Murderers' Row: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel
by Ray Keating
CreateSpace, 2015
(372 pages, $15.99, paperback)

reviewed by Raymond J. Brown

Murderer's Row is the fifth in the series of Ray Keating's Pastor Stephen Grant novels, all of which may be read singly, but are best consumed, as were Tom Clancy's books (whose style and format the author does copy), in order. The protagonist is a Lutheran pastor who had formerly been a Navy SEAL and CIA operative, whose past seems to return to his present life with surprising frequency.

Murderer's Rowinvolves the extraction of an Iraqi Christian family, the Iraqi son's arrival in minor league baseball, terrorist revenge, the business of baseball, political land grabs for stadia, and murderers for hire. The action takes place mostly on Long Island, where the author himself actually lives.

This is a fun read, though the embedded theology is real and salutary. There is death and life, adultery and commitment, friendship and betrayal, violence and victory over violence. Keating, an economist and experienced business writer, does extremely well in portraying the politicos and their machinations at all levels of government, as well as the machinations of the news media, of which he is a longtime member. He obviously knows his way around the bases and dugout, too, as does his hero, who becomes a baseball team chaplain.

There are lessons, and perhaps sermons, in economics, too. Pastor Grant's wife Jennifer is, like author Keating, a very free market economist, and becomes involved in eminent domain concerns, combatting shady property acquisitions, taxpayer rip-offs, and corporate welfare. Her expertise and related actions are always informed by her Christian faith.

One of the charming and welcome aspects of the Pastor Grant series is the mere Christianity that runs throughout. Grant's best friends are a Roman Catholic priest and the rector of an Anglican Church in North America parish. The three meet regularly for prayer and Scripture, golf, mutual chastisement, and socializing (sometimes a few beers). And their families are friends and more—though of course the mighty mite Father Ron McDermott is single.

Perhaps the best part of the book for this reviewer is that the clergy are good at helping people bring Christ into their vocations. Here's a word from Pastor Grant to a grieving businessman:

You're an entrepreneur who built a wildly successful business. I was a Navy SEAL and with the CIA. While we acknowledge the wild card or the unexpected, it goes against our grain. We're trained, and our experience tells us that we should be able to control things, or at least be able to fix things when hit by the unexpected. The uncontrollable makes us feel helpless . . . when it goes too far. When I flirt with or succumb to either helplessness or frustration over things I have no control over, then it's just the old Adam in me. . . . While the Lord has given us all varied and different gifts, only He is all-knowing. We're sinners and this is a fallen world. So evil is at work. There's illness. There's death. But thankfully, through Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness, redemption, salvation, the conquering of death, and new life. . . . It doesn't get any better than that.