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A review by christygsp
A Cross to Kill by Andrew Huff
3.0
A former CIA assassin turns Baptist pastor. When his past comes back to haunt him, can he keep his new vow of peace while saving himself and those he cares about?
The story was really interesting - a great idea!
Unfortunately for me, the execution wasn't as amazing. Some of that may come down to my PERSONAL PREFERENCE in writing style, but here are my thoughts on A Cross To Kill:
(There could be some off the cuff spoilers in this review, but they aren't outright story spoilers. Just be aware - I tried to keep as vague as possible)
For me, the story didn't have enough breathing room.
The action was SO quick that I found it hard to keep up without those small breaks. Even a stray thought or observation outside the action would have assisted with this. The first chapter was great, but after that, all the action just became too confusing. I had to either read several sections multiple times to keep up, or just skip over it and pick up from another section where we were. I LOVE action, don't get me wrong - but that little bit of break for my brain would have been helpful. Perhaps lengthening all the action scenes and fleshing it out a bit would have also helped.
I found the character of John Cross to be a little contradictory. I think his religious mindset was more catholic than baptist. The whole idea of Jesus IS forgiveness, so for John to punish himself is contradictory to that overall message. Catholics have more of a 'pay penance' mindset, but the baptist denomination doesn't carry that (save for a few i'm sure) so even a shift to another denomination would have helped with this.
It frustrated me whenever that side to him came up - he preached that forgiveness, but forgot it when it came to his own life (yes, that does happen in reality, but the story didn't end in a satisfying way regarding that part of the character/story for me).
John accepting the pastor position, with all he had to deal with in his own mind and heart, also seemed unusual. There wasn't a clear enough lead up to how he became a pastor. Churches don't hire any old bloke off the street - it's usually a bit more complex than that when you decide who leads your church.
Sometimes the sentences felt unnecessarily complex and long. That was just a minor frustration.
I loved relationship between John and Christine. It was great. I also liked Christine's character.
Overall, the story was really great. Interesting, action packed and overall, I loved the premise and character interactions.
The story was really interesting - a great idea!
Unfortunately for me, the execution wasn't as amazing. Some of that may come down to my PERSONAL PREFERENCE in writing style, but here are my thoughts on A Cross To Kill:
(There could be some off the cuff spoilers in this review, but they aren't outright story spoilers. Just be aware - I tried to keep as vague as possible)
For me, the story didn't have enough breathing room.
The action was SO quick that I found it hard to keep up without those small breaks. Even a stray thought or observation outside the action would have assisted with this. The first chapter was great, but after that, all the action just became too confusing. I had to either read several sections multiple times to keep up, or just skip over it and pick up from another section where we were. I LOVE action, don't get me wrong - but that little bit of break for my brain would have been helpful. Perhaps lengthening all the action scenes and fleshing it out a bit would have also helped.
I found the character of John Cross to be a little contradictory. I think his religious mindset was more catholic than baptist. The whole idea of Jesus IS forgiveness, so for John to punish himself is contradictory to that overall message. Catholics have more of a 'pay penance' mindset, but the baptist denomination doesn't carry that (save for a few i'm sure) so even a shift to another denomination would have helped with this.
It frustrated me whenever that side to him came up - he preached that forgiveness, but forgot it when it came to his own life (yes, that does happen in reality, but the story didn't end in a satisfying way regarding that part of the character/story for me).
John accepting the pastor position, with all he had to deal with in his own mind and heart, also seemed unusual. There wasn't a clear enough lead up to how he became a pastor. Churches don't hire any old bloke off the street - it's usually a bit more complex than that when you decide who leads your church.
Sometimes the sentences felt unnecessarily complex and long. That was just a minor frustration.
I loved relationship between John and Christine. It was great. I also liked Christine's character.
Overall, the story was really great. Interesting, action packed and overall, I loved the premise and character interactions.