Judgment Day, by Wanda L. Dyson

We all, whether we want to admit it or not, like to see the corrupt get their due.  "Why do the wicked prosper?" we ask, with Jeremiah, wondering why the righteous suffer and the just suffer.  But every now and then, we see a story in the paper or on the evening news which makes us cheer, bringing to light the deeds done in darkness by people who should know better.  Suzanne Kidwell doesn't necessarily have a great moral compass, but she knows that TV viewers like to see the sins of the high and mighty exposed for all to see.  With a taste for what sells, and some questionable tactics, she rakes in the ratings on her hit show, Judgement Day.

Kidwell thinks she's above the fray, one of those who moves in a different moral universe than the rest of us.  She tells a good story, but her shoddy investigative techniques inevitably bring more attention to her than she wants.  When her car explodes with her fiance at the wheel, was the assassination meant for her or him?  When his nurse turns up murdered in Kidwell's home, with Kidwell's fingerprints all over the bloody knife, she feels trapped.  Who would frame her for murder?  Was it a story she had done?  Was it a story she should had yet to do?  With nowhere else to turn, her lawyer brings in the best investigation team around, Kidwell's ex-fiance, Marcus Crisp, and his partner, Alexandria Fisher-Hawthorne.  Kidwell swallows her pride and relies on this man, whom she had betrayed in college, to uncover the truth.

Judgment Day is Dyson's fifth novel, and, just as Suzanne has learned to string her audience along, Dyson skillfully strings her audience along with page-turning action, plot twists, and suspenseful surprises.  As is the case with many a suspense novel, Judgment Day packs in so many twists and turns, so many random connections between events and characters, and so many improbable events, that there is an air of the unbelievable about the story.  But, forgiving the excesses of the genre, Dyson wraps a moral message around the plot.

Events toss Suzanne headlong into a forced reconsideration of her methods as a reporter.  Do the ends justify the means?  In some cases, she may have, through her unsavory investigative techniques, rightfully brought truly despicable public figures to justice.  In many cases, though, she inaccurately or downright wrongly convicted people in her personal court of justice for the sake of TV ratings, sometimes with tragic results.  Has it all been worth it?

Then, on a deeper level, the murder investigation begins to unravel the details of crimes more insidious than even she imagined.  The perpetrators insist what they are doing is right.  But can it be justified?  What if their crimes might benefit Suzanne's own mother?  Her moral reflections contrast with the faith and moral integrity of Marcus and Alex, whose faith guides their lives and their careers as investigators.  Things might not have worked out the way Suzanne would have planned, but justice wins out in the end.

I know, and I suspect Dyson knows, that Judgment Day is not a literary masterpiece.  This will not go down in history with Wuthering Heights and Of Mice and Men.  But Dyson does craft a compelling page turner, with a thoughtful moral message to boot.  Check it out.

This is the first book I have received from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.  They sent it along for free for me to review.  Don't worry, they didn't force me to say nice things.  I enjoyed the book!