Latest in my stack of generically titled thrillers with a tinge of Christianity from Revell is the third in a series called 'Defend and Protect' by Lynn H. Blackburn, which seems to have grown out of her other series, 'Dive Team Investigations'. I seem to have a habit of starting Revell series partway, a forced approach that hasn't been a problem thus far. This, however, may be the easiest thus far to dive into without any background. Sure, most of the primary and supporting characters have clear history that I was blissfully unaware of, having not read the earlier books, but that didn't matter. I was able to pick up immediately and run with the story as it developed.

That's a first point to Blackburn, because it never felt like she was bending over backwards for new readers but, if she wasn't, she's a natural at this. It doesn't hurt that she dedicated more energy to building the characters of the leads, Tessa Reed and Zane Thacker, than the thriller plot. They're best friends reunited in this novel, because Tessa's working at the Raleigh RAIC, the secret service acronym for Resident Agent in Charge—technically her boss, Jacob Turner—and Zane's been away on the PPD, the President's Protection Detail, but he's back on assignment because the President is coming to Raleigh and they need to prepare.

Revell books seem to work to a formula. The ones I've been receiving are all thrillers, to use a wide term, but often categorised in associated genres; this one, for instance, is romantic suspense.

The first requirement is a romance, which has to be pivotal and work out well, even if it's phrased as not-at-all-likely because… reasons. Here, Tessa and Zane both obviously want far more than they get from a mere friendship, but the latter is acutely wary of a deeper relationship because Tessa is a recovering alcoholic, a particular problem for him, because his mother was an alcoholic too. It seems clear to us, and all the agents in their team, that they'll take the plunge at some point, but Blackburn does take her sweet time getting them there. Maybe that's the suspense.

The second requirement is that there be a Christian undercurrent to the story. The previous books I've read from Revell did this relatively quietly. Both leads in Natalie Walters's 'Fatal Code' were Christian and that fact never got in the way of either the story or their romance. Lynette Eason's leads in 'Critical Threat' were Christians too and, again, it didn't interfere except in one awkward scene in a restaurant. Here, it's more overt. Everyone in the Secret Service is Christian, it seems, and these teams of agents pray a lot before doing anything.

I don't want to bash someone else's faith, but the United States is a secular country and the job of protecting the president is a secular job. I don't know about you, but I'd feel far more comfortable if the Secret Service trusted primarily in their own abilities, those of their immediate teams and, I guess, in the people who they're tasked with protecting. Jesus doesn't remotely fit into any of the categories I mentioned and he seems out of place here. It certainly doesn't help at all that Tessa's Indian American and from a mostly traditional family. Why isn't she a Hindu? There was no reason at all for her to be Christian and the fact that she was made her less credible to me.

Thinking back over these three books, I guess there's a third requirement, which extends from the second, namely that sex apparently doesn't exist. It certainly wasn't there in 'Critical Threat', but Lynette Eason handled that believably by staging something important every time the leads even think about having coffee together. I never doubted that they'd sleep together, but it wouldn't be until the case they were working got out of the way first. Here, Tessa and Zane, once they decide a relationship should happen, have every opportunity to bump uglies, but they never do. They kiss a lot. They cuddle and make out too, like they're fourth graders with their first crushes. This doesn't remotely ring true for secret service agents whose last day alive might be today.

And I guess I'm coming off negatively right now, so I'll throw another issue out there. Everyone is overbearingly protective in this book. Now, I get that their job is to keep the President of the U.S. alive and well and safe wherever he happens to go—and, in case you're wondering, he is supposed to be coming to Raleigh for a fundraising event at the house of an old college friend, which serves as the backdrop to the novel—but they seem to overdo it at every step. Tessa is highly capable and Zane is highly capable and so is every member of their team but, the moment one of them is even remotely threatened, they all drop everything they're doing to rush over and become a barrier. It is equal opportunity, I'll give Blackburn that, so it never seems misogynistic, but it's annoying.

And, with that out of the way, I actually enjoyed this book, right down to the cheesy and overblown epilogue that really didn't need to be there. There are characters who are up to no good, some of them mostly harmless but others probably not. In and amongst the fourth-grade romance and the constant protecting of each other, this team of agents investigate them. Their job is to receive the potential threats, investigate and evaluate every last one of them and ensure that the president, when he finally gets round to showing up in Raleigh, is kept safe. That's a lot of work and this team is very good at that work. Whenever the book remembered that, it played well to me. I wish it had done that more often.

Where I ended up, though, was a realisation that shifts me away from being the target audience. You know all those primetime shows on CBS about murders and serial killers and whatnot? We're supposed to care about the leads, those all-American hunks, of either gender, but I never do. They bore me. I always care about the people in support, the character roles, whether they're nerds or morgue technicians or wacko scientists. I watched 'NCIS' for Abby, not Gibbs or DiNozzo. I watched 'Fringe' for Walter Bishop, not Olivia or Peter. I watched 'Criminal Minds' for Penelope Garcia and Spencer Reid not Aaron Hotchner or Derek Morgan. Everyone in this book is CBS primetime lead material. That may work for the typical Revell audience but it doesn't work for me. ~~ Hal C F Astell