Deliver us From Evil by Robin Caroll

Every now and then–and it should probably happen more often–a writer will use her talent not just to sell books, but to bring to light a subject somehow missed by the mainstream media.

Robin Caroll does just that with her latest book, Deliver Us From Evil. The writing style is classic of Caroll’s voice–active, edgy, and an uncanny ability to describe the depths of human emotion. For me, it’s one of those areas where I struggle the most, so it just blows me away to read it so well done.

What gives the fast paced suspense an even bigger element of urgency, though, is her topic. I cannot remember the last time I heard a news report on about the problem of child trafficking in the U.S. Hard to believe, isn’t it? In 2010 we have a very active and prosperous industry in what is nothing less than the new slave trade in America. Young girls are smuggled into this country from poorer countries and sold into a life of prostitution.

Caroll doesn’t stop midway through the book and say, “Oh, by the way, this is based on a true story.” She alludes to it in the acknowledgements, but I’d guess that very few regular folks read those. Somewhere during the plot, though, you know in the back of your mind that she didn’t just pull this out of the sky. Good fiction usually has an element of truth, and you find yourself pulling for the two fictional girls in the novel, not just because they’re the victims, but because you know they represent tens of thousands of real life Mias and Kanyas hidden somewhere in this country.

As Christians, we read novels on an additional level, much in the same way we view every aspect of life. We see something much larger, expanding out and beyond our tiny slice of reality. God speaks to us through more than a Sunday sermon or morning devotionals. He speaks through the natural world, through a song, a hurting child.

In this case, he spoke through an author. Aren’t we glad she listened and responded with this outstanding work.

Posted in The Writer's Journey