Books for Christian Girls: "Moving Target" by Lynette Eason

About this book:

“When Maddy McKay and Quinn Holcombe don't show up for Quinn's surprise birthday party, his friends know that something is very wrong. Their search turns up little beyond evidence that Quinn and Maddy just decided to take off for a long overdue vacation. But it soon becomes apparent that they did not leave of their own accord.
Maddy awakens in a cement room with no idea where she is. But it's not long before she realizes she's in the clutches of a madman exacting revenge by hunting. His prey of choice? Humans. Now Maddy and Quinn must run for their lives, hoping to find their killer before the next game begins. Because if they don't win this game, they die.”

Series: Book #3 in the “Elite Guardians” series. Review of Book #1 review Here! and Book #2 Here!

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are quoted, read & thought on (and twisted by the killer); Prayers; Going to a chapel; A bit of witnessing to Quinn; Talks about God, believing & getting right with Him; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Maddy has a faith, but Quinn does not; Quinn doesn’t understand why God would allow pain and suffering to happen & is still mad at Him; *Spoiler* Quinn does ask God for protection for someone & hopes He hears it; Near the end, he starts talking to God & later says he knows God is the real deal. *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God, His plans & faiths; Mentions of peace & wanting peace; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of faiths; Mentions of biblical numerology, those in the Bible & events in the Bible; A few mentions of Bible reading; A few mentions of a priest; A few mentions of a fire-and-brimstone preacher; A few mentions of Judgement Day (from the madman); A couple mentions of church going; A couple mentions of mission work & a missionary; A couple mentions of divine perfection; A couple mentions of sin; A mention of a hymn; A mention of a miracle; A mention of a religious fanatic; A mention of spiritual perfection;

*Note: The madman thinks he is God’s chosen one to ensure justice and vengeance (twisting Scriptures) and has a very twisted sense of religion; A mention of helping someone have peace in the afterlife.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, two ‘shoot’s, two ‘stupid’s, three ‘dumb’s, and three ‘idiot’s; Sarcasm & Eye rolling; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Pain, screams, being drugged, being kidnapped & passing out (semi-detailed to detailed); Threats, fighting, attackers, shooting and killing someone, kicking/fight dogs, blood/bleeding, being shot, injuries & fevers (semi-detailed to detailed); Watching a couple of recordings of deaths (up to semi-detailed); Finding a bleeding body (thought to be suicide, up to semi-detailed); Being held at gunpoint, knife point & crossbow point (?); Bombs, knifes, Crossbows & crossbow bolts (up to semi-detailed); Bombs at a school, children are put in danger & smoke (the killer is willing that a few children die to get his end goal, up to semi-detailed); Throwing up; All about a serial killer (who says he’s a hunter), people disappearing (his victims), his game with the victims having a high possibility of dying (semi-detailed), his dead victims, chasing him & running away from him; The thought/plans to kill evil people or bring vengeance to others; We see the Killer’s point of view (including a couple times when he wanted to kill someone, but didn’t, and later suffocating another); Many mentions of dying, the possibility of dying, slow painful deaths, cheating death, those who should’ve been dead, killing innocents & bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of Quinn’s sister’s suicide that others think was a hunting accident & Quinn finding her (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of brutal serial killers, their dismembered/mutilated victims & the bodies being burned or delivered to the families (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of serial killers finding pleasure in killing their victims; Mentions of killers, a slit throat, being left to die, injuries & broken bones (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the smell of death, bodies decomposing in a mass grave & those victims and how they died (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of an ambush, a sting to rescue trafficked illegals and arrest the perpetrators, & the agents’ deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of coming upon what looks like to be another suicide (up to semi-detailed);Mentions of crossbows, being shot at, pain & blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); Mentions of a drop-off with spears & the pain it could’ve caused (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of hurting a dog (though he didn’t want to) & trying to help it later (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a hit-and-run, a girl being hit on her bike & her injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of threats & threats of killing; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of being drugged, poisons & poisonous gas; Mentions of traitors; Mentions of embezzlement, arresting someone, an attempted murder & car accident; Mentions of drinking, drinks, alcohol, a bar & (not) being drunk; Mentions of hunting & shooting animals; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of inflections of wounds & fevers; Mentions of throwing up (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of punching someone; A few mentions of a divorce; A couple mentions of a terrorist; A couple mentions of a mafia case; A couple mentions of someone killed in a car wreck; A couple mentions of prisons; A couple mentions of stealing; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a serial killer killed in a prison riot; A mention of a mugging;

*Note: A mention of GQ magazine.

Sexual Content- two almost kisses, a cheek kiss, an ear kiss, three head/forehead kisses, two barely-above-not-detailed kisses, two semi-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Touches, Nearness, Smelling, Embraces & Warmth/Heat (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a cheating spouse, an affair & her unfaithfulness; Mentions of a kiss & kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of noticing a couple of men’s muscles; A couple mentions of pictures of a woman with a lot of men (nothing too suggestive, but some could be questionable); A couple mentions of helping someone of the opposite gender shower that could be taken the wrong way; A mention of a serial killer raping & then killing his victims; A mention of sexual assault; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.

-Maddy McKay

-Quinn Holcombe
P.O.V. of switches between them, Olivia (2x), Bobby (1x), & The Killer (7x)
318 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add ½ a star for older girls interested in law enforcement}

I had a feeling this one would be creepier than the first two, and in a lot of ways it was. I honestly can’t recommend it for anyone who doesn’t like insanely suspenseful or serial killer chasing the main characters kind of books. It’s definitely both. I admit, there were some times I though “Eww, gore” or “Did I really need to know that?” (because my imagination is quite active, y’all) and did lower ratings for those parts. The whole plot wasn’t a walk in the park, though. It’s all about a sociopathic serial killer trying to get revenge (in justice, in his eyes, more on that below) on Maddy & Quinn. There were some parts I didn’t seen coming, but the majority of the time, I had an inkling what was going to happen next.

I’m not a fan of books that even mention twisting Scriptures. That’s not okay to me. This one was different, however, in the fact you kind of figure out the killer is a madman and you really don’t take him at his word.

There was quite a bit of Spiritual Content (and not just from the twisted killer’s POV), which was nice and seemed realistic. I really liked Maddy and Quinn, and do plan on read the fourth and final book in this series when it comes out. But, this series really isn’t for those who don’t like suspenseful reads or books with serial killers—and nothing is wrong with that, I definitely didn’t when I was younger, but have become highly interested in Criminal Justice, so that’s why I have read (and mostly enjoyed) this series. ;)

See y’all on Friday with a new review!