White Soul by Brandt Dodson

Reviewed by Melissa J. Carswell

"White Soul a book that both grabs and holds attention as well as cuts to the heart of the reader who must ask, 'Do the right thing or do the desired thing?'"

If my book review was restricted to one line it would be, “White Soul – awesome book! Brandt Dodson – new favorite author!”

In White Soul, Ron Ortega is trying to work his way to the top as an undercover agent. Before he can go up however, he has to go down. Down into the depths of drug trafficking and all the darkness that comes with it.

As un undercover cop trying to pave a way financially for his wife and unborn child, Ron plays the risky life and death game of dual roles - assistant to the powerful drug lord Ricardo Estevez and good guy, trying to rid the streets of filth. On top of all that, he has his own evil to fight - the draw of alcohol and the enticement of a woman.

White Soul is about dark souls. Souls sold out for drugs, power, and money. And a soul almost selling out for a better life, all in disguise of the law. Ron Ortega never expects to find himself in the life of the man he is trying to bring down, but he does. When he does, he finds that his own sin is more dangerous and terrifying than the evil that exists in the drug world.

Ironically, Ron Ortega and Recardo Estevez are both after the same goals. They both claim family as their reason for doing what they do. The difference between them is that Ron still has a soul that will ask the question, “Do the right thing or do the desired thing?” That question died a long time ago with the drug lord.

White Soul is a book with two stories running through it. The story of law enforcers against law breakers and the story of souls making choices along the way that have eternal consequences. The two themes twist around each other throughout the book, making White Soul a book that both grabs and holds attention as well as cuts to the heart of the reader who must ask, “Do the right thing or do the desired thing?”

Melissa J. Carswell: Melissa is a Board Certified Christian Counselor. However, due to the appearance of a little bundle of Miracle in the past year, the counseling practice is now on indefinite hold. Instead, Melissa has entered the world of freelance writing from home. She is currently one of the content writers for TotallyHer.com (to be launched in September of 2008). Melissa has a passion for mentoring teen girls and young women and does so whenever possible. Her heart longing, along with her husband, is to use her education and credentials someday to have a home full of abandoned, abused, and terminally ill childen. They are still waiting for God's hand to unfold that particular chapter of their lives. When Melissa isn't changing diapers, doing laundry, cooking meals, mentoring the afore-mentioned young women, tending to her garden, being her husband's biggest fan, and soaking in every cuddly moment with her daughter, she reads and she writes. It is not unusual to see 2-3 books laying around the house at any given time and the hard drive to her computer houses several partially-written manuscripts to the secret dreamed-of-published books Melissa hopes for in the future. You can check out A Weak Rose here.