Facing Justice by Diane & David Munson Published by: FaithWalk Publishing (2005) 342 pages Rating: 7/10 Buy it Now:    Also by Diane & David Munson: Confirming Justice

With the final fate of Al Qaeda still very much unknown, fiction writers usually have to invent their own terrorist groups. In this case, it's the Armed Revolutionary Cause (ARC), the "successor" to Al Qaeda. Make no mistake, though - it's pretty much the same thing, and is intended to be.

Special Agent Eva Montanna is head of a joint government task force: the Financial Investigations Group, charged primarily with tracking down and cutting off terrorist funding. As with reality, ARC gets a lot of funding through fake charitable organizations. While investigating, Eva runs into the possibility that a charitable foundation run by a member of her own church may be funneling money to ARC. At the same time, a major break with another terror suspect could lead to the head of ARC himself.

The writers of this novel, Diane and David Munson, are a former Federal Prosecutor and retired Federal Special Agent respectively, so they bring a lot of realism to the table. The FIG agents don't solve everything in 60 minutes or a few days like on TV, focusing entirely on one thing. They're spread out, investigating a number of cases at once, trying to fit the pieces together, and sometimes dealing with very mundane, boring details. At the same time, each one of these agents is a real person, with families and other responsibilities.

The only plot point that seems solely included for back cover hype is having Eva's twin sister killed on 9/11. The revenge aspect is dealt with early on in the story, so it seems a bit too much to tie things in to 9/11 so gratuitously. It doesn't really add anything to the overall story. None of the other agents need that as a motivating factor, so why should Eva?

Outside of that, there's quite an interesting balance of characters on the FIG team. They're all human, even to the point of questioning the laws that hold them back (but protect our rights). The drive to capture the villains can lead to innocents having their lives turned upside down...

It's somewhat of a cross between Clancy and Grisham here, with both military and legal suspense going on. At the same time, there's a strong Christian element that does not appear forced. Some characters are Christians and act like it (and some are Christians and don't act like it). In addition, the story wouldn't work without the Christian element, due to the charitable foundation and the relationships formed at church.

The final pages threw me for a loop, casting just enough doubt on what I thought was real and settled. Now I'm anxious to see if there's a sequel to this story. Recommended.