Review – Forsaken

Taylor Pasbury’s mother deserted her at the age of nine. Her father, a Special Forces veteran, took over and raised her to be a strong woman. As Forsaken opens, we see Taylor in a life or death situation with her father. A situation that further wounds the woman whose mother abandoned her. And a situation that sets into motion Taylor’s future employment.

Taylor immerses herself in her job as a Secret Service agent and searches for love in all the wrong places. But after a questionable incident, she retires from the Secret Service and opens a security firm. Taylor is called into service by televangelist Simon Mason when he is threatened by Muslim extremists. Despite Taylor’s protection, the terrorist’s strike, kidnapping Kacey, Simon’s daughter, and they make a demand of Simon that is impossible to agree to, yet impossible to deny.

Does Simon agree to the kidnapper’s demands? Does he get Kacey back? Does he regret his decision? Can he live with it? All questions the author answers in this fast paced enthralling novel.

Forsaken is a book I picked up and did not put down until the last page. The action in the story keeps the pages flipping, yet the character development makes you wish it never ended. James David Jordan expertly created and developed flawed characters, searching for love, while trying to out run their pasts. And then he burdens them with a challenge so big, there is no good way out of it. A challenge you will ask yourself over and over as you read, what would I do in that situation and come out just as maimed and hurt as Simon does over making the decision. When the decision is made, you can empathize with Simon and understand his struggle to deal with it. And then you find, that as big as the decision was, watching Simon live with the consequences is even bigger.

Though the plot is superb, the characters make this story what it is. Taylor is likeable, flawed yet strong. Simon Mason, not the kind of televangelist you have ever seen, reluctantly accepts the fame that goes with his position, but would rather be an unknown, has equal emotional issues and faults. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end with Forsaken, but the reader gets to journey further with Taylor in the sequel due out in Fall of 2009.