Seeing Double

Keryn Wills was in the shower when she figured out how to kill Josh Trenton.

An opening hook like that is something that every author dreams of.

In this case, it's a perfectly innocent murder, one plotted by a mystery writer where the victim is "the designated corpse in a Keryn Wills murder mystery," and it's how Randall Ingermanson opens the book I'll be discussing for the next three days.

Today starts the CSFF Blog Tour for Double Vision by Randall Ingermanson.

I've read the first of three parts*, and so far I'm enjoying it. The plot revolves, at this point, around a group of five people who have developed a breakthrough encryption technology that will make every computer security system we currently use obsolete. They don't trust the government to use it properly, and are afraid that they'll get put on a hit list if the criminal world finds out about the project before it's complete. Add to that the natural sub-plots that crop up when two women like the same man and the worry that comes with being in a start-up company whose funding is about to be pulled, and there's plenty of good material to cover the whole story.

I'll admit that, good plot-line and great opener aside, the biggest point of curiosity for me when I picked up this book was "what makes it Christian Spec Fic?"

So far, there aren't any big, obvious pointers. No "a preacher has to save the world by converting a town" plot points. No "demons sent from Hell to destroy a pure maiden/a large city/the whole world." There is actually very little at all that would give this book cause to be on the CSFF Blog Tour.

But the hints are there, if you look. Instead of a minor character being Christian, two of the three main characters are. And I have a feeling that all three might be by the end of the story. (Or if not, she may at least be well on her way.) While the other characters do swear, only minor swear words (if you can call things like "biff" - which I've never heard used before - minor swear words, that is) are actually written, and the bigger stuff gets hinted at or the speaker is cut off before the swear word gets onto the page.

There was one discussion early on where one of the main characters explained to another how he could believe in both God and science, and I have a feeling that this is going to come up again. So far I'm enjoying it, even though it's not my favorite writing ever - which I think is largely due to genre differences. This is, after all, not a fantasy world (which I prefer) but our world, with no paranormal elements currently in evidence. And based on the novel's cover description of "suspense and intrigue," I highly doubt that any paranormal elements are going to be drawn in in the second or third parts of the book.

We shall see. Perhaps tomorrow...


*The novel is conveniently split into three parts. There are multiple possible reasons for this, but whatever the reason it works nicely for my purposes. Three parts. Three days of the blog tour. Works for me.