At the request of her many fans—Terri Blackstock revisits the heroic cast of characters in this fifth book in her best-selling Newpointe 911 series In Line of Duty, a bomb explodes at the Icon International building in New Orleans while lawyer Jill Clark Nichols is in the top floor boardroom. The thirty-story building goes up in flames and fire departments from all around the area are called in. The firefighters from Newpointe are especially concerned since they know Jill is inside the building. Dan, her husband, rushes in to save her. But as firefighters work to evacuate the upper floors of the building, a second and third bomb explode, causing the lower floors to cave in. Firefighters and civilians are buried beneath the rubble. When the smoke finally clears, a count is taken. Jill narrowly escapes the chaos of the explosions and fire only to find Dan missing. Were the bombs the act of a terrorist, or a scheme coming from a heart of greed? Can Jill’s faith carry her through these long days of pain and uncertainty? And will Dan survive this tragedy . . . or sacrifice his life in the line of duty?
Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over seven million books sold worldwide.. She has had over thirty years of success as a novelist.
Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in a U.S. Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,” her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.
In 1994 Terri was writing romance novels under two pseudonyms for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening prompted her to switch gears. At the time, she was reading more suspense than romance, and felt drawn to write thrillers about ordinary people in grave danger. Her newly awakened faith wove its way into the tapestry of her suspense novels, offering hope instead of despair. Her goal is to entertain with page-turning plots, while challenging her readers to think and grow. She hopes to remind them that they’re valued by God and that their trials have a purpose.
This book was very good. I enjoyed the story, it was generally clean and the way she wrote was very sympathetic and not preachy at all. Despite jumping between many POV's Terri Blackstock kept it relatable and easy to follow. She shared moments of such raw emotion, but yet there was hope amidst the turmoil. The underlying mystery was fabulous and I was shocked when all was said and done! Just so enjoyable! I love Jill and Dan and their family's relationships. Those two mixed with Clara and Ashley was reading gold. I just love the complexity of this! She was able to mix a traumatic backdrop with so many people and their personal issues in a very awesome way!
Action pack for sure. A bombing at a 30-story building happens very early on. We are following characters both inside the building trying to get out and emergency personnel we've met in the previous books of this series. The beginning feels very reminiscent of the Sept. 11th events - people trying to escape the building and workers trying to save people. For the majority of the story, we are following Dan & Jill but are introduced to new characters we haven't met before as well. I liked how Jill embraced Ashley at her time of need. Clara was exasperating at first, but she changed over time, and I was rooting for her and Dan to repair their relationship. There is a lot of faith discussions throughout, and it felt natural within the context of the situation. It provided quite a bit to think about. Dan and Ashley's pain felt raw and real, I hurt for both of them. I liked how Jill responded to both of their questions, and the way she challenged Dan's comments about his situation was perfect. Some of my favorite characters were around for the first half of the book, but then they disappeared into the background and I missed them. The emergency personnel has been through so much over the course of the series. The ending provides a nice conclusion to the events and hope for the future, but I am also left wanting to know what that future looks like.
While Jill Nichols interviews an executive for a deposition, his assistant finds a bomb in the room directly below them. Employees race down the stairs, only to find themselves caught in the blast. As Dan and the rest of the Newpointe emergency service rush to the aid of the local rescue units, they find the bomber has left an unpleasant surprise. Catastrophe reigns and lives are lost – and the details of the investigation lie in the head of the assistant’s daughter, an angry teenager Jill befriended in the evacuation.
Line of Duty, the fifth novel of the Newpointe 911 series, is reminiscent of September 11th, and with good reason. Terri Blackstock states in the acknowledgement that after the terrorist attack, “I was overwhelemed with the need to say even more about those men and women who are among America’s truest heros.” She originally planned to end the Newpointe 911 series with only four books, but the national tragedy prompted her to include one more.
As the emergency personnel struggle with various losses suffered, Ashley, the grieving teen, must reexamine her life. Her mission thus far had been to rebel from her mother, but after her mother’s death, she realizes how shallow a goal that was. As she struggles to control the grief that overwhelms her, she must decide whether she wants to choose life…or something far worse.
At the same time, Dan must fight to overcome the injuries suffered in the line of duty. The greatest injury was to his pride, as he wonders why he worked so hard to build a body that now fails to serve him. In time, he must come to rely on his wife, on his friends, and most importantly, on the Lord.
Once again, Terri Blackstock invites her reader into a dramatic and compelling novel that brings its characters – and hopefully its readers – closer to the Savior. The action is fast-paced and the tension high, although the guilty party quickly becomes evident. And Ashley must struggle with her need for revenge.
The more crime novels I read by Blackstock, the more I wonder how she could have started her career with romance novels. Although most of her tales carry a hint of romance, she has great talent when it comes to grabbing the reader’s attention and never letting go. I am sad to have concluded the series when I have come to know the characters so well. Each person she created lived a realistic life, with plausible human actions and reactions. Dan’s struggle especially touched me, as it reminded me again to put the Lord first, and the rest will fall into place.
Just finished Line of Duty by Terri Blackstock. The first book I've read by this author and I could hardly put it down. Not a book to be reread in my opinion, but a good one to read and pass along to friends :)
Terri Blackstock has a gift for weaving suspense and mystery with Romance . this book is a great example of that. She is one of my favorite authors. I don't think I have read a book of hers that I haven't liked!
This was the final book in the 911 series and a great conclusion to the series. The series can all be read as stand alone books but to get to know the characters it is best to read in order.
This was more of an action packed book than suspense, though there was a bit of suspense at the end.
The action started out with a bang, filled with emotion and turmoil and the emotion continued throughout the story.
I guessed correctly who planted the bombs from the beginning but due to the story being focused more on the emotional growth of characters than the suspense, it didn't take away the enjoyment of this story.
This series were mild compared to the later suspense from Terri Blackstock. Recommended to fans Christian suspense.
This was a really good series. It focuses on first responders and different trials them and their families go through while keeping Jesus at the center of their lives. I love the different personalities of the characters and seeing how they respond to things. There are definitely some sad parts, but the storyline is so good. This series is very clean. I highly recommend!
LOVED this book. I did figure it out in the beginning but still wasn't sure until the very end I was correct. The story is woven beautifully. I truly enjoyed reading it.
Another good book by Terri Blackstock. It hit home for me a little bit, but I could get through it. Somehow I knew that the killer that they initially thought was someone different. In fact, I kinda knew it was the person it turned out to be. I won't give any spoilers but it would still be a surprising twist to any reader.
I like all to Terri’s novels. She doesn’t just tell a story, you live it with the characters. So given this storyline, it was scary and hard, painful and brave. It was all drama, long and painful on so many levels. That felt hard to hold up. I wanted to know what happened yet dreaded reading about more pain. That is what made me give it a 4 instead of 5. And that’s just me. I like reading slightly more uplifting stories.
I loved books 1-4, but this one had a different tone. I felt frustrated and disappointed. I would have preferred a happier ending. Realism is all well and good, but I would have preferred to never know of Dan's injuries. The ending of book 4 left me with a blissful ignorance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I enjoyed this one so much I didn't want to stop reading until I got it finished. Terri Blackstock did a wonderful job of balancing the drama in the plot with the stories of the characters and what they were going through mentally and physically.
Terri Blackstock has been a banner name in Christian fiction for over twenty years. I’ve found some of her books riveting and some of her books lacking. Recently, I decided to go back to some of her older books that I’d never read and see how her stories and writing style had changed and progressed. I started with Newpointe 911, a five-book series published between 1998-2003, that focuses on a group of first responders, their families, and way more drama than you’d expect from a small town.
Line of Duty concludes the series and is the first to be written post-9/11. That’s important because Blackstock wrote the novel as a response to the terrorist attacks that changed American life forever. As the series had primarily focused on firefighters, the characters and the story were especially relevant and poignant. The story follows the collapse of a skyscraper in New Orleans and the fate of all the major players in the drama.
Jill, now married to firefighter Dan, is on the top floor boardroom deposing the company’s CEO when the fire alarm goes off. She starts to evacuate, but the first bomb goes off before she gets out. The Newpointe fire crew are called in to fight the fire, with Dan desperate to find his wife. The opening chapters are riveting. Blackstock captures the fear and the panic well, accurately depicting the darkness and claustrophobia of it all. Some make it. Some don’t. Some are unscathed. Others aren’t. And once it’s all over, how will the Newpointe crew put all the pieces back together and move forward? More than that, will they be able to catch the bomber?
This is the first book that scales out to give readers a view beyond Newpoints—a necessary thing as Newpointe doesn’t exactly have any 30-story towers. That makes the story feel less insular and more realistic as the characters become a part of the story rather than the totality of it. They don’t control all of the events and there’s nothing wildly unrealistic.
I had narrowed down the bomber to two suspects, precisely what Blackstock wanted, and was genuinely unsure which she’d pick as her bomber. Her choice is the right one, I think. She also throws in shades of Enron and economic corruption, with the corrupt CEO disappearing in the wake of the bombing and being one of the two potential suspects.
I was thankful that Blackstock did not go down the “Muslim terrorist” route, because it likely would have been unhelpful and only contributed to anti-Islamic sentiment. However, she does have a subplot where three Middle Eastern men have the police called on the, for “acting suspicious” and are detained. Blackstock appears to have been making the point that these men shouldn’t have been arrested simply for being Middle Eastern, but she keeps them detained for days despite them having no connection at all to the bombing. Their alibis check out. They were in college classes with witnesses when the bomb went off. And then Blackstock just…leaves them there. No discussion of what happens to them. I appreciate the plot point of “not all brown people are terrorists” but give me some closure!
This is by far the best entry in the Newpointe 911 series. Maybe because the stakes are higher. Maybe because I’m better connected with the characters. But mostly because Blackstock has developed as a writer, better integrated the faith content, and found her stride in pacing. It’s a good entry and fitting conclusion to the series.
the main characters in this book were Jill n Dan the fifth book in the series. Lots of circumstances n emotions in this storytelling. How do we react in tragedy n adversity? Questioning God n faith and coming through the other side.
When i saw there was a late addition to this series, I wasn't sure about my interest level in reading it. After all, i was fine with the completion of all the story lines in Newpointe, so what could the author add? (insert here I am not big on reading series and prefer standalones). I downloaded it because i was in between books, and gave the first page a try. I am so glad I did! As usual, the book grabbed me instantly, opening with the discovery of a bomb in a New Orleans high rise by Debbie Morris. Debbie immediately makes her rebellious daughter Ashley evacuate the building, but of course the building explodes. Attorney Jill Nichols is in the building on business - a corruption case of CEO Donald Merritt - when the evacuation alarms goes off. Jill meets up with Ashley, and they try to evacuate the building. Firefighters and rescue personnel are called from all over LA, so Newpointe's helping in the search and rescue mission including Jill's firefighter husband Dan. When the building implodes, several Newpointe people are trapped or unaccounted for - who lived? who died? And the overall question of why would God do this to his people? Great sounding board for the age old question of why bad things happen to good people, and I can't say I still understand the reasoning but the author handled the subject very well. I thought the fate of Jill and Dan was very well done - not sugar coated or solved for a HEA ending - but it really made them a true couple to me. It also did a good job of reminding me the horrors of 9/11, and what it must have been like for all involved in that tragic day and aftermath.
This book follows the lives of firefighters, police, a pastor and those related to them during an after an explosion of a huge building. It especially focuses on Jill, a lawyer who survived the explosion and whose firefighter husband is injured in it, and Ashley, another survivor whose mom didn't survive. Jill shows compassion to Ashley while trying to stay close to her husband in the hospital and put up with her difficult mother-in-law. The book displays compassion for those who are hard to love. And I never would have guessed the ending.
I have enjoyed every one of the books in this series. It shows the lives of firemen, policemen, and rescue workers who are interrelated. One of the firefighters is a bi-vocational pastor to most of them. Each book is suspenseful, but I especially appreciate the relationship aspect of these novels and the vital part their church plays in caring for each other and those in need.
The fifth and last book in this series, brings together the people in the previous stories. This one centers on Jill as a lawyer interviewing the executive on the top floor of the Icon building when disaster strikes. A bomb one of three that will take this building down and many lives will have died. On the way she finds young sixteen year old Ashley who was with her Mother when they open the copier door and her mother tells her to leave. Then Gordon who had been dismissed was clearing out his desk. Not knowing who was going to survive. Jill’s husband was one of the last, and the emotion for her, and when his mother finally pays a visit, will fill one with emotion. The headache of lives lost for what, revenge, greed of the executive. Or young Ashley now with no one, turns from a rebellious teen aged to gothic, so wanting love . Good ending to this series by the author.
This is the fifth (final) book in a Christian fiction/mystery that worked fine as a stand-alone. My library didn’t have the first four, but after reading this one I’ll purchase those so I can read them. I’ve read many books by this author and enjoyed all of them. The story starts with a bombing that injures and kills many people and then follows two major story lines. The first is of an injured firefighter and his wife, and the second is that of a teenage girl who lost her mother in the tragedy. The characters are outstanding – believable and relatable. Along with the characters’ survival stories, there is the mystery of who was behind the bombing and why they did it. The “religion” part of the book involves prayer and faith but isn’t overpowering in the story. This was really an excellent book and I’m looking forward to reading the others in the series. 5/5 stars.
I finished the last book in the Newpointe 911 series and it was a doozy. It was heartbreaking because of the parallels to the 911 attack, but such a good read. Blackstock did a wonderful job hiding the bombing suspect til the end. Worth reading. Worth remembering all the emergency personnel who suit up every day to rush in burning buildings, face off with the bad guys, and who are there in case any of us call with an emergency. And there is always the spiritual aspect in Blackstock’s stories. It was encouraging to see that not every character had a happily ever after, and the reality of being a Christian in a broken world was showcased. Some of her characters would not be healed, raised from the dead, etc, but they had the hope and faith in Jesus Christ and that’s more fulfilling than anything this world can offer.
Although this was a lengthy read, I thoroughly enjoyed this conclusion of Blackstock's Newpointe 911 series. It was great to see all of the characters from this series back together again, but sad to see the ending in many different way.
An explosion takes place in a very large building in New Orleans and the firefighters find themselves involved in a massive recovery operations. Everyone of them finds they have to dig in for a fire and rescue operation they had never expected to be involved in. In turn, this explosion makes every single member, friend and relative dig deep to overcome all the unexpected developments. Very well written as usual by Terri Blackstock.
Suspense and courage. After reading the 4th book in the series, I was delighted to learn there was a 5th one. She hadn't planned to write this one until the loss of so many first responders on September 11, 2001. Several are lost in this book too, but there are interesting characters with their own problems even before escaping the bombing of a New Orleans high-rise, and the impact on those not directly involved. Characters question why God doesn't protect them from losses, why he allows evil to happen, leading to a surprise culprit at the end.
This book was amazing. It provoked so many emotions and reflective evaluations. As a Christian we feel we arrived at having spiritual maturity at some point but "Will we allow ourselves to be weak so God can be strong?" Also, I know that God doesn't change and His love for us is unconditional but we put conditions on Him. I liked the bomb analogy and as I continue this journey I will remember that even though we built the bomb, God will control the detonation and its effects. Awesome book!
Incredible final installment in this wonderful series. I will say I was shocked about the bomber in the end. There were Christian gems & perspective spoken of suffering that blessed me, as I have suffered a 12 year ongoing debilitating illness. There was a a very unexpected good surprise at the end. Love all the many Christian gems in this oje. Some things I had never.considered after walking with the Lord for 12 years, as well as honest questions we all.nave. Great read. I wish there was another about Ashley
Terri Blackstock has definitely got her act together. Again, she sneakily draws you in to her web. And once you’re there you could get out but if you’re like me, you don’t want out. This was her 5th in her Newpoint 911 series and now I have finished all 5. Great book from an outstanding author, but she sorta kinda leaves you hanging a little bit wondering, did he make it. Is there going to be another in this series. One can always hope.
What a great read! Blackstock is a strong author. Characters are well developed and the plot is good. Thus book begins with bombings in a 30-story building owned by a man who has embezzled employ funds, hadn’t paid their insurance, many are bring laid off, and both severance and retirement funds are gone.
Jill helps an old, injured man to get out of the building with the help of Ashley, a teen whose mom finds the bomb on the 30th floor...