Sacrifice (Chronicles of Solitude #2) – J.S. Bailey

Sacrifice JS Bailey
Sacrifice by J.S. Bailey
Also by this author: Servant, Surrender, Solemnity, Salvation
Series: The Chronicles of Servitude #2
Published by BHC Press on April 28, 2017
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Suspense, Thriller
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five-stars

Bobby Roland can’t catch a break.

Less than a week after Bobby takes on the mantle of Servitude—a position granting him the ability to exorcise demons from the possessed—he finds an envelope taped to his door containing an intimidating note and a picture of a strange woman. When a shadowy figure is abducted off the sidewalk down the street from his house, Bobby can’t help but wonder if it’s her.

Bobby may not be ready to drive out demons, but that doesn’t put a damper on his desire to help those in need. With the aid of his friends and a new supernatural ally, Bobby sets out to find the woman and free her from her captors.

Little does Bobby know he may have bitten off more than he can chew…

I could not open Sacrifice by J.S. Bailey fast enough. After the end of ServantI had to keep going, and this one…oh, wow, Bailey did not disappoint. I swallowed up the pages like the novel was an oasis in the hottest depths of the Sahara. I’ll start this review by saying you need to read Servant first. This isn’t a series you can just start in the middle; to understand it and all its complexities, you have to start at the beginning.  Servant was a little confusing–I mentioned that in my first review–but this one? Nope. This one is stellar, now that I understand the context.

Bobby Roland’s just taken on the mantle of Servitude. He’s still in training, but what’s the saying–trial by fire? Life doesn’t give him a choice. He’s pulled into another adventure, this one to rescue the woman he saw kidnapped from the end of his street. The woman he wasn’t fast enough to save. His failure looms over him, taunting him, weighing him down and whispering in his ear. Bobby won’t rest until he rescues her, no matter the cost. With his friends by his side, Bobby dives headfirst into a version of hell on earth. Whatever it takes, he will sacrifice it all.

I’m hesitant to go into much detail, as I don’t want to give anything at all away. Bailey has a brilliant mind. Sacrifice is structured a bit like a one-sided pyramid, in the best way. Each chapter builds on the next. Unique and well-developed characters, twisted plot points, and carefully laid-out circumstances are the bricks. When you reach the climax, the book slides down to the conclusion, although not because it’s weak or rushed. It rapidly progresses because you have to make it to the end to witness what terrors Bobby might face on the next page.

Conclusion: A Five-Star Dogfight against the Evils of the World 

Sacrifice by J.S. Bailey was hard for me to put down. In part because she thoroughly pulled me into the story, yes. I worried, too, though, that if I didn’t finish it quickly, I’d have the same problems with it I had with Servant: confusion due to not understanding the context. While Servant fell a little short for me, Sacrifice blew away my expectations. It captivated my heart and stole my breath. Each time I thought I knew what was coming, Bailey proved me wrong.

I’ll end with this: I hope you have Surrender handy, because the slide doesn’t end in a soft sandpit. Instead, it slams you straight into a brick wall with a cliffhanger that will leave your lungs burning because you’ve forgotten to breathe. Or maybe you’ll wail a Darth Vader-like “Noooooo!” like I did. Sacrifice by J.S. Bailey builds so perfectly on Servantand I can’t wait to see what the author does next.

five-stars