City of Peace

By: Henry G. Brinton

Narrated by: Ako Cromwell

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

When Methodist minister Harley Camden loses his wife and daughter in a European terrorist attack, he spirals downward into grief and anger. The bishop forces him to move to a tiny church in small-town Occoquan, Virginia, to heal and recover. But all hope for serenity is quickly shattered by the mysterious murder of the daughter of the local Iraqi baker, followed by the threat of an attack by Islamic extremists. Harley tries to build bridges to his neighbors, including Muslims and Coptic Christians, and digs into the history of the ancient Galilean city of Sepphoris to find the secret to survival in a fractured and violent world. Past and present come together in surprising ways as Harley sets out to stop the violence and save his new flock.

City of Peace is a gripping and fast-paced mystery that will engage people politically and spiritually, leaving them with fresh insight into how they can overcome polarizing divisions among people of differing cultures and faiths.

©2018 Henry G Brinton (P)2019 Henry G Brinton

I enjoyed this book!

I had the opportunity to meet the author in East Texas at a Pulpwood Queens Book Club Girlfriend Weekend in January. Being mostly women, I'm sure Henry felt a little overwhelmed, but I believe he enjoyed every minute. I was happy that he had it available on audio since I have more listening time than actual reading time.
As I was listening, I put Henry himself into Harley's role and it seemed to work well... I thought he did a really good job of character development and with handling spiritual, cultural and racial issues throughout the book. I wasn't really familiar with the setting of the book, so I enjoyed all the history of that area that was added... gave it a good sense of place. A small town with a history of mixed races and cultures... and overcoming the hate and mistrust. The story was good and kept me guessing...The narrator was almost robotic sounding and took awhile to get used to... it took away from the book a little bit, but all in all.... It's a good listen! I recommend this book!

Part edification on religious tolerance, part ode to Occoquan, VA, wrapped in a crime story.

Harley, a white-bread liberal Methodist minister sees his safe comfortable world implode when his wife and daughter die in a terrorist attack in Europe. As anger and bitterness encapsulate his grief, his bishop reassigns him to a smaller, dying congregation located in a scenic river town near Washington, DC. Soon after arriving in town, a Muslim woman, daughter of the local immigrant baker, is found murdered and her father is arrested on suspicion of committing an honor killing. Much to Harley’s dismay, he is called upon to visit the man in jail. Can he overcome his anger and prejudice to offer succor to his perceived enemies?

For the first several chapters I wanted to throw things at Harley. He was not easy to like or even tolerate but fortunately his character does progress. Many characters do seem like archetypes whose main purpose is to highlight points of view. Nonetheless, the plot and its twists were enjoyable as were the history lessons on Occoquan, Virginia.



Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the audio book with the understanding that I would write a review.