As an heiress to her father's fortune, Marji had everything she needed to lead a comfortable and secure life. But her new-found faith in God compelled her to leave that wealth behind. Seeking to share her God with people who did not know Him, Marji moved away from her parents' mansion into a frightening arena of crime and degradation—the ghetto.
Daily Marji faced threats from angry slumlords, misunderstanding from her own family, and rejection from those she sought to help. Just when she finally was able to open up a counseling center and begin reaching her new friends for the Lord, sudden danger shattered her dream and almost took her life... Only her belief that God's love was greater than all the evil influences around kept her from giving up her ministry.
On page 108, Marji has been attacked by her neighbor, who feels that her counseling center will cause his pornography shop to lose business. The man is strangling Marji when she suddenly hears a loud smack, and her neighbor falls away from her. Marji looks up to see a Catholic nun holding a two-by-four. Way to go, Sister Mary Pat!
On page 170, Marji's counseling center has been heavily damaged after a bomb went off inside her desk. Marji has a reason for not wanting the culprit to go to prison. Sister Mary Pat tells Marji that this isn't a problem. So long as Marji doesn't press charges, then the police will do nothing.
That is certainly the case with a case of assault and battery between two parties. But what about a bomb? Maybe the police were cavalier about bombs in New York City in 1980, but I'm certain that they would get a bit upset about a bombing nowadays. That's terrorism.
For two years, Marji Parker had struggled to build a ministry that would bring the healing love of Jesus to the sin-sick dregs of humanity on the streets of the Lower East Side. Carefully concealing her identity as a wealthy heiress, she had gained the confidence of prostitutes and gang members, thieves and junkies—winning many an unlikely character to the Lord.
But just as her vision seemed to take on reality, Marji's daily mission became haunted by strange occurrences and intangible fears. A mysterious black car now lurked around every corner... the mutilated body of a teenage prostitute appeared on the doorstep of her counseling center.. and rumors of a kidnap plot echo repeatedly throughout the underworld.
As the baffling pieces of this puzzle fell into place, Marji realized that her whole ministry was now in jeopardy—not to mention her life.
This book is extremely suspenseful. It was apparent that Marji could be kidnapped at any time and that she almost certainly would be by the end of the book.
Marji had faced danger before in her ghetto ministry; her newly chosen world was populated by prostitutes, pimps, junkies, and every type of down-and-outer. But when she helped Ratface feed his family and realized he was the leader of a street gang, she became embroiled in something more dangerous than she had ever faced before. Could she gain the trust of two rival gangs and stop the coming bloodshed? Would they carry out their threat to kill her? Just how far could she become involved... and would God's protection be enough, this time?
This book opens with Marji being held captive at knifepoint. Her attacker is a gangster named Ratface, who just needs help for his mother. Marji agrees to help Ratface's mom. She returns to her office, where she finds a thrashing, bloody rat hanging from the doorknob. This is clearly a warning, gangster style.
This book is pretty interesting at first, but I grew tired of it. Around halfway through, I began skimming so that I could get done with the story.
I overall greatly enjoyed reading the Marji trilogy.
No comments:
Post a Comment