Book Review: "Double Cross" by James David Jordan

Raised by a father who was a former Special Forces officer, Taylor is beautiful and brilliant and knows how to take care of herself. But she is haunted by her past and the sacrifice her father made to save her from a brutal rape when she was seventeen. After a controversial stint in the Secret Service, she has become the most prominent private security specialist in America. When she discovers the body of a former client's top assistant, all the evidence points to embezzlement and suicide. But Taylor has no way of knowing that her mother, who ran out when Taylor was nine, is about to reappear and lead her down a twisting path of danger and deceit. It's a road that won't end until they reach the spot where Taylor's father died-where Taylor learns some sacrifices can never be earned.

I had a blast reading the first book featuring Taylor's character, Forsaken, and was eager to read more about her adventures. I had really liked Jordan's style of writing in the first book and how he had managed to create a female character who was both strong and vulnerable at the same time. I was not disappointed when picking up the sequel and continuing Taylor's story. Once again, Jordan is able to write convincingly as a first person female. Too many times, other male authors try to write in the same tone and fail because they cannot seem to grasp how females actually think. In this book, I actually forgot that the book had been written by a male, as Taylor is able to both kick butt yet feel like a woman at the same time.

The story tackles tough subjects normally not seen in Christian fiction such as prostitution and embezzling among other Christians. Taylor's tactics at finding out the truth about the situation were quite clever. She's very level headed and does not allow emotion to come between her line of work. Something that I found extremely refreshing was a lack of a romantic storyline. I say this because usually when a male writes in first person female, there always has to be a romantic subplot to show that even the tough as nails female secret agent has a soft sensitive side and turns to jelly at the sight of a man. Jordan, thankfully, does not resort to this stereotype to make Taylor's character well rounded. The situation with her mother fulfills this need, which I felt was a much better way at making her character more dimensional. While there are hints at possible relationships, it's not a main focus of the story and therefore not a distraction.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I will admit it wasn't as fast paced as the first novel had been, but it's still an adventure story and quite suspenseful. The plot is relevant in today's age and one that could be seen on the nightly news. I really liked seeing Taylor and Kacey work together especially with that interesting bond that ties them together. I really hope we'll hear more from them in a future book.

One additional note about this book I wanted to mention. If you happen to get a copy of this book and look at the back cover, you may notice a certain endorsement by a certain familiar blog. Heh. Although I do want to mention that the endorsement was made for the previous book in the series and not for the book that is on the cover for.

Double Cross by James David Jordan is published by B and H Publishing (2009)

This review copy was provided by the publisher