If you pick up "The Defilers" by Deborah Gyapong expecting a light
read, you've chosen the wrong book. This novel is gritty,
fast-paced, and dripping with suspense. The main character, Linda
Donner, a policewoman, investigates a murder where the main suspect
is a local pastor.
Several scenes might cause uneasiness as you read - the flashbacks
when Linda recalls her childhood molestation by a priest, or scenes
of intense spiritual warfare. But Deborah Gyapong writes of the
physical world and the spiritual world with maturity and extensive
attention to detail. It's obvious Gyapong took great pains to
portray spiritual warfare with realism and theological accuracy,
and the police investigation rings authentic as well.
When Linda Donner thinks she must be having a breakdown of some
kind, help seems to come from a highly unlikely source, the pastor.
How can she trust a clergyman who's at the center of her
investigation, or any clergyman after all she's overcome battling
her own past and the horrible memories associated with `men of the
cloth'?
As I read the final chapters of The Defilers, I realized I held my
breath, turning each page with trepidation. Pick this book up and
expect a gripping, mature story you won't soon forget.