Book Review: Cold Light of Day

The person seated next to me at the Sara Brunsvold author talk mentioned a flyer on the back table for a Christian book club. I've never taken part in a Christian book club. While I don't attend the church that held the author talk, I relished the idea of reading Christian books (as so many books these days veer into territory I just don't wish to explore). So, I contacted the number on the flyer and attended my first meeting. They were discussing two books because they had devoted the previous meeting to making centerpieces for the tables at the author talk. I knew I'd never complete 2 books, so I picked the one that sounded interesting to me, Cold Light of Day, by Elizabeth Goddard. It is the first book in the Missing in Alaska series. (The other was a fantasy re-telling of the Biblical story of Joseph.)

I've never read a Goddard book before. Turns out she's a prolific award-winning writer and has 60 books to her credit. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes it leads to formula-following. I'm guessing, not having read any before, that this one followed her standard structure. Publishers love to stick with authors they know can lure in masses of readers. Christian publishers seem driven by profit just as much as secular publishers.

Cold Light of Day takes place in Alaska - thus the "cold." Not sure what the "light of day" in the title indicated, although the whole book was driving to truths coming into the light of day. So maybe that was the intent of the title. Because this is an action/thriller novel, the story begins with a helicopter happening upon a rescue scene of a woman drowning in a frigid Alaskan lake. The man swimming to help is a mysterious new resident in the town of Shadow Gap, Grier Brenner.

Much of the story focuses on the tension of attraction between Grier and the police chief, Autumn Long. Autumn wonders why Grier moved to their isolated Alaskan town and why his skills have prepared him so well for helping her battle a new string of crimes. It is true the tension (both in action and romance) keeps the reader turning pages. Goddard certainly knows how to up the ante. The writing is smooth and enticing.

I guess I struggled with the whole genre mash-up. It is billed as a "Contemporary Christian Romantic Suspense Thriller Set in Alaska." I'm good for a contemporary book and one set in Alaska (loved reading about Alaska in Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone). What felt uncomfortable was the insertion of Christian sentiments into the thriller story line. I've complained before about Christian fiction, because so often authors seek to insert a Christian message and that insertion feels intrusive. For me, this was the case in this novel. Tensions are rising and the character immediately stops and contemplates some Christian tenet or idea. It's not that I quibble with difficulties driving us to God, it is just that the references to scripture passages felt unnatural in the midst of life-threatening scenarios. It was like saying, "We interrupt this dramatic scene to share with you a Biblical principle."

In the end, I decided not to join the book club. They focus on Christy award winners and nominees. Doing so ensures well-written and popular books, but my book selection is more broad. Plus, in learning the upcoming titles, many were ones I had no interest in reading (just not into Amish speculative or even Biblical historical fiction and I feared another two might prove difficult as they focused on dementia and hospice). They were very kind and inviting. However, I fear I overshared in my introduction, telling them more than they wanted to know. I may reach out again at the end of the year to learn their titles for 2025. I am certain I would be welcome in the group. Plus, knowing Christian fiction is safe from the equally intrusive agendas in most secular fiction always puts my mind at ease.