Collared is a detective story with a new kind of sleuth. Although G.K. Chesterton featured a Catholic priest as an unlikely detective, and priests have been portrayed as villains, Fr. Paul is unique so far in detective literature. He is a recognizably 21st century individual, and in many ways easy to relate to–he loves chocolate, for example; he has a good sense of humor; he is sometimes at a loss how to contend with his parents. However, he is a priest whose faith is fervent and unwavering; he is disabused about human nature yet is extremely concerned and caring about the people he meets; and, he is a genuine empath. This gift, which is explored in a most intriguing way, allows him to track down the evil genius behind a sex trafficking ring that entraps innocent young girls. This fast-paced and gritty tale is lightened with proto-Dickensian humor: the place names are whimsical (and telling) and a number of characters are lovably quirky. Clues are judiciously and conscientiously placed, but at the end I just slapped my forehead and asked myself how I could I failed to have figured out “whodunnit.”
review by reader, Victoria Hille
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“Will you give your life for her?” The voice was asking which life would be sacrificed. In order to make so much evil right again, something had […] to balance the scales of justice. Nothing less than justice would allow for true peace, but […] Father Paul hadn’t committed the evil [… so] it would be an act of charity, something more than justice, and it could bear even greater fruit. He […] made the choice that God already knew he would [… and] felt a rush of God’s paternal pride in him […].
Collared, Juliana Weber
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