Bring the Light

by Annette Montez Kolda

Overview

Sister Bridget Ann Rincón-Keller is known as the crime-fighting nun of East Austin's Latino Community. But her heartstrings may be pulled beyond their limit when she finds a newborn by the statue of the Virgin Mary. The baby's mother is an undocumented, teenage immigrant. ICE separates the girl from her baby, and Sister Bridget tries to reunite them. But little does she know, there are five other girls, victims of Mexico's kidnapping epidemic, who also need her help. Sister Bridget puts her life on the line. Can she rescue the girls...and herself...from the clutches of evil?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509242177
Publisher:	Wild Rose Press
Publication date:	09/21/2022
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.63(d)

Editorial Reviews

2022-09-19
In this novel, a Texas nun becomes involved in the plights of two victims of Mexico’s kidnapping epidemic.

East Austin’s Sister Bridget Ann Rincón-Keller is shocked to discover a newborn infant on the grounds of her parish and then the blood-soaked Isabel Ortiz, the baby’s 15-year-old mother, who disappeared from her home in Mexico the year before. Isabel’s harrowing journey included being abducted by the monstrous serial kidnapper and drug trafficker El Gigante, being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and escaping from the agency’s custody. The cards continue to be stacked against her when she is separated from her baby by a most determined foster parent. When Isabel steals her baby in a frantic, albeit ill-advised, bid to flee toward the border, Sister Bridget does what she can to protect her. But Isabel is safer than her friend JuanaSan Miguel, another El Gigante kidnap victim, who is still in his custody. Sister Bridget is determined to rescue Juana and heads down to Mexico, where she is joined by Austin police Det. Estevez of the Human Trafficking Unit. The two develop a bond that will test Sister Bridget’s vows. “Being with you or not being with you are two good choices,” she tells him. “I believe that either way is fine with God…as long as my faith and trust in God is not shaken.” This is Kolda’s second multicultural thriller to feature Sister Bridget, who is known as “a bit of a crime solver.” This outing is more character study than mystery (El Gigante is outed as the perpetrator early on), and it fleshes out Sister Bridget as a woman of unshakeable compassion and faith as well as resourcefulness and sharp-eyed cunning (she makes a keen observation about the foster mother’s home that the police miss). Sister Bridget disappears for a lengthy section when an older couple take Isabel under their wing, but they are engaging characters in their own rights, and the teen’s flight generates page-turning tension. There are only mild profanities, but some may find the descriptions of El Gigante’s crimes and scenes of violence disturbing.

An engaging thriller for crime and mystery fans looking for an unconventional sleuth.

Kirkus Reviews