"Blood and Bone" by Don Hoesel

Blood and Bone (July 1, 2013) by Don Hoesel.*

Years ago, Dr. Jack Hawthorne traded in his life of dangerous adventure for one as an unassuming university professor, husband to Dr. Esperanza “Espy” Habilla-Hawthorne and father to two boys. A past choice has returned to haunt him when someone demands that the bones of Elisha the prophet be brought to him. It is said that Elisha’s bones not only have the power to heal, but restore life. A rogue operative wants them and will use whatever means necessary to obtain them, even stooping to use Jack’s sons’ lives as leverage.

            Unfortunately for Jack and Espy, the bones are not where they buried them thirteen years ago. To complicate matters, they are being pursued by two factions that’d like to see them dead, and the one faction has its own discord which affects the Hawthorne parents. They are both the helped (at unexpected times) and the hunted. Will they also be the saved? One thing’s for sure: the Hawthornes would walk through fire and brimstone if they had to in order to reunite with their sons. They’ll span the globe to sort out the clues and get their boys back.

            It is apparent that Hoesel is a talented writer. In this Christian suspense fiction novel, well-researched history and fiction gray the lines between fact and the writer’s imagination. The suspense isn’t suspenseful in a scary way and the plot moves right along. The only thing I didn’t really care for were all the adversarial groups. One is understandable to make a story. Two can work to give the story layers and more depth. But a rogue operative and two adversarial groups, one of which has two faces? That can be overkill. But fortunately, Hoesel makes it work.

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly 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.”