No Way Out by Susan Sleeman - A Book Review

No Way Out by Susan Sleeman – A Book Review

     “We can’t control things around us.  Not a single one of us can.  God is in charge.”  Who could not benefit from this reminder from Dani Justice?  Most of us have struggled with guilt about things that happened that were in actuality out of our control.  Susan Sleeman tells a tale filled with suspense and surprises that not only entertains, but also illustrates the damage we can do to ourselves and our relationships when we allow pseudo guilt, the guilt we feel even when we were not responsible or when sin was not involved in an undesired outcome or tragedy.  (For more on this you may want to read Total Forgiveness by R.T. Kendall.)  Readers are reminded of the perfect peace that is available to us through trusting in the Lord and accepting His sovereignty. 

     I will confess to being a bit of a book snob.  When I first received No Way Out as part of a prize package from a Christian fiction scavenger hunt, it was not among my first reads of the thirty books that arrived in the mail.  Why?  The size and the shape, what if I took it to the doctor’s office waiting room?  Why, someone might mistakenly think I was reading a Harlequin romance!  Such reasoning will never again stop me from enjoying a truly Love Inspired story.  Thanks to the scavenger hunt I am now a Susan Sleeman fan, and look forward to reading more of her books.  I am very grateful that I just won a second of Susan’s books, Thread of Suspicion, and can’t wait to continue the saga of the Justice Agency. 

     What elements of Susan’s writing made this book such an enjoyable read aside from the valuable message?  Susan had a way of placing me in a setting, engaging all of my senses, without lengthy descriptions that cause my attention to waver.  My emotions were engaged with the characters of the story: fear, hope, disappointment, new love, doubt, relief.  The story was a roller coaster of emotions with frequent bends and curves caused by unexpected plot twists.  Surprises were still to come even in the final chapter.  The story had a mix of easily anticipated events to make prior knowledge of the genre provide a comfortable read and of unanticipated events to maintain a high level of engagement with the story.  A nice read indeed.