Kate's Innocence - IgniteLit

Title: Kate’s Innocence
Author: Sarah Holman
Series: Kate’s Case Files, book 1
Major Themes: Mystery, Christian Young Adult Fiction, FBI
Synopsis: When Kate Mayfield’s university campus is bombed, can she help the FBI prove her innocence before she is sent to jail?

Kate’s Innocence is a book I’d categorize under the fun, yet thought-provoking label. While it’s definitely a Christian story, it’s also a gripping mystery and fascinating character study. The plot itself is superb—well thought out and executed, and fast-paced enough that it’s hard to get real work done while you’re in the middle of it.

Kate Mayfield is your not-so-typical college student. Having already spent time in the U.S. Army—on a peace-making mission to the Middle East—she is now training to become a chemical engineer. On the side, she works an office job, entering information into the college’s database. Life is pretty good—until one night at 11:10 pm when half of the college is blown up by three strategically-placed bombs. Suddenly a prime suspect, can Kate help the FBI come up with enough evidence to substantiate her claim of innocence? Will the bomber be caught in time—before Kate is sent to jail for good, and before more people are killed?

I’ve always found the idea of writing a mystery novel to be intimidating. Perhaps it’s because I was never able to guess the reason behind Encyclopedia Brown’s cases without looking at the explanation at the back of the book. Sarah Holman delivered on the subject beautifully in Kate’s Innocence. I loved the clean, believable setting and definitely Christian story. Overall, this is a great book, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

I received this story for free as a beta reader book, in exchange for an honest review.

WARNING: There is a hint of romance in the story—no more than one hug or so. Someone dies in the story, and the bombings are briefly described, but there is nothing graphic.