Defended (Pete Zendel Book 6)

The New Rulebook from Joy Ogwu is a great suspense series based on Christian principles. The story is exciting but also moving and faith building. The story makes you think about your own life, what place God and His promises have in your life and how you deal with them. The series has great characters that you get to know well. The story is very exciting and captivating until the end. Joy knows how to keep the tension in and always give it a great twist.The series is a great example of how to live the Christian life. Some fragments are so real and moving that they touch your heart deeply.

Defended is the sixth book in Joy Ohagwu’s Pete Zendel Series. Unlike many of her other books which are mainly romantic suspense, the Pete Zendel Series is Christian suspense which contains little romance. Pete Zendel’s life is a picture of God’s saving grace. He was a notorious criminal who became a dynamic man of God. Defended is a continuation of the hunt for the man known as The Hunter. He is trying to kill Pete. Additionally, he wants to destroy the local police department. Defended has a lot of action with complicated plots. There are three different plotlines going on at the same time. First, we are introduced to Mrs. Amanda London. She is married to Richie London, a mean and deadly mob boss. Amanda has hidden evidence of his criminal activities and wants out of her current life. She meets Rory, an investigator, who helps her and introduces her to Jesus. Next, we have The Hunter at work. He is trying to find Pete so that he can accomplish what he is destined to do. Lastly, we have the battle against the SSPD, the local police department. As with all of Ms. Ohagwu’s books, you have messages of salvation and passages of Scripture. These passages are pertinent to the story and aren’t meant to be preachy or make the reader uncomfortable. The book is fast-moving and kept my attention throughout. I read it in one day. Since the plot is so complicated, I re-read it a couple of days later. This reinforced my understanding of the characters. Defended is a very good book which I recommend to anyone who reads suspense. Unfortunately, Defended ends with a cliffhanger. Since I read all of Ms. Ohagwu’s books, this doesn’t bother me, too much. However, I think that books that end in cliffhangers aren’t fair to readers. It means that you have to buy the next book [or books] to complete the story. If authors are going to write exciting books that get you invested in the story, they should warn that the book ends with a cliffhanger. This allows readers the opportunity to choose whether to invest time and money in the book or just skip it.

This book continues the Pete Zendel story of the Hunter. It is full of suspense with plenty of twists and turns to keep the pages turning. Once again throughout the story Joy Ohagwu has continued to give Glory to God and show the reader how God delights in doing things His way instead of what the worldly thinking would predict. This is NOT a stand alone novel, so if you do not like a story that is continued over several books, then this is not for you. However if you like a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat and is full of the message of God’s care and love for people, then definitely pick up this series. I received a complimentary copy of this book, but I have chosen to freely express my own thoughts and opinions.