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This was a fast-paced story that never slowed down right up to the very end. I liked how it began with, "Life turns on small choices". Missionary, David Eller and his wife Christie are working in Venezuela, trying to help the homeless children in the midst of a very currupt country. David makes a wrong choice, thinking he was doing something good, and it doesn't turn out good for anyone. There are many characters in this story and you are never quite sure who the "good guys" really are. It was full of mystery, intrigue, and danger. This was a story of someone who had good intentions, but made some very bad choices. It was a very believable story and showed the devastation a missionary on a foreign field can have when he steps outside of the purpose for why he is there; not to fight the corruption of the country but to reach the heart of the people. A very interesting and well done story! ( )

When I offered to review this Christian Fiction novel I did not expect to be taken on a journey full of action, suspense and intrigue, but that is exactly what I received! Although I have only listened to James Patterson's books, this novel seemed to be written in a similar style to Patterson, as things happened quickly and I found myself not wanting to put it down.

David and Christie Eller help to run the Hope Village mission in Caracas, Venezuela. Money is tight for the mission and if they only had more funds available they could help out the children and community so much more. David thinks that he may have found himself a golden nugget when he accidentally runs into a man named Carol Edwards one day that seems to take a special interest in Hope Village.

Venezuela is run by a dictator who does not take into account what would be best for the citizens of the country. Guzman is a greedy, power-hungry leader and many secret organizations and drug rings would do what is necessary to render him powerless. When David is confronted with a plan to complete this task, he struggles with his faith and what is best for his country and family. But David is offered a large sum of money to complete just a mediocre task in the overall coup and finds that he can't pass up the opportunity that will in the long run benefit Hope Village financially.

Unfortunately the attempted coup goes awry and David finds himself and his family in grave danger. They flee Hope Village and after David finds safety for his wife and son he must find a way to save himself. First he must figure out who exactly he can trust, and to do what he needs to learn who hired him. Was it a governmental agency like the CIA or could have been some blood-thirsty drug lords?

David's struggle with his faith is really what brought on his problems in this novel, and finding his way back is what saved him. I enjoyed that about this novel. It showed us that even devout Christians that have a strong faith still make mistakes, and even big mistakes at that, but can still find their way back to the right road. I've only read a few Christian fiction novels and found myself starting to avoid them because they were only filled with the almost perfect ideal what we strive for through Christianity, but not what we actually endure. I think you can see that I enjoyed this novel and definitely recommend it. ( )

Imagine if Tom Clancy was assigned the task of writing an ad for the Feed the Children network. This book, The Missionary, would be the result. It's an exciting political thriller with a bit of a Christian twist...The action is fast paced, but not dizzyingly so, and the writing is concise and engaging. Was The Missionary the most fantastic thriller I ever read? Nah, but it was a solidly written book, very entertaining and all in all a pretty great way to spend my free time...

To see the full review over at The Book Buff, click here: http://thebookbuff.blogspot.com/2010/12/missionary.html

-Kate the Book Buff ( )

Set in a “fictionalized” Venezuela—complete with a Chavez-esque dictator—The Missionary explores the relationship of the missionary with the political life of his adopted country. Motivated by the extreme poverty and tremendous abuse of power around him, young missionary David Eller decides to become involved in a “regime-change” plot, with near disastrous results.

I found this book to be riveting in some places, and rather tedious in others. Also, after spending several chapters building up the complexity of the characters, I found the ending to be rather clichéd.

Rapid Rating: Read this book if you are interested in the subject of missionaries and the politics of their host country. ( )