Sands of Time, by Susan May Warren, is a Christian romantic suspense novel. It tells the story of two individuals, Sarai Curtiss (a single medical missionary, who believes that God is calling her to do-it-all) and Roman Novik, a Cobra Captain in the FSB (don't ask me what that stands for - I haven't a clue), whose primary mission is to apprehend criminals smuggling Russian uranium. Thirteen years earlier, these two had enjoyed a romantic relationship, but Sarai had dropped the relationship because of her disappointed hopes that Roman would become a missionary instead of an investigator/police officer.
Now, Sarai is trying to discover why two children have contracted renal failure. In the midst of her attempts, Roman bursts onto the scene intent upon scurrying her out of the country. There has been a political coup and he explains that all Americans are being evacuated from the country. However, Sarai is convinced that she is in no real danger and she can take care of herself. As Sarai ditches Roman repeatedly and attempts to remain in the country, the two are swept into a whirlwind journey of discovery, full of action and emotion.
The book was very readable and held my attention. My only complaint is that parts of the book felt smarmy and preachy at times. Although, I will say that I found myself reading it with a critical ear for this issue.
When I began working on my own novel in November, I never really intended it to have an outright Christian message. I knew what the main conflict was, but I didn't set out to reveal underlying Christian truth. However, it showed up over and over again as I wrote in the wee hours each evening.
I would imagine it is difficult to write a Christian novel and not have the messages feel overly blatant. I suppose if the author is Christian, the story will inevitably take on Christian tones. As far as Christian novels go, this is a fairly good one.
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