The Occupied
This book is the answer for those seeking Christian alternatives to popular crime thrillers.
The Occupied, by Craig Parshall, is a spiritual thriller that resurrects the lone-wolf hero and gives him a mission from God. Half modern crime drama, half Christian superhero origin story, Trevor Black’s tale takes plenty of grim turns that force him to come to grips with his place in a holy war.
A man who has dealt with his fair share of hard knocks, Trevor Black survives a tempestuous childhood in rural Wisconsin and emerges as a high-powered criminal defense attorney in a New York law firm. However, the cracks start showing in his seemingly perfect life, and, when things explode, Trevor loses everything, only to gain insight into a spiritual realm teeming with darkness bent on his destruction. In order to escape, he must go back to the place where he started and figure out how to make a stand.
Trevor is a deeply flawed man who tries to learn from his mistakes, too often once the damage is catastrophic and nothing more can be done. In this way and others, his spiritual conversion shares more with comic-book heroes than spiritual converts or practitioners of deep faith. His powers descend on him unwittingly; in a moment of crisis, he mumbles a prayer and emerges a spiritual warrior able to see and smell demons. His world turned upside down, he jettisons much of his life, but, unlike his new abilities, new habits of attitude, action, and thought are slow to manifest. Although he’s on the side of right, right often looks like something akin to the social norms of fifty years ago.
This book is the answer for those seeking Christian alternatives to popular crime thrillers. A dash of the supernatural ups the ante, making for a grim and grizzly string of murders in this first installment of the Trevor Black novels.
Reviewed by
Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
