Life’s problems are sometimes so overwhelming that there’s only one solution. That is to place them in God’s hands. Terri Blackstock makes a persuasive argument for that choice in her suspense novel, Intervention.
Emily Covington is sunk so deeply in drugs that her mother Barbara, having tried everything else, hires an interventionist to take her to a rehab clinic. But before they ever get there, the interventionist is found murdered. Emily, the prime suspect, has disappeared from the crime scene.
What follows is a soul-searching drama that, while following conventional detective plotlines, adds a spiritual dimension to a cultural problem that “is killing our kids.” In her desperate search to save her daughter, Barbara tumbles into the dangerous world of drug trafficking. Her only allies are her fourteen-year-old son Lance and a sympathetic police officer whose greatest challenge, aside from cracking the case, is dissuading Barbara from taking matters into her own hands.
Blackstock’s character development is solid with the exception of Lance, who seems torn between saving his sister and basking in the publicity surrounding her disappearance. Otherwise, the characters grow realistically from their experiences. Barbara in particular finds herself torn between responsibility to her daughter and a desire to be free of Emily’s self-destructive behavior.
What this novel does best is remind us that when our lives seem to have hit bottom, God is always there to lift us out of the pit. All we have to do is ask. That reassurance alone is enough to make the story worth reading.
