The Third Dragon

Rating:
Summary: This could have been done better...
Review: The Third Dragon, an international suspense thriller with a touch of Christianity to it, aims for the stars and misses.
Don't get me wrong. The action in this novel is very high-paced and thrilling. It just felt as if Simon wanted to slap some Christian angle to it to get it published on a Christian Fiction shelf.
Simon's characters are real enough. Air Force Maj. Don Stewart is our hero, a kind of fish-out-of-water hero. He and his family are moving to Tokyo, Japan, to work for the U.S. Embassy - but Stewart gets wrapped up in terrorists, nuclear bombs and culture clashes all at the same time.
It seems that Japanese extremists (led by a eerie sumo wrestler) don't like Americans in Japan. And it seems that in this story, they have an ace up their sleeve.
Way back in 1945 when the U.S. and Japan were scuffling in the last of WWII, the first atomic bomb dropped in Japan didn't go off - thus giving the terrorists 50 years later their nucleus of a plan: find the old bomb and make more bombs.
How does a Air Force major get involved?
It's a stretch - but he gets involved anyway and in the process seems to ask people about Christ at all the wrong moments.
Maybe that's what is most interesting about the book. Stewart and his family seem to be down to earth kind of characters. It's just almost too mushy how they all get along. And the Christian angle seemed to be almost an afterthought.
Simon seems to have rushed this publication. His technical details and fast-paced action are very well done, and almost pull this novel out of the fire.
Almost.
Broadman & Holman Publishers have better authors on their rolls that have given us much better Christian-friendly fiction. I hope either they or Simon can up their ante and produce better.