The Brotherhood

The Brotherhood by Jerry Jenkins
1st book in the Precinct 11 series

I'm going to be honest. It took me a while to make my way through this book. The beginning hooked me pretty quickly.  Boone Drake is the kind of cop that every rookie should aspire to be. He's respected and he has a great life. His beautiful wife and son give his life joy and his career gives his life purpose. Until one day his wife and son are ripped away from him.

As expected this takes Boone on a journey. Unfortunately this is where I had trouble with the book.  Boone struggles to make sense of life in the wake of his family's premature death. He picks himself up and attempts to find a reason to continue to live. The perfect life he had was shattered and he doesn't know where to turn. Eventually he returns to his duties as a cop and is given the assignment of a lifetime. He is going to be part of Chicago's largest operation to put an end crime syndicate.

I've been privileged to attend a few webinars as a member of the Christian Writers Guild. I've personally heard Jerry stress that you can't drag things out too long or treat your readers like they are stupid. Give them the benefit of the doubt and move the story along is how he stresses books should be written.

Sadly I feel that The Brotherhood doesn't follow Jerry's own advice.  Boone's pain after losing his family was intense and I felt for him but then I continued to feel for him and then some more. The story didn't move until about the last third of the book. Even then the story was more conversation than action. It is a great story to be sure. Would have been better if about 50-75 pages had been edited out. Normally a Jerry Jenkins' book keeps my attention but I forced myself to finish The Brotherhood. I'm procrastinating on starting the next book in the series.