The Witness by Josh McDowell

Reviewed by Rel Mollet

"The initial assassination scene and Marwan's escape from Monte Carlo is excellent, faced paced and not for faint of heart . . . an interesting read but not the exceptional thriller I had hoped for."

Security expert Marwan Accad finds himself immersed in a fight for survival when his latest employer, wealthy businessman Rafeeq Ramsey, is executed by a sniper before his eyes, just as Marwan revealed evidence which could lead to the recovery of Rafeeq's kidnapped wife.

Dodging bullets and bombings, Marwan retaliates in kind as he flees Monte Carlo, desperate to become invisible in the teeming crowds of Morocco and identify who is determined to see him to an early grave. Turning to his brother and a childhood friend, Marwan is shocked to discover he is the subject of an international manhunt, accused of the murder of his client. Racing across the Middle East, Marwan meets a beautiful woman who captivates him with a glance and gives him another reason to live. As the assassins close in and tragedy strikes, Marwan confronts his own mortality and his eternal destination.

Prolific Apologetics author Josh McDowell, turns his hand to fiction in this novel of suspense, intrigue and faith, combining many of the essential ingredients of an international thriller, which in the end doesn't fully capitalize on its fabulous potential. All the main players are Arabic or European and it was great to read a novel where they were not the requisite “enemy”. The initial assassination scene and Marwan's escape from Monte Carlo is excellent, faced paced and not for faint of heart. But the book loses its way in the middle as Marwan meets the seemingly carefree Dalia and romance complicates Marwan's escape plans. Intrigue, corruption and terror shadow Marwen as he contemplates the challenge of the Christian faith and his moral failings, against the injustice experienced in his early life meted out by so called Christians.

Josh McDowell weaves his considerable expertise on evidence for Christian belief into the storyline, mainly through dialogue between Marwen and Dalia. The finale signals a return to heart pounding action with a very neat and tidy ending that wraps up quickly, making The Witness an interesting read but not the exceptional thriller I had hoped for.

Rel Mollet is a lawyer, wife and mother of three young daughters and lives in Melbourne, Australia. Reading has been her passion since childhood. She is a Book Club Co-ordinator and has her own blog ~ relzreviewz ~ dedicated to reviews and author interviews with the sole aim to support authors writing from a Christian worldview. She believes Sir Francis Bacon's (1561 - 1626) creed, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body".