The Rook is the 2nd book of the Patrick Bowers series by Stephen James. This book is about a murderer who video tapes the death of his victims. Simultaneously there seems to be an arsonist on the loose and a government secret weapon that has the potential of changing the way wars are fought forever. All this is going on and in the backdrop Patrick and his relationship with his step-daughter is stressed and strengthened. There also seems to be a growing romantic relationship with Patrick and Lien-Hua. We also learn a little more about Lien-Hua.

This book is intense. The author gloriously lead me astray several times and I was sad when the book ended. But I am grateful to know that this is a series, so I am not too sad knowing there are 5 more books available.

I recently learned that the author is a practicing Christian and you really can’t tell. Let me clarify. The book takes the reader to the dark cesspool of human nature. It is grim, and the murderers are vile. The book frightened me at times because of how dark it was, but the author never used cuss words, never depicted sex scenes or gave too much detail of the violence committed by the bad guys. This is what makes Mr. James a great author. He paints a picture just clear enough to allow our own depravity to assume what is going to happen next. He also sprinkles deep theology into his books without being preachy about it. This is so hard to do, but Mr. James does it effortlessly. The story line very well developed and I can’t wait to get my hands on the 3rd book!

I highly recommend this book to those who like mystery, thriller, detective, and suspense books. Also, I really think that any one with a military background will enjoy the Patrick Bowers series.

You can buy the book here