Ulterior Motives

by Mark Andrew Olsen

When an al-Qaida email is intercepted, promising a New Year's Day attack on America, it leads to the capture of the group's leader. But even under fierce interrogation, the terrorist clings to his jihadist beliefs and resists divulging anything of the threat. Desperate, the Army resorts to a contingency paper that proposes to break a subject's resistance by inducing a religious conversion. One the top-secret attempt must be masked as an offer of clemency, and must rely on a completely innocent mentor, a so-called witness who is unaware of the project's true aims. They find that witness in Greg Cahill, a disgraced FBI agent who has since turned to Christ and serves in a prison ministry. Lured by an offer of restoration, as well as the lifting of a restraining order that's keeping him from seeing his son, Greg begins an unlikely friendship with a man the entire country despises. Despite himself, he begins to share his faith--yet with a combustible result unforeseen by either himself or his government handlers.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Fiction, Thriller

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

Mark Andrew Olsen is a full-time writer, novelist and screenwriter who recently collaborated with Tommy Tenney on the novel HADASSAH. He grew up in France the son of missionaries, and is a Professional Writing graduate of Baylor University. He and his wife, Connie, and their three children make their home in the mountains of Colorado.

Series:
* Abby Sherman
* Hadassah

Reviews

[Leah Rubin]

This felt like Christian propaganda. Kinda fun

[Loraine]

If you want a timely, page-turning thriller involving the American government and Al Qaeda with a Christian theme of forgiveness running throughout, Mark Andrew Olsen, has indeed penned an intriguing novel. "When an al-Qaida email is intercepted, promising a New Year's Day attack on America, it leads to the capture of the group's leader. But even under fierce interrogation, the terrorist clings to his jihadist beliefs and resists divulging anything of the threat. Desperate, the Army resorts to a contingency paper that proposes to break a subject's resistance by inducing a religious conversion. One hitch: the top-secret attempt must be masked as an offer of clemency, and must rely on a completely innocent mentor, a so-called witness who is unaware of the project's true aims. They find that witness in Greg Cahill, a disgraced FBI agent who has since turned to Christ and serves in a prison ministry. Lured by an offer of restoration, as well as the lifting of a restraining order that's keeping him from seeing his son, Greg begins an unlikely friendship with a man the entire country despises. Despite himself, he begins to share his faith--yet with a combustible result unforeseen by either himself or his government handlers."

I look forward to reading more of Mr. Olsen's writing.

[Diana Nagy]

Don't miss this book! Its fantastic. If you are looking at it right now, it's meant for you to read. I promise you will absolutely love it! I couldn't put it down! I can't wait to read another book by this author. It was such a great mix of terrorism, police work, and religion!

[Michelle]

Maybe I am a bit biased because I live in Sierra Vista and know people who work in psy-ops and intel on Ft. Huachuca. All of the details regarding the setting rang true for me. He had the facts down perfectly except for in one place. The one time it did snow here in the past six years it was more like one to two inches, tops. But that's forgiveable because my guess is he needed it for the plot. After all, it is fiction.

I love the psychology behind these types of stories, probably because that's the subject I majored in when I got my Bachelor's degree. Anyway, I found the story fascinating, especially the techniques used by the military to deal with highly classified situations. It reminded me of the Bourne Identity that way. Were the good guys always good guys? Or was it just until they got what they wanted and then they turned on you... I loved the implied messages, too. The media messes up things sometimes when they give out information prematurely and sometimes because of the security breach, people die. So true. Then they blame the military, who, of course, must pick a fall guy, at least that's how it's presented here. I found it very believable.

For me the best part of this story was the spiritual content. It's so true that people know when we are sincere and when we are not. People who don't know Christ are in search of the very thing we claim to have, but don't always show in our behavior. And, of course, God can use anyone and anything to change us for the better. Bottom line...you have to forgive yourself for others to see the forgiveness Christ has given you. Very well done!

The only weakness I saw in this book was the six year old's thinking and speech. A few times he sounded more like a ten year hold than a six year old. But that wasn't significant enough to taint the story for me. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who wants to be inspired by a story with a deep faith element. I love stories that make me think and make me want to share my faith more with people who seem "unreachable."

[Christy Trever]

Ulterior Motives by Mark Andrew Olsen is an intriguing and timely look at how the US handles terrorists. Greg Cahill is trying to reclaim his life from the disaster it became after an accidental shooting brought his career with the FBI to an end. He's lost his son and his wife, but found Jesus and uses his faith to bring those in jail to salvation. Omar Nirubi is on America's Most Wanted list as the successor to Osama bin Laden. When the US captures Nirubi and finds information about an impending terrorist attack, they need information out of him, but when regular torture techniques fail, something wildly different, unorthodox even, needs to be used to get the details about the plot before millions of Americans are killed. Greg and Omar are brought together, and their collaboration will determine the fate of the nation. Olsen's suspenseful novel took about 50 pages to really get moving. Initially the dialogue is a bit stilted and the action clunks, but once Nirubi is captured, the story quickly takes off and becomes a compelling read. Just recently waterboarding and black sites have been all over the news, and Olsen handles the issues fairly with an even hand. The ending was a bit too pat; the behind the scenes maneuvering that makes so many of these books fascinating is missing at the climax, leaving the reader feel a bit left out of the action.

[Dineen Miller]

I've read most of Mark Andrew Olsen's books and consider myself a fan of his work. He's a great writer and storyteller. And the premise of this book is absolutely fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Olsen does a great job of making the unbelievable in this story. My only criticism would be that the ending felt rushed and didn't get the detail and fulfleshing that the rest of the story had. Wouldn't stop me from reading it through. This story will tug on your heart on some level and will most definitely make you rethink not only how you share your faith but with who.

[Lisa]

This book had action and some good points. Forgiveness is available to everyone, but they still have to answer to the consequences of their actions. The only thing I didn't like was the clipped ending. I felt like it left me hanging somewhat. Maybe this means there will be more to come.

[Michelle]

Love this author. His books are inspiring as well as well written.

[Jason Duncan]

The journey was good for 90% -
the story could have gone much longer drawing on a more detailed account of the ending ...
too short!, that being said - completly enjoyable.

[Ed]

A great book showing what God can do in almost impossible situations.

[Kim]

Excellent read....I downloaded the wrong book and read it by mistake....and so enjoyed it!