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A clean read filled with small-town heart and courage in the face of LA’s dog-eat-dog film world. My rating: ★★★★☆
Content warnings: alcohol and drugs, romance (mild), attempted immorality (not detailed), “inspirational” rather than truly Christian | Click here to read full post
Davis Bunn has long been one of my favorite authors in the Christian suspense genre. This book is definitely more of the general-market contemporary flavor; it has some suspense, but of a mild variety, and the level of Christian content is inspirational at best. But the characters are well drawn, and Bunn’s writing lets you feel the emotion of conflicted people dealing with loss, facing betrayal, and trying to fight LA’s legal and film giants. It’s a story of doing the right thing and making a difference instead of giving in to anger or discouragement—even though there was plenty of righteous indignation aimed at some very nasty people.
The gritty world of Hollywood is clearly on display here, but not in any sordid way. I enjoyed how the hints of romance wove naturally throughout the story and allowed for growth in both Danny and Megan. The mystery of Danny’s hotel ownership was a bit hard for me to follow, but that’s typical of the pace at which I read Davis Bunn titles. I also felt that some of the storylines could have been fleshed out more. I was mainly disappointed, however, that for being published by a Christian publishing house, there was very little Christianity. Some of the characters were believers and were respected for their beliefs, but the hero himself never had any Christ-centered turning point. Possibly because of that, his treatment of the man who had betrayed him fell a little flat—more like a lack of revenge instead of an actual choice to forgive. It was also hard to tell where Megan stood in regard to faith. I loved her parents’ strong faith and abiding love for her and for each other, and I would have loved to see that affect Danny and Megan even more than it did.
Bunn is a master at capturing the small-town feel of people who care for each other even amid the glitz and grime of Hollywood. He’s also a master at explaining the ins and outs of the film trade while (generally) avoiding info dumps. He’s a great storyteller, and this is a clean read with plenty of hope and heart for those who enjoy a good man-against-the-odds kind of tale.
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Jayna Baas is the author of Preacher on the Run. She is a member of ACFW and The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network. Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free short story here.