Davis Bunn's All Through the Night ~ Reviewed

All Through the Night
By Davis Bunn
Published by Bethany House
ISBN#978-0-7642-0542-2
360 pages

Back Cover:

Broken relationship and unfulfilled promises scar Wayne's past like burned-out craters. Though he possesses both a soldier's brawn and a financial wizard's brain, he lives a life that challenges neither. But when he gets sweet-talked into helping a quirky group of seniors who've been scammed, he discovers it will take a lot more than muscle and quick thinking. Breach a con man's high-security estate to recover stolen money? No problem. Become part of a community? Love again? Not on your life.

A lawyer with her own painful past is intrigued by Wayne and asks him to take on another unusual case. Tatyana's wealthy employer believes he's been visited by..an angel? Did a messenger from God in a pinstriped suit truly bring a divine warning, or is this merely another cruel hoax? Tatyana is willing to trust Wayne to protect her boss' life, but she's reluctant to open her still-wounded heart.

Drawing on both his physical strength and analytical skill, Wayne races to unmask dangerous forces hiding behind a corporate façade. But he will need to marshal all his resources – and then some – against an unseen enemy bent on destroying his fragile bid for a second chance at life …and love.

REVIEW:

Wayne Grusza is a Special Forces trained military man, who just so happens to be a CPA. Weird combination, but Wayne has the best of both worlds. He'd seen enough action in the war to last him a lifetime so when his sister, woman pastor, Eilene Belote, wants him to help solve a case for Hattie Blount Community - a place she calls home. Wayne seriously considers the offer. He really has no place to go or any place to call home for that matter, so he checks out their financial books he had nothing to lose. It's the least he could do for the sister who had always been there for him.

In this investigation, Wayne uncovers a scam (they all suspected) and reports to the board that the community is about to lose everything. This was a retirement community and no one could afford to lose a dime. After all, these people were on fixed incomes. Wayne hated this kind of thing, and had little patience for a man that would prey on the innocent and abuse people's trust. He would get their money back the best way he knew how. He wasn't going to lose this community to a con man; not on his watch. This was becoming personal.

As Wayne plots to save the community, he is asked to check out another similar case. He is brought in as a consultant to check out what has happened with another companies books. As he investigates he finds something familiar. He thinks it's strange to have two similar scams take place so close together. This was a small town...there had to be a connection. Wayne soon discovers that Mr. Easton, the President of this big corporation, has been visited by an angel. He isn't sure he wants to get involved in this second case. He wasn't much on religion. His father was a pastor and so was his sister – he'd heard more than enough about religion. Wayne lived life on his own terms - thank you very much. There was no way Wayne wanted to interview a man who talked to an angel. He had to draw the line somewhere.

Wayne meets an olderly woman named Victoria, who lives in Hattie Blount Community, tells him that she is praying for him. He knows his sister and father had been praying for him for years. A lot of good that has done him. But this woman seems to look into his soul and when she says "Worst kinds of addiction, the very worst, are those of the heart. Anger and bitterness don't wound the body like a drug. They gnaw down deep, where the lie can be hidden from almost everyone. The truth is this: the addiction hollows out your soul. No matter what you carry with you,...the Lord can make something good of this, if you let Him." Great! That's the last thing he wanted to hear. But deep down to the core of his being he knew she was right. What was he supposed to do with this information? How could he process that?

Wayne has battles raging on all fronts; on the outside with these scams, murders and bad guys trying to kill him and on the inside of his soul. He is facing things he thought he never would - thought they were gone but their back and now in living color. He wasn't a man that would run and hide. Now what to do? He needed strength beyond what he had to survive. He started to think about what Victoria had to say! Could he turn to God?

This story takes place in Florida, where I lived for many years. It was fun to hear about all the places I had been and all the things I remembered about Florida living. I love how Davis Bunn tells a story that gets to the heart of the matter. In the middle of the fighting, drama and action, Bunn deals with heart issues. Wayne is one lean-mean-fighting-machine. This story is filled with adventure, love and second chances, but not just for Wayne. If you love Davis Bunn, you will totally enjoy this story. If you are new to this author, this is the book to jump into and be totally engaged in his exciting story telling style.

Nora St. Laurent
Book Club Servant Leader - ACFW Book Club Assistant


Bonus Review:

Davis Bunn has written a story full of redemption and hope. The characters are a rag-tag mix of broken and abused. As so often happens, the characters use their pain as fuel to protect themselves and keep others out of the areas that are still wounded.
And they live with the consequences of those choices -- alone.

On the surface All Through the Night is about a trained soldier with an amazing mind for numbers who settles in a retirement community to help them recover from a scam. Entertaining reading with that element alone because Bunn provides a beautiful woman, guns, explosions, fast boats and bad guys.

But the spiritual aspects drove the story. One fragile elderly lady determines to love Wayne and to pray for him. As his heart softens toward her, a deep transformation begins.

After an initial struggle getting into the story, I discovered a good read.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer