The Christian Fiction Blog Alliance concludes the March tour with J. (Jeanette) M. Windle’s novel Betrayed. Having read Crossfire, FireStorm, and The DMZ about drug trafficking and terrorism in Columbia, Bolivia, and points south, I’ve been anxiously awaiting another book from the gifted storyteller. Her missionary parents ministered in the rural villages, jungles, and mountains of Columbia, and her own missionary/ministry background affords her an authentic vista of the beauty and treachery of these countries.
Portraying the absolute worst of dirty politics demonstrated in greed, conspiracy, and butchery, Jeanette captures the ugliness and horror of the layered corruption in Guatemalan government authorities and certain individuals in the US government. Motivated purely by personal gain and the lust for power, authority, and control, the perpetrators of the murder of a young American woman who works with an environmental organization to preserve the cloud forests and natural habitat of the Sierra de las Minas dump her body in the middle of the city’s fiery garbage pit where she is found by her only remaining family, her sister Vicki. When Vicki demands the investigation go further than the Guatemala City police want to take it, an attractive American Embassy attachment and military instructor who her sister had tried to contact before she was killed jumps in to assist and supervise the inquiries while urging Vicki to return to the states and leave it in his confident and capable hands.
One thing you can always count on in Jeanette Windle’s heroines is their feisty naiveté. The twenty-something professionals seek justice at all costs and are willing to fight for it, always putting themselves and sometimes those around them in jeopardy. Never quite aware of how dangerous their circumstances inevitably become, they count on themselves to pursue the quest for righteous indictment and resolution of crimes which are so much deeper than they first anticipate, making the women both compelling and annoying. The ongoing struggle to arrive at the answers to the constantly developing mysteries puts the reader in detective mode and never quite sure along with the heroine who can and can’t be trusted.
Wound through this political adventure/thriller is the loneliness of a sister who has lost her only family in what is clearly more than a simple street murder. As the previously unknown history of their family is revealed little by little in Vicki’s memory by her children’s relief organization associate’s photos and recollections, she learns why this strange country feels so familiar to her. As she searches for information which will lead to the reason and person(s) responsible for her sister’s death, she remembers a distant faith she has since abandoned and a trauma so terrifying she can barely face it.
J. M. Windle’s research is impeccable and accompanied by a bounty of personal experience. Addressing the good, the bad, and the ugly of international politics with a sympathetic eye to the hardworking native people and the land, the picture she creates is often uncomfortable but always forthright.
Betrayed took me awhile to get engaged, a little bit herky-jerky as it laid the groundwork for the conflict, but it held my interest and kept me sufficiently confused as to who the bad guys and good guys really were, the hints adequately disguised. My suspicions proved correct in the end, but it certainly wasn’t a slam dunk by any stretch. The last chapter is both an explanation and final piecing together of the puzzle in mostly dialogue. The ending leaves an open door to a possible sequel.
My favorite of Jeanette’s novels is FireStorm, the sequel to Crossfire. The three earlier novels I mentioned were larger books filled with complex and detailed information about the people, cities, jungles, and governments. Betrayed is more concise and whether or not it’s because of the publishing trends or Jeanette’s personal intentions, her longer books published by Kregel Publications came to life with rich detail and serious depth of plot and character. Betrayed, published by Tyndale Fiction, is more typical of some of today’s offerings.
Father, thank you for Jeanette’s faithfulness to you and the people of her missionary efforts and to those she mentors in writing. Thank you for her honest portrayals and authenticity. Please continue to lead her in all her areas of ministry and writing and watch over all she does. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
*Please continue to pray for Kristy Dykes and her family.*