The Real Enemy (Sophie Trace Trilogy, Book 1) by Kathy Herman tells the story of Brill (short for “Brilliant”) Jessup, a newly hired police chief faced with difficulties at work and at home. From the back cover:
Brill Jessup becomes the first female police chief in Sophie Trace, Tennessee and is riding on the credentials of a stellar eighteen-year-career on the Memphis Police Force. She may be a pro at finding clues, but she ignores the obvious in her personal life. Her husband Kurt is weighed down by her unrelenting anger as he struggles to let God redeem the stupidest mistake he ever made. Brill hides behind her badge and her bitterness, deciding that moving her family away from Memphis is the only change she needs to make.
Before she has time to unpack her boxes, people start disappearing. Lots of them. To complicate matters, a local legend has many residents believing that the cause is unearthly-tied to the “red shadows,” or spirits of the departed Cherokee who once inhabited the land. While Brill draws on all of her experience and instinct to solve the case, she must confront an enemy that threatens everything she holds dear-one that cannot be stopped with a badge and a gun.
Overall, this was an enjoyable, if not predictable, read. I felt the tension in the Jessup marriage to be the more compelling storyline yet curiosity about the multiple disappearances kept me intrigued. Brill’s daughter Emily was a little too precocious to be believable but still I liked her. Herman writes with an unabashed Christian faith, reflected in Brill’s husband Kurt’s humble regret over a past mistake and his determination to honor and serve Brill despite her anger and rebuff. The novel ends somewhat neatly with no real surprises but as I am no fan of cliffhangers nor unsatisfying endings, I didn’t much mind.
On the whole, The Real Enemy is both entertaining and enjoyable. If you’d like to know more, you can read an excerpt at publisher David C. Cook’s site here.
Wife and mother, Bible teacher and blogger, Lisa loves Jesus, coffee, dark chocolate and, of course, books. Read more of her reflections at Lisa writes….
I didn’t really like this one much. It was readable, but nothing to jump up and down over.