspense novel along with a well thought out apologetics novel all in one story. I guess the question is- do you like both packed into one? This is my first Dinah Harris mystery novel by Julie Cave. The character of Dinah Harris is a former FBI agent having been released from the FBI because of her alcoholic issues that resulted after the loss of her husband and son in a car accident. Dinah is a character who has come a long way in her healing from those days, but she is still learning how to deal and how to live out her new faith.

This storyline is truly intriguing – someone is bombing local churches and Dinah is called in by her former partner, who still believes in her, as a consultant on the case. I love the way the author uses the present and past and goes back and forth as a wonderful literary device to unfold the story piece by piece to the reader; it opens with the convicted bomber on death row and flashes back to a year ago when the case is unfolding. As the story is told and I don’t want to give anything away here, but I believe the reader really does develop empathy for the “bomber” – unique because he/she is the “bad guy”, but then again aren’t we all?

As far as the apologetics side to the novel- there is plenty of it here. The author is logical and systematic in her delivery of the gospel message and its clear and very well laid out. I felt like the argument concerning the political side of separation of church and state was pretty drawn out and I felt that during this section of the book and even the later gospel arguments that I had switched to a Lee Strobel type of book. Here’s the rub for me- as a Christian, I agreed with everything that was written and really appreciated the systematic and logical thinking that went into these parts of the book. As a fiction reader, it took me away from the story and for me that is a red flag because then I am looking at the writer’s choices instead of staying in the story. But like I said before, if you like 2 for the price of 1, then you will really like this book.

Having jumped into the third book in this series without reading the first two always gives me a little disadvantage I feel, as I haven’t read the character’s entire previous story. So, I do want to go back and read the others. The author does a fine job at helping the reader know the main points of the character’s back story. I just would like to read more and see for myself. So when it’s all said and done, I did enjoy this book- lots of different sub plots going on that made the storyline interesting- some romance, political intrigue, and you can even brush up on your thoughts on separation of church and state arguments and apologetics thoughts. A lot packed in there.

Rating- 3.5 stars

Disclosure- I received a free digital copy of this book through the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.






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