Book Review: The Bishop by Steven James

Oh. My. Goodness. Steven James is an amazing writer! And he gets better and better with each book in this series.

I was first introduced to this author when a friend of mine told me about him. "You would love his books!" she said to me. Then she loaned them to me: The Pawn, The Rook, and The Knight. I devoured them, wondering when I would get to read the next one.

So, when I heard that Revell was going to have a blog tour for The Bishop, I jumped at the chance to be involved. My family decided I was certifiably crazy when the book came in the mail as I hugged it to myself and jumped up and down. I was excited!

I am amazed that an author can write such an intricate plot and still keep the interest of the reader. Even though I got lost a few times because of the large number of characters (and trying to remember ones from the previous books), I still had fun reading the continuing story of Patrick Bowers and his stepdaughter, Tessa.

The suspense in this book kept me on edge as I tried to figure out who the killers were. I thought I had it figured out several times, then Mr. James would prove me wrong. The amount of red herrings in this book are numerous. There are quite a lot of threads woven through the novel to keep you guessing until the end (well, actually, even at the end there are unanswered questions that will have to wait until The Queen is published next summer).

There are also many discussions about "free will", abortion, natural selection, neuroscience and morality that will have you think about what you believe and why. Mr. James weaves these subjects into the story in a way that is neither intrusive nor condescending. I am still contemplating the issues discussed in the pages of this book.

As you have already figured out, I love this book! I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller. I give The Bishop 5+ stars! 

If you decide to read The Bishop, please read the other books first, in order. It will help you enjoy this one more.

You can download an exerpt from The Bishop here.

Critically acclaimed author Steven James has written more than twenty books, including the bestselling thriller series The Bowers Files. One of the nation's most innovative storytellers, Steven developed his skill as a performer at East Tennessee State University (MA in storytelling). He lives in Tennessee with his wife and three daughters.

(I received this book from Revell for review purposes. I received no monetary compensation for this review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.)