Book Review: "Higher Hope" by Robert Whitlow

Tami Taylor is a law clerk working in a Savannah law firm. One day a case comes up where her strict religious background expertise is called into play. An outspoken preacher has been accused of libel against a client and Tami has to go see if this women is speaking the truth or is just plain crazy. She worries if the woman's prophetic words are the truth. Meanwhile two men from different firms are trying to win her heart forcing her to choose which direction she eventually wants to follow.

Law stories are give and take with me. They are either written extremely well and explain everything about the law to a newbie or they are too convoluted in lawyer-ish jargon, cliches and stereotypes. So I was pleasantly surprised when after reading this book. Normally I'm wary of male authors who write as a first person female character. You can tell when a male author has not done his research about how women really act and it shows in the writing. They either have the female be too cold or way too emotional. Whitlow however nails it in this book. Tami is a combination of both, and doesn't seem fake or contrived. Also by portraying Tami as a law student helped to ease the reader into the story, as she's a learning newbie too. Books that tackle legalism issues always interest me. Since I don't agree with many of the issues that is involved with legalism, it's always fascinating to read exactly how the author will portray them. It is possible that readers who agree with those issues might be reading the book, so the author has to handle them in a certain way and be respectful even if they don't agree with them. Tami is a character that has broken away from her strict religious background but is still respectful of her parents and their decisions. Meanwhile her parents may not agree with her decision, but neither have they banned her from the house or are angry with her. The entire situation involving Sister Dabney was very interesting as it neither portrayed her as being delusional or being absolutely right at the end.

My only qualm with the book was that a felt the ending to be rather disappointing. After so much buildup throughout the rest of the book, I was expecting an explosive or at least confrontational ending. As it turned out, it was very underwhelming. It sped by and I felt like I had missed it completely. Other than that, I did enjoy this book very much. The writing is crisp, engaging and was a page turner for me. This was my first book from the author so not only am I going to go back and read the first book in the series, I'm planning on checking out his entire back list. It's always nice to find a new author who surprises you.

Higher Hope by Robert Whitlow is published by Thomas Nelson (2009)