Thursday, November 22, 2012

Protection for Hire by Camy Tang


Tessa just got out of prison three months ago. She had been an enforcer in her Uncle Teruo's Japanese mafia gang in San Francisco and she took the fall for her cousin's crime. All for the family, she thought.
But while she was in prison she had a life changing experience. She got saved. How can she possibly live a new life when her Uncle expects her to continue working for him?
Tessa meets a woman at a shelter who needs protection from her violent husband as she pursues a divorce. Tessa agrees to help her and both of them get plunged into the dangers of the Asian underworld.

This novel got off to a bit of a slow start. The Japanese mafia in San Francisco was entirely new to me, as was its conflict with the Chinese mafia. It took me a while to get involved in the novel but once I did, I enjoyed it. Tessa is an expert in martial arts and it is a good thing. As an ex-con, she cannot carry a weapon.
The force of this novel is Tessa's new faith. How can she live out her Christianity when there is vengeance and rage surrounding her? How can she maintain the honor of her family yet honor Christ?
There is just a hint of romance in this novel. At the end, we are certainly set up for more in the sequel. I look forward to the sequel.

Camy Tang writes full time and is a staff worker for her church youth group. She also leads one of the worship teams on Sunday morning. She won the Carol Book of the Year award in the Debut Author category with her novel Sushi for One? She and her husband live in San Jose, California. You can find out more about her at www.camytang.com.

Zondervan, 331 pages.

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