Robert Whitlow writes some entertaining legal fiction with a spiritual twist. In The Sacrifice, Whitlow's second book, Scott Ellis, a young attorney in a small southern town, gets hired to defend a 16-year-old white skinhead accused of shooting at some black Christians during a baptismal service. No one was killed, but an eye-witness places him at the scene and he faces years in prison.
Ellis, under the guidance of his mentor at the firm, struggles to find the truth and provide the best defense for his client, who, of course, maintains his innocence. Meanwhile, Ellis volunteers for the mock trial team at the local high school and reconnects with his high school sweetheart who (conveniently) is in the middle of a divorce.
Whitlow writes a good legal thriller, but The Sacrifice has two elements not seen in secular legal fiction. Ellis meets some pastors and visits some church services and is challenged to take his nominal childhood faith to a deeper level. In addition, through the Hmong janitor at the high school, we see the spiritual warfare that is going on at the school. Some of the plot elements are a little heavy-handed and contrived, as you expect from the genre, but Whitlow makes it work.
I enjoy a book like this, that can be enjoyed on one level as an entertaining read, with suspense, timely social messages, and a bit of romance. But on a deeper level, Whitlow challenges me both to pursue a deeper spiritual life and to be aware of the spiritual things going on around me, unseen.
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