Customer Reviews

Double Cross: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had a blast reading the first book featuring Taylor's character, Forsaken, and was eager to read more about her adventures. I had really liked Jordan's style of writing in the first book and how he had managed to create a female character who was both strong and vulnerable at the same time. I was not disappointed when picking up the sequel and continuing Taylor's story. Once again, Jordan is able to write convincingly as a first person female. Too many times, other male authors try to write in the same tone and fail because they cannot seem to grasp how females actually think. In this book, I actually forgot that the book had been written by a male, as Taylor is able to both kick butt yet feel like a woman at the same time.

The story tackles tough subjects normally not seen in Christian fiction such as prostitution and embezzling among other Christians. Taylor's tactics at finding out the truth about the situation were quite clever. She's very level headed and does not allow emotion to come between her line of work. Something that I found extremely refreshing was a lack of a romantic storyline. I say this because usually when a male writes in first person female, there always has to be a romantic subplot to show that even the tough as nails female secret agent has a softsensitive side and turns to jelly at the sight of a man. Jordan, thankfully, does not resort to this stereotype to make Taylor's character well rounded. The situation with her mother fulfills this need, which I felt was a much better way at making her character more dimensional. While there are hints at possible relationships, it's not a main focus of the story and therefore not a distraction.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I will admit it wasn't as fast paced as the first novel had been, but it's still an adventure story and quite suspenseful. The plot is relevant in today's age and one that could be seen on the nightly news. I really liked seeing Taylor and Kacey work together especially with that interesting bond that ties them together. I really hope we'll hear more from them in a future book.

Taylor is a former Secret Service agent. At the beginning of the book her and Kacey(prominent televangelist Simon Mason's daughter) go to Simon's top assistant to confront her about embezzling money from the ministry. When they arrive at the woman's house they discover her dead in her car with the engine running. An apparent suicide.

Taylor hasn't seen her mother in 20 years. She walked out on her and her father when she was 9. Her mother arrives on her doorstep out of the blue. Taylor is wanting a relationship with her mother, but her mother really doesn't know how to be a mom.

Amidst trying to find out who actually embezzled the money Taylor meets up with a reporter that is working on a case involving a prostitution ring that may actually hit a little bit too close to home.

Double Cross is full of action and suspense that kept me turning the pages. I'm a little confused about why it would be considered a Christian book. Was it clean? Yes, there was no foul language. There was a brief mention of sex. Was there redemption? I think that it was vaguely implied but a salvation message was not clear. James David Jordan writes a very fast-paced story that is very entertaining and one that I would recommend to other readers.

James David Morgan knows how to grab the reader and keep them for this page-turner, DOUBLE CROSS. I was impressed with the opening sentences, "The day my mother came back into my life began with a low December fog and a suicide. Mom was not responsible for the fog." Wow. I could not stop reading and turning the pages quick enough.

This second novel was well-crafted and I loved it. After reading two of Jordan's novels, I will be watching for the next one. I highly recommend this thriller.

James David Jordan is an excellent story teller. It is a rare writer than can weave faith into a novel and not have it come out cheesy - but he did a fabulous job. His strongest attribute is that his characters are believable.

Once rejected from the secret service for being an idiot (how many of us know the super achiever who is also a chronic self sabotager?) Taylor Pasbury now owns a private security firm. Her primary client is a ministry that is flailing due to the death of their leader. This is the beginning of the story. As the story progresses, Taylor dives into bullets, deals with really bad guys, and ... well I'll leave the end for you to read.

This is a great book, well worth the time and money.

A great book with an exciting story line and a better message. Keeps you interested.

Simon Mason, of Simon Mason World Ministries, had been murdered. Shortly thereafter, nearly a half million dollars was reported missing from the ministry. The question was who and why.

Taylor Pasbury, the daughter of a former Special Forces officer, had been hired to protect Simon for reasons unknown to Taylor, although she was highly qualified and owned her own security agency. Kacey Mason, Simon's daughter, was in college and living with Taylor in Simon's home.

On this foggy December day, Kacey and Taylor were on their way to question Elise Hovden, top assistant to Simon Mason, about the embezzled money and came upon her apparent suicide.

In the late afternoon of that same day, a woman showed up at Taylor and Kacey's residence. The woman took out her camera and said to Taylor, "Smile, baby, I'm your mother." That was her initial reunion after 20 years of silence from her mother, who abandoned her at age 9. The relationship was strange, to put it mildly. It brought turmoil to Taylor over her mother's strange behaviors, abandonment, sudden reappearance, the truth about her past, and the death of her father as he protected her from being raped.

Taylor and her mother manage to get themselves entangled in the mystery of the embezzlement through her mother's husband, and they find themselves mixed up in a twisted, fast-paced kidnapping.

This is a book of many twists to keep you guessing to the end. I enjoyed it tremendously.

[...]
An advanced readers copy was supplied by The B & B Media Group, Inc. for my review, which is my own personal opinion of the book. I receive no compensation. I review books for the pure pleasure of encouraging others to read good Christian books.

Former Secret Service agent, Taylor Pasbury has lost her father and the man she was tasked to protect. Now, in Double Cross she discovers someone has been stealing and blackmailing.

This is James Jordan's second book about Taylor and he doesn't let her off the hook.

Someone tries to kill a reporter Taylor meets with at a Starbucks, an accountant for her dead client is found dead - supposed suicide, and to top it all off, Taylor's eccentric mother is back in her life and married to her third husband.

I haven't read the first Taylor Pasbury novel so I was a little lost coming in to this book. It feels like your typical Law & Order episode: with twists and turns and "double crosses".

The "Christian-message" theme isn't too heavy until the very last couple pages and then you get the gist and moral of the story full blast.

Plus he leaves the mother/daughter relationship open as is true in real life.

It's fun to read books by people who do it on the side, Jordan is a business attorney in Dallas - of course he would do well with this genre.


This book was provided for review by BH Publishing Group.

Want a real to life heroine that is not perfect? You found the book! The story starts out with the discovery of a suicide when Taylor and Kacey thought they were going to confront a suspect. This starts them on the hunt for a murderer when Taylor notices some things that are just not quite right about it. She of course, gets herself into messes without letting anyone know and chases and close scrapes with death come about.
You will want to read the first book in this series before this one "Forsaken". This book is full of more than just mystery and fast chases, there is relationship issues as Taylor's mother tries to come back into her life, but she is a mess and you have to wonder at her mental status the entire book. You can feel the longing in Taylor's heart for a mother and yet, that longing goes unfilled.

I really enjoyed this book! I do not often enjoy books by male authors about women, so this was a happy surprise. It is also an "I" story, which is sometimes hard for me too, but this one I enjoyed to the last page and look forward to hearing how Taylor's life goes forward!

Full of suspense and mystery, but the best thing is Taylor. She's a tough girl with lots of flaws - just the way I like my book characters. Looking forward to the next book in the series -- I want to see a lot more of Taylor Pasbury!

I have been waiting a year to read DOUBLE CROSS by James David Jordan. And can I say . . . It was definitely worth the wait!
The sequel to FORSAKEN, DOUBLE CROSS continues the story of Taylor Pasbury, ex-secret service turned private security agent. In FORSAKEN, Taylor is left devastated by the death of Simon Mason, a televangelist she was hired to protect, but whose relationship turned into so much more. In DOUBLE CROSS, we see the incredible bond Taylor has forged with Mason's daughter, Kacey. We also watch as Taylor struggles with her new-found Christianity. In her heart or hearts she wants to live a redeemed life as a testament to Mason's impact on her life. But old habits die hard and she finds herself continuing to struggle with personal choices.
Things quickly heat up when Elise Hovden, Simon's former top assistant is found dead by apparent suicide. But it doesn't add up to Taylor. Yes, Elise was about to turn herself in for embezzlement, and was emotionally distraught over Simon's death, but why would she arrange for a meeting with Taylor if she was just going to off herself? Instinctively, Taylor does some digging. And what she finds out is more than she bargained for. Add that together with the reappearance of her mother that abandoned her at the age of nine, and Taylor soon finds herself on overload with a killer close on her heels.
I don't know what it is about Jordan's writing that so thoroughly captives me, but it does. Normally drawn to the romance genre, I always wish for more to happen romantically in Taylor's life, but I'm never disappointed with the story. FORSAKEN is a great novel for both the male and female reader. Kudos to James David Jordan. He's done it again!