Shoot The Wounded

If you read the first chapter of Shoot the Wounded by Lynn Dove,

If you read the first chapter of Shoot the Wounded by Lynn Dove, you won’t be able to stop till you read the last page.
Teens and parents of teens who read this book will feel right at home. Teen and adult gossip built on hasty conclusions from insufficient evidence keep the reader’s eyes glued to the page. The kaleidoscope of high school relationships is skillfully portrayed. As Ronnie’s story builds to a heart-rending moment of truth, Leigh and Jake tap-dance through a relationship complicated by half-truths. The meaning of the book’s title becomes very clear.
Christians who read the Bible faithfully will recognize in this book the same kind of characters that populate its pages. The teens and their parents all want to be faithful servants of Christ, yet everybody has dark moments and failures counterbalanced by moments when their faith shines brightly. Good and evil battle it out within the hearts of very real contemporary human beings.
The finale is worth waiting for. I won’t give it away, although it is tempting, because it is so satisfying. Lynn Dove has demonstrated skill as a storyteller in the context of a compelling testimony to the power of faith to redeem lives.

Relevant and gripping

As a contemporary Christian novel for youth, SHOOT THE WOUNDED delivers the gospel with enough angst that it is sure to meet with the approval of today's teen. It delves into relevant topics such as teen pregnancy and family violence, mixed with the usual boy-girl relationships and coming of age themes common to YA fiction. In this book we see that being a Christian isn't easy, and it certainly doesn't mean you are perfect. SHOOT THE WOUNDED is the first in a trilogy by Canadian author Lynn Dove and sets the stage for its equaling engrossing sequel, HEAL THE WOUNDED. This is a set that should be in every school, church and public library.

This was a gripping book.

Review by Jill Williamson

Best friends Leigh and Ronnie have grown apart now that they are in high school. But then Jake movies to town and seems to bring them back together. At first. Then the rumors start. And Leigh can't believe that her friends could have done the things people say. Her heart is broken. What is it with people who claim to be Christians but don't live like one?

This was a gripping book. I read through it in one day. What I liked most about it, and what I think makes it different from every other Christian contemporary teen book I've read, is that it deals with assumption. We all do this. We assume we know what's going on everywhere. We hear something-what is truly a rumor or gossip-and we accept it as fact. We jump to what we feel is the obvious conclusion. Then we let it color our opinion of a person. I really enjoyed thinking about this as I read this story and watched what happened as people assumed they knew what was going on. This is a great read for teens.

Great Message! Great Read!

"Shoot the Wounded" by Lynn Dove is probably one of the best Young Adult (YA) books I have read in a very long time. Once I started to read the book, I couldn't put it down. As a teacher in a large high school, I am always looking for great reading material for my classes. This one I will definitely put in my class library.

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