Charles Martin is one of my favorite authors. I always look forward to his new books with great anticipation. The Record Keeper is the third in his Murphy Shepherd series. The books have to be read in order to follow the story, starting with The Water Keeper, then Letter Keeper, and finally Martin's current novel, The Record Keeper. The books follow the character Murphy Shepherd as he and his friend Bones rescue children and teens from human trafficking. Each novel is very thorough about the intricacies of human trafficking and builds on each other with great detail. The latest book, The Record Keeper is good but has some pretty dark edges to it. While the subject matter is handled tastefully it can be hard to read. But that's not a bad thing in this book. It brings to light a subject that many times is just swept under the rug and left forgotten. Martin reminds of this horrendous occurrence and touches the reader with a profound illumination of the severity. It's a not-to-be-missed book. 5+ stars.

I have enjoyed the other two books in the Murphey Shepherd and this was a great addition to the series. The characters are interesting an so complex. It was so interesting learning the back story of Bones. But difficult to read. Since this book and series focuses on rescuing young people from human sex trafficking's, the content makes for difficult moments of reading. But ultimately the story ends in hope and redemption.

I love books that make you wrestle as the characters do. Wrestle with yourself. Wrestle with the truth. Wrestle with another perspective. Books that make you think, and consider, and then think some more.

The Record Keeper, as with all the rest of the books in the Murphy Shepherd series, certainly does that.

While this final book doesn’t have the romance that the first 2 did, which I admittedly did miss, this 3rd books focuses more on the friendship between Murph and Bones instead. I loved the tech side brought into this one as well, since that’s my wheelhouse, as the new characters and added personalities.

There were so many of those wrestling points with Murphy Shepherd that I loved, as well as truths that made me think. Bones tries to instill in Murph that identity precedes purpose, which is Frank’s (and ultimately the evil they fight against) starting flaw. And that rage and revenge never fix or heal anything, even when it feels justified - love, hope and sacrificing for another are the only things that can break the cycle.

And the same thread of truth permeated this book that did in the others (and in some other books from Mr Martin) of “you can’t know who you are until you’ve settled whose you are” which I find personally so profound.

While the Letter Keeper is probably still my favorite of the 3 books, this is overall certainly one of my favorite series period.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Edit: after a few days to think about it, I've changed my mind about this book. Yes, it's a very harsh topic and difficult to read. As written, the beginning of the book still {IMHO} doesn't fit/flow with the rest of it. BUT, if you known you are going to be reading about horrible abuse of children, especially pretty white children, then most of us can get behind a book about government-sanctioned shadow people who live to free them/help them process the trauma and live freely again. The book still needs an editor to work on the first several chapters--so 3 stars right now.

Original post:
Seriously depressing plot (young children sold as sex slaves, torture of said children by wealthy sadists, trade in child sex slaves and the like). I've read most of the books in this series and if I hadn't, the first four or five chapters would have made very little sense with way too much detail about guns and revenge. The writing itself was good but sorry Mr. Martin, I don't need to read so many chapters packed with inhumane depravity in such vivid detail. There enough of it in real life. Readers, if you want to stick with the book, skim ahead until about chapters 10-11 where the story gets to the point and begins to feel like a Charles Martin novel. As currently ordered, I give this new book 2.5 stars. With some editing and moving the gruesome stuff away from the beginning, I would give it four stars.

This is the powerful, gut-wrenching third and final book in Martin’s Murphy Shepherd series. If you haven’t read The Water Keeper and The Letter Keeper recently, you may want to go back and refresh yourself on the characters and happenings in those books, because this just picks up where The Letter Keeper ended. I was floundering a bit until I went back and re-read The Letter Keeper.

This third book is harder to read than the first two. They had a lot about human trafficking that wasn’t easy reading, but this book gets even deeper into the awful, evil, dark world of those who buy and sell the bodies of young boys and girls just to indulge in their perverse pleasures. There is good stuff as the sacrificial love and actions of Bones and Murphy shine brightly, but they have to go through an awful lot of yuck for the ones they rescue. I couldn’t read this just before bed for fear of having nightmares, but it’s worth reading during the daytime!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."  #TheRecordKeeper #NetGalley

Human trafficking and slavery are all too well and alive today. That's why I found it hard to read this book. I'm quite sure certain aspects of the horrendous cruelty happens in the real world. I found myself wishing and hoping that there are more people like Murphy, Bones and his team who can rescue the victims.

Some parts of the book were really gripping - such as Bone's back story and how they recruited their rescue team. Other parts I found myself skipping.

Overall, not a favourite book of mine, but I looking forward to what Charles Martin will write next.

A great wrap up to this wonderful trilogy! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and will recommend this series to so many of my customers. Charles Martin does it once again!

“We can no longer be content to rescue sheep. Or sit here and protect the flock. We need to hunt the wolf.”

“A name is the singular thing that separates us from the ninety-nine. A name makes us the one. Without a name . . . there is no record.”

“Start with Water because that’s where he started with me. Move on to the Letters because of what they held. End with the Record because that’s what this will be. A record of my keeper. Who left the ninety-nine . . . for me.”

4.5 Stars Out Of 5

A great conclusion to a unique and satisfying trilogy. While not as good as The Water Keeper, I did think it was better than The Letter Keeper. I really enjoyed learning the backstory of Bones and his brother, though it was definitely heartbreaking. Charles Martin proves how good of a storyteller he is; in this trilogy, we often find a story within the story that really adds layers to his writing. Murphy was great as always with his faithful dog, Gunner. There are a lot of great action scenes where you will be rooting for Murph to rescue the victims and make the bad guys pay. And even more so, there will be a nice lesson near the end about love versus justice. I did find some typos in the book but since it is an ARC, hoping that will be fixed by final print.

* I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and Thomas Nelson. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

I thought Charles Martin's The Record Keeper, the third book from his A Murphy Shepherd series, was a decent read. Three and a half stars.

This is a great book...yet again by a talented, gifted author. I enjoy his books. This book was sent to me electronically for review by Netgalley. This is a book that is difficult to put down. Enjoy.

THE RECORD KEEPER is the third novel in the Murphy Shepherd series by CHARLES MARTIN, but it can easily stand alone. It is a suspense thriller with a strong Christian message of redemption and sacrificial love, as we see Murphy, with his mentor Bones, saving literally hundreds of young boys and grls who have been kidnapped and are being abused. The author especially shows the hypocrisy of some supposedly godly priests and well known business men who ruin these young people’s lives with their sexual perversion. Bones and his twin brother Frank experienced these horrors first hand leading to Bones literally ‘leaving the ninety-nine to save the one”, whereas Frank becomes a crime boss who makes millions in the flesh trade with the blackmail that goes with it.
I really like the author’s almost poetical way with prose as he writes about these serious issues and porrays the characters’ emotions.
The Record Keeper is a worthwhile, exciting and inspirational read which I highly recommend.
I was given a free copy of the book from NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this review are completely my own.