Book Reviews and More: A Different Heroism - Jane Lebak

A Different Heroism
Father Jay Book 3
Jane Lebak
Philangelus Press
ISBN 9781942133216
ASIN B01M5IS044

It is with sadness that I begin to write this review. For it is currently the final book in the Father Jay Farrell series. I have read the trilogy in the last week and a half and have loved the concept and execution of these books. I had picked up books 2 and three before even finishing books one. And because of a personal commitment to try and alternate between non-fiction and fiction I picked a shorter volume of fiction to read between book 2 and this volume. The three books in this series are: Bulletproof Vestments, The Boys Upstairs, and A Different Heroism. Each is a powerful story, all three are great Christian fiction. And a wonderful Catholic story.

Over the last few years I have been reading more and more Catholic and Christian Fiction and less and less secular fiction. As a father with three young and growing children looking back I have read and reviewed a lot of books that I would not read today. This book and this series are examples of what I call clean fiction. Yes, there is some violence in these books, and it is more so in this volume, but it fits the story. It is not gratuitous, and it is not excessive. It is a tale of friendship, loyalty, and a story about a priest who would do anything to protect his charges.

In this volume the three main story arcs. They are, first father Jay's health, he was severely injured in Iraq and several exemptions had to be made in order for him to be ordained. But Father Jay has been pushing too hard, he has not only been burning the candle at both ends but melted it down and lit the middle. Between housing street kids in the rectory, running a soup kitchen, normal parish duties his health has detreated. Both his doctor and his bishop are telling him to take a rest, and to lighten his workload. If he doesn't he will be dead. The second theme is his strained relationship with his bother who is a police officer. And the third is his kids, a group that call themselves the Archangels, and specifically an escalating conflict with a group of older kids at the local school.

When there are hostages taken at the school Father jay defies logic and heads into the smoke, noise and shots. He does it because he cares, and because as a former soldier he knows that heroism can take different forms.

This novel starts with a slower pace than the other two in the series, but it makes up for that in the end. It is a great read. I just hope that at some point we might get more stories with father and Office Farrell. Even if we get no further stories I can give this book and this series a great recommendation. So pick them up and give them a try. You will see that sometimes a hero wears a collar and sometimes a badge.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books by Jane Lebak:
Pickup Notes
Love's Highway
Half Missing
Relic of His Heart
With Two Eyes Into Gehenna
Rain in Hell
Hunger
The Space Between

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Father Jay Series:
Bulletproof Vestments
The Boys Upstairs
A Different Heroism
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Seven Archangels:
1.0 An Arrow In Flight
2.0 Sacred Cups
3.0 Shattered Walls
4.0 The Wrong Enemy
5.0 Annihilation

6.0 Perdition’s Heirs

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