Customer Reviews

Life Support (Santee, Book 1)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The marketers try to convince us that every writer of legal thrillers is "the next John Grisham." Within the Christian market, the twist goes like this: "he's the Christian John Grisham." (As if Grisham's books aren't often Christian in content!)

Well, I'm here to say that two writers live up to the pretentious billing. Randy Singer, who recently won a Christy Award for "Directed Verdict," is one of them. Robert Whitlow, also a Christy Award winner, is the other. Both authors tell gripping tales with Christian themes and believable characters. Both are capable of matching the best legal thrillers out there.

In "Life Support," Robert Whitlow tells a story both simple and serpentine, both vicious and full of grace. I picked up the book and found myself hooked by the attempted murder at the beginning (which the back cover should not have given away...shame, shame!). The guilty wife is soon trapped by circumstances and connives to protect herself, dragging an unwitting and honorable attorney, Alexia Lindale, into her scheme. Lindale is a likeable character, and I enjoyed following her spiritual, romantic, and legal journey. Within three sittings, I had devoured the novel. Although Whitlow steps away from the story once or twice to deliver mini-sermons, he always speaks truth. And, in the book's conclusion, he was careful to play his hand lightly, thus adding to the impact.

I highly recommend this book, and believe it is Whitlow's finest to date. With these authors presenting such compelling evidence, who can honestly discount the legal thriller's ability to make a strong case for God's working in everyday humanity?

I rest my case.

Ever since John Grisham wrote "The Firm" and it became a run-away bestseller, legal thrillers have become a dime a dozen. Lots of book publishers have sought to cash in on the trend toward the public's interest and the legal thriller has almost become its own genre-so much so that I fully expect it to get its own section in the bookstore someday. So, it probably shouldn't come as too great a shock that there would, eventually, be a subset of the Christian publishing genre for a legal thriller.

What was shocking was how good it turned out to be.

Robert Whitlow's "Life Support" is a legal thriller-and it's one with a Christian emphasis. But I'd easily put this legal thriller up against some of the best the secular publishing world has to offer. "Life Support" is just that good.

Rena Richardson did not have a happy childhood and she's not grown up to be a happy adult. She married an heir to a family's good fortune and has grown to love the good life. She wants to keep all that-the thing is she doesn't want to keep her husband, Baxter. So, one day while hiking she pushes him over a cliff and makes it look like an accident. But in a cruel twist of fate for Rena, Baxter survives and is put on life support. Rena wants to terminate it to cover her own secrets, but her fat her-in-law, Ezra has another legal document that gives him control over Baxter's life-and he very much wants his son to be living so he can exercise his power of attorney. Ezra has his own agenda as well-he's not all on the up and up and his company harbors some shady secrets he'd rather see kept out of the light of day.

Enter into this attorney, Alexia Lindale, who is assigned by her law firm ,which represents Ezra, to go in and mediate things. Rena draws Alexia into her web of lies, leading to Alexia's termination and striking out on her own to represent Rena in a battle against her former employers. Along the way, Alexia meets the musical director at a local church and finds herself being drawn not only to him but also to a newer and deeper relationship with God.

"Life Support" is a fascinating character study and one in which the pages fly by. Unlike a lot of other contemporary Christian fiction, the characters are all not lily white, but are instead real human beings. For as much of a one-note villain as Rena could be, Whitlow invests her with just enough likeability to make us feel some sympathy for her and to understand her plight. And as much as Alex and the music minister are the heroes of this novel, they are still human enough to have faults, doubts and foibles. It makes the pages come alive because we feel like all these characters are real people-not just one-note characters the author has created to hammer home his own agenda or point.

And although there are some things that are the standard stock of your basic legal thriller and your basic Christian-oriented novel, Whitlow blends them together seamlessly in his novel. This was a great book and one that I found myself sorry to see end-even though it does end at a crossroads with a promise for more to come in 2004.

I've not read any of Whitlow's other work, but after reading this one, I am definitely eager for more. Whitlow delivers a page-turning thriller with a profound and heartwarming message at the center. Just like life, there are no easy answers, but that's what makes this book such a pleasure to read.

Let me say first that I like Robert Whitlow a lot. Jimmy is one the best books I've read in a long while. This was an excellent story with insight to the legal world and the complexities of the attorney-clent privilege. But, this could have easily been told in one book. Life Support cannot stand on its own without Life Everlasting and vice-versa. Sequels are great but only when the story can't be told in one novel.

This is a great book, one of the best I've ever read. The story is very good, the writing very realistic with true sounding characters. The kind of book that really stays with you long after you've read the last page. BEWARE - you won't be able to put it down!!
I recommend it to everyone!!

Robert Whitlow has sucessfully captured a small slice of the new south with his latest novel, Life Support. The tale centers on the evolution of a southern laywer and her quest for a life she can claim on her own terms. Through the twists and tangles of the big law firm life, she comes into contact with an emotionally disturbed woman who will change her future plans and all she had worked for.
One character has spent her life on the surface, looking for the answers to life in her work, while the other has lived in the dark, frightening place of anger and survival. In the middle is the story of family and the complexity of love and money.
Robert Whitlow has woven this tale so tightly that it takes more than one book to pick the threads apart. He grabs his reader in the first chapter with an amazing plot twist before you can settle into your easy chair. He has certainly earned his reputation as the "John Grisham of the Christian market" (Publishers Weekly).

This is the first Robert Whitlow book that I have read. I'm so pleased. The spiritual tidbits that were just for me at the time I needed them were amazing. I had to keep going back to read them. Whitlow's insight about the love relationship being spiritual instead of just with the mind hit me with such force.

His description of the spiritual birth was so accurate. It was the first time I have ever heard anyone describe it. The whole paragraph was beautiful and became holy.

The plot is great. Another 4 1/2 hours of sleep night because I could not put it down.

I have read all of Whitlow's books and he just gets better and better. I knew by the end of the first chapter that this was going to be his best yet. Whitlow has matured as a writer with each succeeding novel. His characters are real people who deal with real life issues, and his plots grab hold of you and leave you hungry for more. The battle between good and evil always gets a work-out in his stories. It's easy to see why he is a Christy award winner. As for the "Grisham-esque" moniker--it's well-deserved. It's also a breath of fresh air for those of us who are Christian males--and avid readers--to get some good fireside reading from authors who have important words for the Body of Christ, and who, at the same time, can stand toe to toe in the secular realm. If ever there were crossover novels, it's Whitlow's. I will purchase the next Whitlow novel, and the next, and the next after that.

Robert Whitlow has written maybe his best book. The plot thickens from the first page, and, indeed, is still thick on the last.
The characters are believable and genuine, and the twists and turns in their relationships sometimes are not at all predictable.
The number of major characters is limited so the story is easy to keep up with, but the one major character is not obvious until the last line of the last page.
A great story with an unmistakable Christian message woven into the fabric. Read it.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Robert Whitlow's books and devoured each one within a day. Life Support is no exception to his growing list of fascinating novels. It is refreshing to read a well-written book with an engaging plot that also has a solid, moral foundation. I eagerly look forward to his next work.

Life Support and Life Everlasting written by Robert Whitlow are his best yet. Both have gripped my interest from cover to cover. I too was so disappointed at the end of Life Support because I was left hanging - left wanting more. And, more did Robert Whitlow deliver in Life Everlasting. Both of these novels kept me reading from cover to cover. I have never waited on a sequel like I did this one - and it was well worth it. I finished both within days of having them. Don't buy one without the other! I have also read the Grisham novels and Whitlow's writing rivals any one of those. I love the Christian message. However, Christian or not, it is a great read.