Deadline: Jake Woods survives the car accident that kills his two best friends. Clues suggest that the accident might have been very deliberate, and Jake sets out find which of the men had been the target and why. But the even bigger question he must answer is why he was spared.

Dominion: Clarence Abernathy has it made with his good job, great house, and family. Then his sister and niece are brutally murdered in a gang shooting, and Clarence races to find out why… and to keep his nephew out of the clutches of the very group that killed his mother.

Deception: Ollie Chandler’s life as a homicide detective is anything but quiet. Yet since his wife’s death, his life has been getting more and more out of control. Now as he works the murder of prominent professor, the clues start pointing in a most disconcerting direction…toward him.

I have read and reread both Deadline and Dominion several times over the years, so when I saw this ebook bundle, I was intrigued by the title The Ollie Chandler Series. After all, while the detective was a memorable side character in the two novels, he was exactly that – a side character. However, the third book, Deception, is narrated by the sarcastic detective and brings his character’s story to completion.

Using Ollie as the main character for this book was a stroke of genius. Much of the other two books were focused on bringing contemporary issues to light. While there were elements of mystery, the main characters uncovered answers through a combination of basic intelligence and sheer dumb luck. In Deception, watching the mystery unravel through the eyes of trained detective raised not only the stakes, but the caliber of the case.

All three of the books are well written stories that take on hard issues with an undaunted honesty and a Christian worldview lens. Mr. Alcorn never flinches from the facts about his subjects even when they are dark or disconcerting, so I can’t recommend these books for young readers or even as read alouds. However, older readers looking for some great suspense and mystery stories should definitely check out all three books.

Find out more about the author of the series, Randy Alcorn at his website: http://www.epm.org/

And check out the series here: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blog/2012/09/20/sneak-peek-ollie-chandler-collection-ebook-exclusive-by-randy-alcorn/

My thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for providing me with a copy of The Ollie Chandler Series, in return for my honest opinion of the book.