The Grace Painter
by Mark Romang
published by author
2012
No ISBN
Why Read?: Review
Challenges: Self-Published, 100
Books in a Year
Mark Romang’s The Grace Painter is unlike anything the title could imply. What sounds like a gentle, character-driven
story of redemption is actually a high-speed thriller about redemption.
After discovering that his partner
shot and killed his family, Matthew London leaves the NYPD and moves to
Louisiana where he lives as Jon Rafter, a quiet fisherman and painter. After living this peaceful existence for
eight years, his life is turned upside when during a hurricane, he finds
injured FBI agent Annie Crawford on the side of the road. It seems she is on a mission to recover a
kidnapped child from a family of known drug dealers who has kidnapped another
child decades ago. As the storm rages,
the fight to rescue the child and take down a major drug cartel escalates as
Jon gets dragged back into the sort of life he thought he has left well behind
him.
Romang starts out with intense
action that never lets up for long the whole way through the novel. Even though the plot is mostly action-driven,
Romang makes sure to also develop the characters along the way. And while there is a Christian undertone to
the whole story, the message is easily accessible to people of any faith.
Mark Romang does a wonderful job
with the suspense in The Grace Painter. I just wish the title gave more sense of the
thrilling plot contained within.
Rating 3/5
Ricki, thanks for your review of Mark's book!
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