Watch and pray

No one could blame Ray Quinn for looking at life through a jaded lens.   His career as a tough Orlando homicide detective has been cut short by a torrent of bullets that left him with permanent injuries.  And left his partner dead.  The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir is the story of a broken man whose days are spent with Jim Beam and John Wayne.  His evenings are spent in relative boredom as a night watchman for a condominium complex.  Boredom, that is, until the bodies of a pastor and an exotic dancer are discovered in one of the condos.   The case is almost immediately declared a murder-suicide.  The pastor’s sister, Pam, pleads with Ray to help clear her brother’s name and the night watchman reluctantly becomes an investigator once again.

I simply cannot write enough praise for this book!  I don’t want to give away any more about the plot because I know you’ll stay up all night reading it.   The story is riveting, witty, heartbreaking, thrilling.  The characters are complex and real and believable.  I wanted to stand up and cheer for the portrayal of Pam as a woman who loves the Lord, believes in the power of prayer, but has a sharp wit and a sensitive heart.  Rather than condemning Ray or preaching to him, she treats him with respect and tenderness.   The guilt-ridden ache in Ray’s heart hurts far worse than his painful handicap.  As they work alongside one another, he initially brushes aside her comments regarding prayer.   He doesn’t belittle her for it, but basically has an attitude that says, “I’ll watch, you pray.”  To which Pam would likely answer in a gentle tone, “Oh, yes, I’ll pray…just watch what God does!”.   As much as I wanted Ray to solve the mystery, I didn’t want the story to end.  The Night Watchman is by far my favorite book I’ve read this spring and Mark Mynheir will be on my “must read” list from now on!

To find out more about The Night Watchman, click on the photo below or this link: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781590529355&ref=externallink_mlt_thenightwatchman_sec_0414_01

If you would like to WIN a FREE COPY of The Night Watchman, just leave a comment below!  A winner will be drawn at random from all comments left between 05/28/09 and 06/06/09!