Powers By John B. Olson

"Deep in the swamps of southern Louisiana, Mariutza’s beloved grandfather whispers his ominous last request – and dies in her arms.  All her life he’s looked after her, trained her in the old Gypsy ways and kept her hidden away in the swamp.  But now … The Badness has found her.  Mari’s only hope is to find Jaazaniah the prophet, the legendary hero of her grandfather’s bedtime stories. But how can a girl who has never left the swamp survive the terrifying world of men long enough to find a savior who may not even exist?

In the heart of New Orleans, musician Jazz Rechabson runs for his life.  Everyone is out to get him. Soldiers, government agents, mysterious hooded men.  What do they want? And who is the beautiful young woman who haunts his waking dreams? 

Can strangers from different worlds come together in time to unmask a horrifying enemy? And if they do, will they be able to STAND?"

I have to preface this by saying I am not a fan of Christian fiction, fantasy or otherwise.  And I did not read Shade, the prequel to Powers, but I don’t feel like I missed anything at all.

It took me a bit to get into this but that may have just been where I was mentally at the time, because once I got into it, it was a quick light read loaded with action.  Mari and Jazz fight for their lives against supernatural forces with a gypsy twist, which I wasn’t even aware existed, while each on a quest to discovery their destinies.  Mari is great, fresh from the swamps and learning to deal with city life. They are being followed by Special Agent Groves who is on a spiritual journey of his own. 

The ending was fairly predictable … except it seemed to be missing pages of explanation. I actually went back a couple of times thinking I must have missed something.  It pretty much ends in a miracle, except one that leaves huge holes, like with crime scene investigations and letting the only suspects go basically just requiring them to leave a telephone number.  SA Groves picked an odd time to have a total conversion and Jazz is truly blessed (no pun intended) given the number of federal agents dead and mass destruction that was left behind.  

This book is a take-or-leave read. I enjoyed it overall, even with my disappointment with the ending.  Definitely not one for the permanent collection, but I suppose if you were a part of a book club or picking up something from the library, this would work well.