Book Review: Servant - J.S. Bailey

Servant by J.S. Bailey

Rating: PG-13

Price: $3.99 (ebook)

$15.95 (paperback)

Servant was one of those books pulls you in for the long haul. In proper fashion, I began with the prequel, Solitude, and was anxious to continue Bobby's journey.

In Solitude, we meet Bobby Roland, a nineteen year old who has (fairly recently) discovered that he has a gift - or a curse, depending on how you want to look at it - of receiving premonitions about bad events about to take place (namely, death). You see his abilities in action in Solitude and it has left him so shaken that he wants to ditch the new life he's made for himself in Salt Lake City, Utah. Taking an atlas, he closes his eyes and jabs it with his finger to disciver his new locale: Autumn Ridge, Oregon.

Thus begins Servant. It stars off with an attempted murder by an old named Graham Willard on his friend and (practically) surrogate grandson, Randy Ellison. The attempt is unsuccessful, but Graham leaves before learning that. A year later, Bobby meets Randy at St. Paul's for an interview to rplace the latter as a Janitor at the old church. Bobby, sensing disaster, saves Randy after another attempt is made on his life and the two are thrown together in a matter of circumstance.

Come to find out, Randy is a Servant, someone who is called by God to extract Demons from the living (not to be confused with exorcism which is performed by a Priest). However, that takes a backseat to the main plot which is the unfolding of a serial killer playing a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game with his next victim.

Servant reminded me of a watered down (in a good way!) James Patterson novel and a really long Grimm episode. I didn't want to put it down and stayed up well after my bedtime because I couldn't bear the thought of sleeping while this fictitious madman was on the loose! Bailey dangles many well-constructed mysteries in front of the reader that are expertly woven into the tapestry of the story construct. The end-result is a book that leaves you breathless and awed not only by the author's talent, but also by her abilities to write and so effectively hook the reader. That's a skill that many lack these days.

I had high expectations after reading and enjoying the prequel, Solitude, but Servant exceeded them on every level. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a gritty (but not graphic) murder mystery book. It leaves you with just enough of a body-shudder to make you appreciate the story without making it impossible to be alone for the next month.

As far as mental movies go (I don't know about you, but I read books as though they were movies playing out in my head) Servant would be rated PG-13 for violence, subject matter, and disturbing events. This book contains no sex and no language. How rare and awesome is that? I give Servant five stars because not only is Bailey top-notch in her writing skills, but I couldn't go to bed until I finished it. Any book that does that to you inherently deserves five stars.

But why take my word for it? Check it out today!