Deadline

Deadline

by Randy Alcorn

Jake Woods, Gregory "Doc" Lowell, and Finney "Finn" Keels have all been best friends since they were young boys. Having grown up together and then fought in the Vietnam War together, they were as close as friends could be. The following is a description from the back cover of the book:

Doc's shoulder jammed into Jake as he swerved the Suburban sharply to the right, cut between a telephone pole and a billboard, then careened into a ten-foot-high embankment. Sometime between the sound of Doc's last cry and the sickening crunch of bent metal from the car's first roll, Jake lost consciousness. The last sensation he felt was of being crushed between the two men he had known since childhood. When tragedy strikes those closest to him, award-winning journalist Jake Woods must draw upon all his resources to uncover the truth about their suspicious accident. Soon he finds himself swept up in a murder investigation that is both complex and dangerous. Unaware of the threat to his own life, Jake is drawn in deeper and deeper as he desperately searches for answers to the immediate mystery at hand and - ultimately - the deeper meaning of his own existence. Deadline is a dramatic and vivid novel of substance, filled with hope and perspective for every reader who longs to feel purpose in life. 

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure I had the interest to get drawn into such an "involved" book. When I say "involved," I mean I thought it was going to have several offshoots in the story line that would make it hard to stay focused. I was right about the offshoots, but I was wrong about not being interested. I knew I had loved Alcorn's Safely Home when I read it last year (see my review here), and wanted to see if I would feel the same way about other books of his. I definitely loved this book. I loved seeing Jake's character change throughout the book, and enjoyed the descriptions of what Alcorn thought Heaven might be like. There were times when I felt the Heaven storyline was detracting a bit from Jake's story (I will be honest - I really wanted to find out what was happening to Jake and kind of skimmed at times through the Heaven parts). While the Heaven parts were interesting, it seemed like they would be better suited for another book.

However, overall, I loved this book. The parts I really enjoyed were Jake's conflicts in the world of journalism, and political correctness. I didn't realize it when I first started reading, but this book was actually written in 1994. I thought that might make it a bit dated, but surprisingly, it was very true to the times we are living in. I had to chuckle a bit at the references to a "car phone." But the abortion, homosexuality, and politically correct debates were right on target. I am definitely looking forward to reading Alcorn's other books in the series, Deception and Dominion. This book easily gets 5 stars.


About the author:

Randy Alcorn is the best-selling author of Heaven, with more than 500,000 copies sold. His novels include Dominion, Deception, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin's Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner Safely Home. He has written numerous non-fiction books as well, including The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. A former pastor, Randy is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries. He and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and five grandsons.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."