The Witness-Josh McDowell

The Witness
Josh McDowell
Tyndale, Jul 1 2010, $14.99
ISBN: 9781414334127

In Monte Carlo, septuagenarian Rafeeq Ramsey is frightened for his life and that of his kidnapped wife Claudette especially since the abductees killed their twelve year old daughter. He paid their first of eleven million Euros ransom demand, but now they want twenty-five million or she dies and he will as well two days afterward. Having sold his firm Blue Nile to a French conglomerate he has the money and is willing to pay again, but believes his adversaries will kill Claudette and him anyway. Desperate the wealthy Egyptian hires Muslim Marwan Accad, who runs an executive security business.

Marwan shows a photo of Claudette withdrawing money from the bank in Sao Paul where the eleven million was deposited. Before the stunned elderly man could respond to the betrayal a sniper fires two shots through the window killing him. As Marwan wonders how the enemy knew that Ramsey hired Accad and Associates, they hunt him. He flees for North Africa with assassins and police from Europe and Africa stalkong him as he is the suspect in the homicide. Morocco proves unsafe so he heads to Cairo; the enemy keeps coming and they do not care about collateral damage. He also fears for Dalia Nour, a woman he has just met who by associating with him is in danger. Additionally with mortality chasing him to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East, Marwan ponders eternity and increasing evidence that the Christ is genuine.

The Witness is an exciting Christian conspiracy thriller that is at its best when the enemy chases after the hero as he overcomes overwhelming odds in various locales. The story line at times turns preachy especially at moments when Accad understands the maxim that there are no atheists in the trenches. Fans of international conspirator Christian thrillers will enjoy Marwan’s efforts to obtain the gift of salvation as he is the witness not the killer.

Harriet Klausner