Book Review: "Blood Ransom" by Lisa Harris

Summary from Christianbook.com: In the African republic of Dhambizao, Natalie Sinclair works with Dr. Chad Talcott to eradicate diseases that are claiming whole towns. Meanwhile, Joseph Komboli returns to his village to find rebels abducting his family. When Chad and Natalie help Joseph expose the modern-day slave trade, they're courting disaster. Will they win their race against time?

This was an intense romantic suspense story that takes place in a made up country in Africa (I have noticed that in a lot of books, when creating a fictional country they also go to either Africa or a country that was formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union). The plot revolves around a medical consultant and a surgeon who are in the country of Dhambizao. Involving corrupt politics, fixed elections, slave trading, rebel soldiers, death, disease and innocent lives in danger, the suspense and action sequences are fast paced. Even though they aren't very similar I was reminded very much of the book/movie The Constant Gardner while reading. Even though the location is made up, things like this to do happen in Africa all the time so the reality is scary. The plot manages to stay fast-paced and filled with action while at the same time highlighting the plight of Africa.

The romance part felt extremely downplayed to me and was not really a major factor in the story. The couple does develop a relationship but the focus on the story is on the people of Africa and helping them which was fine with me. I don't mind romance but with the setting and action that was going on, I was pleased that the majority of the story shifted away from the romantic relationship. Overall, this was a good book that looks at social issues in other countries that we normally tend not to think about. It's a definite eye opener that there are many people in this world who are suffering and don't live a comfortable life like we do.

Blood Ransom by Lisa Harris is published by Zondervan (2010)

This review copy was provided by the publisher

Comments

  1. Joy Tamsin David8:14 AM

    Do you think this could really be called a romantic suspsense? Or rather a suspense with a little bit of romance? I just didn't see this book as a romance at all. Did the publisher market it as a romantic suspense?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deborah8:34 AM

    actually no. i don't think it is a romantic suspense. the back of the book just says suspense.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lisa Harris9:28 AM

    Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Deborah. While the series has a thread of romance in each book, the focus is definitely on the suspense line.

    Happy Reading!

    Lisa

    ReplyDelete

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