Book Review: Predator by Terri Blackstock

In the library where I work, we are allowed to look at the carts loaded with books in the processing area (where they prepare the books to be ready for the shelves) and if we see any book we want to read, we can put our name in it and whenever that book is ready to be checked out, that person gets to be the first one to check it out. Needless to say, this is one of my favorite things about working there. I often go into processing and look at what new books have come in. There is seldom a time when I don't see a new book I want to check out and read.

I have several authors that I like so much that I have read everything they have written and when I see a new one by one of those authors, I automatically put my name in it so I can be the first to read it.

Terri Blackstock is one of those favorite authors. And Predator is one of the best she has written.

Before I tell you what I liked about the book, here is a synopsis form the Zondervan website:

"In Predator, the newest page-turner by bestselling author Terri Blackstock, a killer is stalking the online social network GrapeVyne. Determined to bring her teenage sister's murderer to justice, Krista Carmichael puts her own life on the line to bait the killer. But when this online predator turns his sights on her, will she be able to control the outcome?"

What parent is not at least a little concerned about the crimes that are being committed in the world of computers and social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace, etc.? It seems every day we hear stories about online predators, stalkers, and others who have met young people on the Internet and make them believe that they just want to be friends, when in actuality they want them to be their next victim in whatever evil they desire. Mrs. Blackstock demonstrates this well in her latest book. I read this one quickly as I followed the characters through their nightmare of tracking down the killer among them. I began to think about how I wanted to protect my own children (and myself) from such a terrifying situation. Although I know that God has us all in His hands, I think there are some practical things in this book that we can learn to do so that we will not fall victim to an online predator.

Mrs. Blackstock writes in such an engaging manner. Her chapters are very short, which kept making me want to read "just one more", then I realized I was halfway through the book in a short period of time. The characters are people you would meet every day, and the things they do are quite ordinary, yet the author pulls the reader along and keeps the suspense going so as to make the book exciting and the plot interesting. I recommend this book (and any other Blackstock book) to anyone who loves a great suspense novel.

I do believe that this book will be on my Top Ten List of 2010. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!    

Terri Blackstock has sold six million books worldwide and is a New York Times bestseller. She is the award-winning author of Intervention and Double Minds, as well as such series as Cape Refuge, Newpointe 911, the SunCoast Chronicles, and the Restoration Series.

(I checked this book out from the local library. So there is no need to say that I wasn't paid to do this review, because I never get paid for any review I do!)