Book Review: The Sacrificial Lamb

In September, my library ran a Fall into Reading reading challenge. I have complained before about requirements specifying WHAT to read. Pardon me, but I want to read what I want to read, not some dictated category. However, this time around, they toned it down. Many of the bingo squares allowed you to clock 60 minutes of reading (something regular for me). Some were generic, like: "Read a book with a brown or orange cover." I went back and forth on whether The Fountains of Silence had a cover that was brown/tan or more yellow-hued. I didn't count it in the end and it didn't matter because I didn't win any prizes.

The only thing holding me back from one bingo angle was a cozy mystery. I searched for a Christian cozy mystery and settled on this novella, The Sacrificial Lamb, by S. E. Biglow. Reading about supposed murders of adult characters is far easier to swallow than young characters. This book felt more morbid than "cozy" because it dealt with the murders of several young boys.

I laugh at its billing as "Christian." Taking the theme of "the sacrificial lamb" and the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, it spun a tale of a murderer who believes God told him to sacrifice a young boy. The main character, and sleuth, is a minister. She comments that her God is only a God of love. Hmm. This reminds me of my last read, The Unsaved Christian. Isn't that what the world wants now, a God of only love and not holiness? A God of only grace and not truth. Many embrace the idea of God, as long as not complicated by Christ, the true sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. While the book provided a clean read, I still wish I could get my two hours back!