I love a good suspense series. Especially when the action is tense and the characters multi-dimensional. The Cross series gives us exactly that. The first book opens with a punch of activity then eases to a breath before building again in intensity. John Cross is also wrestling with how to marry his past with his faith. He doesn’t do it perfectly, almost tippint too far into what he can do, but his struggles are real and relatable. Add in a heroine who is born to find answers, and the combination creates a dynamic mix of tension and attraction. The writing also firmly placed me in the scene. From overseas to small town Virginia, I knew where I was because it was drawn so well.
If you love a taunt suspense that is more than just action (ala the Gabriel Allon series), this one will be a winner for you, too.
Be sure to scan to the end for the link to the giveaway.
About Cross Shadow:
All journalist Christine Lewis wants is the truth. All pastor John Cross wants is to avoid it.
Former CIA agent turned evangelical pastor John Cross is busy caring for the small community of believers he ministers to in Virginia. Journalist Christine Lewis is busy with the demand for her talents from top news agencies in New York City. Neither has any time left for their relationship, which began eight months before when they paired up to prevent the detonation of a chemical bomb in the nation’s capital.
But when Christine hears that her stepbrother has been arrested for murder in Texas, they team up again to discover the truth about the crime. Untangling a web of conspiracy, the couple finds themselves in the center of another dangerous situation-and in trouble far deeper than they expected.
With an assassin on the loose, a trusted colleague acting as a double agent, and unreliable artificial intelligence connected to mercenaries who have Cross on their hit list, these two may not get out of the Lone Star State alive.
Putting Away the Old Life Is Rarely Ever Easy
New series by debut author combines suspense with an exploration of moral quandaries
How much do you really know about the people around you? Is there someone in your life holding on to a deep, dark secret? Maybe there is someone sitting a few pews away in church that lived a life you never would have expected. Maybe your pastor is doing a little side work for the CIA. The members of Rural Grove Baptist Church would have never expected that from their new pastor, John Cross . . . if that is his real name.
In Andrew Huff’s A Cross to Kill, John Cross is a small-town pastor, bent on leading his flock to follow God’s calling. He’s not the sort of man one would expect to have a checkered past. But the truth is that the man behind the pulpit preaching to his sheep was once a wolf—an assassin for the CIA. When John decided to follow Christ, he put that work behind him, determined to pay penance for all the lives he took. However, putting away his old life isn’t as easy as he would have liked.
Although their circumstances are most assuredly different, Huff believes readers can identify with John’s spiritual battles to some extent. “I know there are faith struggles John faces that readers can identify with because they are ones I struggle with. For one, John can’t seem to shake loose from past habits and hang-ups. Sometimes those habits can be used for good, but more often than not John finds himself fighting to walk in faith and love and not let his flesh take control when things go awry. Much of the Christian life is about this same battle,” the author explains. “John also has difficulty accepting God’s forgiveness for not only the sins we’ve committed in the past but the sins we will commit in the future. That affects his ability to pass forgiveness on to others. I myself have also found difficult. It’s not hard to believe God might forgive a single mistake here and there, but after failing again and again and again, it’s easy to expect a limit to God’s forgiveness.”
After John has vowed to step away from his old life for good—no more occasional special assignments between sermons—someone wants the peaceful pastor to pay for his sins with his own life. When a terrorist out for revenge walks into the church, John’s secrets are laid bare for all to see. Confronted with his past, he must face his demons and discover whether a man can truly change. Can he keep his vow to never kill again, even when the people he loves are in mortal danger? Will his congregation and the brave woman he’s learning to care for be caught in the cross fire?
A Cross to Kill is not only a riveting story of suspense, it’s also a deep exploration of the moral quandaries that face those who choose to follow the Prince of Peace in a violent world. One of the biggest questions John must face is whether there is ever any legitimate justification for the taking of another person’s life. Is killing ever justified? “The Scripture could not be clearer that we are not to murder, and Jesus goes further by condemning any hateful thought toward a fellow human. There is much more Scripture to consider on the issue, but the answer to the question is not cut-and-dried,” Huff admits.
Huff may have never been a secret operative, but he was able to draw some inspiration from his own life. At the time he was writing the book, Huff was on staff at a Southern Baptist church in Central Virginia. Much of what John experiences with the church and its members is based on Huff’s real experiences in ministry as well as from growing up as a preacher’s kid in rural Tennessee churches. Some of the characters are amalgamations of the wonderful people he’s met along the way. His time in local ministry opened his eyes to the reality of how unique that calling is in the life of a person. Huff loved the idea of capturing the fish-out-of-water experience of someone who did a very different job now finding himself learning what it means to spiritually care for a group of people.
As for the storyline, Huff drew inspiration, especially for the opening scene, from events featured in the headlines. As for the action sequences, those are thanks to his love of action franchises such as Mission: Impossible, Jason Bourne, and James Bond. He wants his series to take the Bible and the church seriously while offering the same kind of jaw-dropping action those novels and films excel at.
Advance Praise
“An action-packed nail-biter from beginning to end, filled with enough twists and turns to put 24 and Jack Bauer to shame! I couldn’t put it down. Many thanks to Andrew for hours of entertainment and frantic page turning.”
~ Lynette Eason, best-selling, award-winning author of the Blue Justice series
“A fast-paced novel that drew me into the adventure from the opening pages. The characters wrestle with faith, forgiveness, and redemption in a gripping plotline packed with suspense, action, and danger.”
~ Glenn Kreider, author of God with Us
About the author:
Andrew Huff spent ten years in local church ministry as a youth pastor and creative arts pastor before pursuing God’s calling into creative storytelling and media production as the product director at Igniter Media, a church media company (ignitermedia.com).
He is a two-time finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Genesis Contest for unpublished authors (2014, 2017) and also won the best screenplay award at the 2015 48 Hour Film Festival in Richmond, VA. A Cross to Kill and Cross Shadow in the Shepherd Suspense series are his first releases.
Learn more Andrew Huff and the Shepherd Suspense novels at www.andrewhuffbooks.com. He can also be found on Facebook (@huffwrites), Twitter (@andrewjohnhuff) and Instagram (@andyhuff).