Randy Alcorn brings back characters from two other best-selling mysteries - Deadline and Dominion - in Deception, his latest fiction work. Ollie Chandler is a Portland, Oregon-based homicide detective whose latest case has him chasing down the last people on earth he wants to suspect - his own colleagues.A widower, Ollie takes solace in food, drink, and his dog Mulch. One night he blacks out at his favorite local bar, to find himself awakened at home in his bed at 3 a.m. to investigate a new murder. The culprit is Dr. William Palantine, a philosophy professor at the local college and his own daughter's former teacher. Palantine has not only been shot, but also has a blue noose hanging around his neck and has been injected with ink. Around the house are several curious items - including some that point to Ollie himself. Can Ollie remember enough to clear himself of suspicion?The religious undertones of the novel are put in place by Jake Woods and Clarence Abernathy, Ollie's two good friends, who are devout Christians. When Ollie's wife was dying from cancer, their wives converted her to Christianity. Ollie is determined not to let his friends do the same to him. Alcorn's unique ideas concerning the afterlife (detailed in his nonfiction bestseller Heaven) pique curiosity and add to the novel. We see glimpses of dead characters actually in heaven, speaking to the Master Carpenter about Ollie and his friends.The first 300 pages move slowly in this nearly 500-page work. I will admit I wasn't that interested until about page 275. There are so many clues and so many characters I had a hard time wrapping my mind around what was going on. Alcorn details every bite and drink our male protagonist has, which bogs down the novel in some places. That said, the twist ending is very exciting and I raced through the last hundred pages, eager to know whodunit. If you don't mind the length, Alcorn's latest is a great Christian mystery which will make your mind work.
It was 9p.m. on a Saturday night. I was exhausted and wondering how early I needed to get up in order to be ready for church on time in the morning.Daddy handed me a book and asked, "How about this for the church library?"I glanced at the title, knew all my family loves these books, and commented, "You know, I haven't read it yet."It was 3:30a.m. on a Sunday morning. I turned the last page, closed the book, and staggered my room.I've read (and not really liked) Alcorn's Lord Foulgrin's Letters and Courageous, and I have not read the two preceding books in the trilogy (my sister was shocked).Be that as it may, Alcorn is definitely best on his own turf. I laughed a lot (he gave Ollie a great voice), skimmed a little, and dropped the book in shock a couple of times.For a book that is outside my usual style, I really enjoyed it.
What do You think about Deception (2007)?
(novel, audiobook)a.t“Deception” is the 3rd in this series, the first being “Deadline” and then “Dominion.” I’ve read all three. All are brilliantly done and all three star Detective Ollie Chandler. b.tOllie is ordered to include Clarence Abernathy, a newspaper reporter and acquaintance of Ollie and mutual friend Jake in this investigation. This one focuses around a murdered professor. Ollie has seen this professor before. How did he really die? Did Ollie murder him in a drunken stupor? After all, a wrapper of a certain unpopular gum – one that Ollie was known to chew, was found at the scene and Ollie was having blackouts after some drinking sprees. Then there is other evidence that points to Ollie as well. Perhaps it was someone else from the police force. 5 STARS
—Elaine
Awesome book, 5 stars easily. I haven't read a book in a long time where I laughed every 5 minutes. This is unusual, given that the genre is a suspense/detective story. This book builds on the previous two in the same genre by Mr. Alcorn, which includes Deadline and Dominion, told from a first person vantage of two of the characters that are also in Deception. Both book 1 and 2 are good, but Deception is the best in the series and could be read independently. There are references to previous characters that a new reader wouldn't get, but it works. Randy also works apoligetics into his storyline and glimpses of the world by characters from the previous stories that are now in heaven. I am also a big fan of whodunits that actually have you guessing until the very end!Eric
—Eric
The first two books in this series were spectacular, so maybe my expectations were too high going into this one. Detective Chandler is lovingly bumbling, but so is Randy Alcorn in his writing. Each talk with his friends about Christianity is ridiculously forced, every twist that could happen in a case happens in this one, and Ollie is so stereotypically a detective - loves greasy diner food, loves Oldies, loves his wife, and gets the case solved no matter the consequences - that it's just not even fun when you figure out the ending.It was nice to catch up with these characters and see them solve another case, but I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I think my sentimentality and my curiosity about these characters kept me reading.
—Bethany
