FINAL WITNESS by JAMES SCOTT BELL

FINAL WITNESS by JAMES SCOTT BELL is not only one of the most exciting thrillers I have read but it also contains a strong Christian message. Once you start reading this novel I guarantee you won't be able to put it down!
I really enjoy a courtroom drama, and this one does not disappoint.
Rachel Ybarra is a law student who is working as an assistant at the U. S. Attorney's office, and is thrilled to be asked to assist her boss, Alan Lakewood, in his prosecution of a Russian mobster, Jaroslav Supevsky, who is being tried for murder. She wants to be a federal prosecutor one day.
She and FBI agent Jeff Bunnell have something in common in that they are both feeling the effects of the murder of innocent people, and they have more in common in the end when Jeff is drawn back to the God he used to know. Rachel is a born again Christian who really lives out her faith in the face of intense danger, although she lives in fear for her own life and the lives of those she loves. The characters are very real and well portrayed. There is a sense of evil and darkness in the criminals, and we see how Jessica Osborn Holt and Grigory (The Man) react when Rachel quotes Scripture to the crooked defense lawyer and hit man respectively, when they threaten her.
We see Rachel's determination to protect Deanna Natale, how she bonds with her and even leads her to Jesus. Deanna was meant to be the final witness, but there is more truth that comes out in the end and we can't help feeling that there is more than one witness that makes a difference to the outcome of the case.
I can highly recommend this novel.