Book Review: Shade by John B. Olson

Title: Shade
Author: John B. Olson
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 410
ISBN: 978-0-8054-4734-7
Genre: Christian suspense

Several strange episodes leave a grad student grappling with whether she's schizophrenic. Her rational, scientifically-driven mind insists that her experiences must be products of her imagination. Her Christian faith, however, allows for certain experiences that fall outside the realm of "normal." A part of Hailey wonders if there's something more to her episodes, something frighteningly real.

Hailey believes a homeless man saved her from a shadowy attacker in a park. At first, she's grateful. But then the same homeless man seems to be present during all her other strange episodes. She can't determine if he's responsible for them or trying to save her from them. Because no one seems trustworthy, Hailey can't decide where to turn for help against her unidentified enemy-especially when she doesn't know if the enemy lies outside her body or inside her own mind.

The best feature of Shade is the suspense. Olson repeatedly turns the tables on the reader. Once you've come to accept one line of thinking, he throws in a twist that leaves you wondering what's really going on. As a result, Shade is a real page-turner. But it takes more than suspense to create a book that's really memorable and touches people. If you're looking for that kind of novel, Shade really doesn't fit the bill. It does provide an interesting read, though.

The current interest in vampire novels has infiltrated the Christian market, it seems. And I have to say, Shade provides a take on vampire myths that I never would have imagined. Olson suggests possibilities I never would have thought to combine. Shade is different from most other novels I've come across before; it combines elements of psychological, sci-fi, and supernatural fiction.

Yet after closing the back cover, I was still asking the same question I'd been asking throughout the book. "OK, so what is really going on here?" I could not understand what had happened or how all the pieces fit together. I don't assume everyone else will have the same problems. Some readers will probably identify an interpretation immediately and fail to see how other readers could be confused. Other readers will probably finish the book and not mind any vagueness. At any rate, if you read Shade, you should be prepared-as I said earlier-for a book that doesn't fit the typical Christian-novel mold.