Sinners, Saints, and Savages, by Daniel Byrum

As far as I know, Daniel Byrum, an American missionary serving in The Gambia, has had a pretty peaceful experience during his family's stay in Africa.  But in his first novel, Savages, Sinners, and Saints, he lets his imagination run wild as he spins a tale about some other missionaries' experiences, and shows the dark side of the exploitation of Africa and the corrosion of the soul caused by greed.

It's 1940, Europe is at war, and 3 American couples have crossed the Atlantic to live and work as missionaries in Africa.  Their journey, which should have been an uneventful prelude to their new life on a new continent, turns into a nightmare when they discover that among the cargo on their ship are six young women being smuggled for sale as slaves.  When the missionaries confront the captain, he does not repent of his wicked ways.  Rather, he reveals himself as a greedy, murderous madman.  He ultimately determines that the only way to keep the missionaries from reporting his slave trade to the authorities is to murder the American men and sell their wives as slaves.

Dan keeps this story moving along well.  He ably handles the action of the plot, the slow reveal of the captain's evil, the dilemmas faced by the missionaries, and the ties to the action on the mainland with a storyteller's talent.  He writes of the harsh reality of the illegal slave trade, which has relevance, sadly, even today, and the motives and moral choices of the traders.  Even though Dan writes about evil men and their evil deeds, he doesn't sensationalize the content.  (Parents' note: I'd be comfortable with my teen reading this.)  Most importantly, he shows the struggle the missionaries have to do the right thing, as they approach their dire situation prayerfully, weighing the use of violence in defense of justice and presenting a consistent, redemptive witness in the face of deep-seated evil.

Savages, Sinners, and Saints has some of the marks of a first-time novelist, but the action is crisp, the dialogue is well-written, and the characters are believable.  The captain does lean toward a caricature of extreme evil, but not so much that he becomes cartoonish.  I will also say the resolution came around very quickly, almost seeming rushed, with a climax that didn't seem as explosive as it could have been, given what had come before.

Dan's Amazon.com author bio states that he has two more novels in the works.  I enjoyed Savages, Sinners, and Saints and look forward to reading his future work as he hones his craft.