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The Root of All Evil
By Brandt Dodson
Review by Cara Putman
When I picked up The Root of All Evil, I wasn’t sure
what to expect. It is the third book in the Colton Parker series by Indiana
author Brandt Dodson. When you read Colton Parker think one of the FBI agents
from NUMB3Rs ten or fifteen years down the road. They’ve lived a little, lost a
lot, and are now trying to find footing without the FBI. In Colton’s case, he’s
a recent widower with a teenage daughter and a fledgling – read struggling – PI
firm.
When a woman enters asking him to find the long-lost son
for a large retainer, Colton can’t think of a reason to say no, and his bank
account tells him he has to say yes. By the time he has a host of reason to say
no, it’s too late.
This is the third book in the series, and I had no trouble
figuring out what was going on. The book stood alone quite well. It is centered
in Indianapolis, and took me to parts of the city I have never visited – and
after reading the book, would very much like to avoid on my next trip to the
Capital.
The plot is filled with twists and turns that keep you
guessing and wondering if Colton will be able to protect his charge and his
child while unraveling who’s behind the threat to the Humes. I liked how this
book was not predictable and took the plot places I’d hoped it wouldn’t go. The
book had the hard-edged feel of a PI novel without diving into language to
convey the coarseness of the characters.
The characters – even the antagonists – had facets that
made them human. Dodson didn’t fall into the trap of making the characters
cardboard props to the plot. And I wasn’t expecting the son of an extremely
wealthy man to be so far removed from his father’s world. Yet he still had that
hole in his life that made him long to know if his father could love him.
Colton isn’t a Christian, and isn’t by the end. Instead he
has characters who challenge him and ask him the hard questions. Much like real
life – I love that in a character’s spiritual arc. I don’t know many people who
become Christians overnight, thus it was very believable that as he’s running
all over Indy trying to save lives and solve a deadly puzzle that he doesn’t
have much time to sit down and ruminate about spiritual matters. But he listens
– reluctantly – when challenged.
All in all I enjoyed this book, and it is not the last book
of Dodson’s I will read. In fact Original Sin has jumped up in my to be
read stack.
Publisher: Harvest House
Publication Date: January 2007
ISBN: 97807736918114
Price: $10.99
Visit Brandt Dodson's
website at www.brandtdodson.com
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