As A Shield by Danny and Wanda Pelfrey

As A Shield by Danny Pelfrey, Wanda Pelfrey ISBN-13: 9781633570917 Paperback: 216 pages Publisher: CrossLink Publishing Released: March 24, 2017

Source: A free review copy from the publisher through BookCrash.

Book Description from BookCrash:
Davis Morgan, having left the ministry after the death of his wife, Julie, returns to his hometown where he operates a used and rare bookstore while being appointed chaplain of the small police department. He and Charley, a young policeman, after discovering the body of a tattooed man find themselves in a serious battle to bring to justice two strange villains who are threatening the safety of Davis’s daughter and future son-in-law. While all this is going on, Davis is struggling with trying to interpret his relationship with a young history teacher who happens to be his daughter’s roommate.


My Review:
As A Shield is a Christian suspense novel. It's the second novel in a series. While you can read this as a stand-alone, I'd recommend reading them in order. Some things seemed long (a wedding) or fast (a relationship) since I hadn't "seen" the whole story of their relationship.

Unfortunately, everyone in this story had silted, unnatural dialogue, and some of the details about what roads people took would only interest someone who lives in Adairsville. However, the characters were interesting, and we got to know a little about the main characters.

The bad guys repeatedly tried to harm people that Davis cares about. However, the Christian theme was that God acts as a shield to protect his children, so the criminals came across as bumbling fools. We knew who the goons were, but there were only clues about who hired them. Davis and Charley uncovered what's going on by asking questions and following up on clues. While you can guess who from the clues, most of the clues given by Davis at the end weren't shown to the reader when they happened. When Davis and the Bay Guy fight at the end, the author withheld the name until the fight was done. I'd concluded it was someone he didn't know, but he did. Kinda frustrating when you can't trust your POV characters.

The main characters often thought upon their favorite verses (which are written out for the reader), and we also literally get a short sermon. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.