The Record Keeper is the third book in Charles Martin's A Murphy Shepherd Novel Series, the meaningful and gut-wrenching stories of two men and unlimited numbers of their rescues from that horror of human-trafficking or "the flesh trade".
This review is going to be a short one for me. There are just too many ways to unintentionally give away spoilers, and that's the last thing I want to do. What I will say about this trilogy is to strap on your toughness cloak - or whatever you use to fight off heart-rending cases of emotional turmoil - because you will be challenged at your most basic level of despair over man's inhumanity to man. You will be given a close look at the sex/flesh/human trafficking/trade and the absolute diabolical, demonic filth of those who engage in it, use it for blackmail, and ply it to make money hand-over-fist as the saying goes. There is just no logical way to prepare for it.
Within the latter pages of this third installment, Charles, who is often vague and/or symbolic about faith/God issues in some of his stories, in The Record Keeper pulls out all the stops and uses what biblical scholars call a "type" when going through figures in the Bible that represent or show the characteristics of the Christ. If this awareness hits you any harder than it does "Murph", you will feel it deep in your spirit. There will be tears. Charles Martin's exquisite writing will bring you to your knees.
The Record Keeper is a story of all kinds of heartbreak, recoveries, and more heartbreak. To be truthful with you, I had to set the book down frequently and regroup, take a breather. I could've finished it faster had it not done what I suspect is its intent which is to feel it. It's not just another collection, another trilogy. It's a full-on contemporary identification and account of an ongoing horror and struggle that is taking place all over this world under none other than Satanic direction - because the trade is bona fide evil, and there's absolutely no getting around it. Buckle up if you're going to read it. I recommend you start at the first (The Water Keeper) and diligently press on through the second (The Letter Keeper) to get to this one. You need to know about this, and there's simply no way to "pretty" it up.
Lord God, you see it all, the horror and pain, the vile and evil. Many wonder why you don't "fix" everything, but they don't understand the workings of the curse of sin - and we always want to ignore our own capabilities to commit our sinful ways and inclinations. I pray you would continue to use the gift you've poured out in Charles, and fill him with more touching, meaningful tales that tell so many truths. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.