I received a copy for review purposes; all opinions are honest and mine alone.


Book #4 in a series, THE KEEPER, by Charles Martin, is a political thriller that can be read as a stand alone but will be more rewarding if read along with the other volumes in the Murphy Shepherd series.

Even tho’ he has what seems like impenetrable security, someone has managed to kidnap the Vice President’s daughters without leaving a clue or any trace evidence behind. He’s the lead candidate in the upcoming election and the only way this happens is with insider assistance at the highest levels. Was it someone in Congress? The Senate? POTUS?

Murphy and his team are called to find the girls, bring them home and restore justice.even tho’ they haven’t really mourned the death of their beloved team mentor, Bones. As with other books in the series, there are subtle romantic relationships that provide much needed relief to the dark subjects of trafficking, kidnapping and political espionage.

Martin delves into the smarmy underbelly of the political elite. While this story isn’t based on real events, I found it difficult to keep from putting actual Washington characters into the various roles. This series would make a great movie or series project.

The character, Murphy, faces life changing challenges. Because of this, there is an extraordinary amount of self chatter and review of events that happened in previous books. If it occurred once, first time readers would be well clued in but Murphy is struggling and some events are replayed multiple times, bogging down the prose and bulking up the volume unnecessarily.

Faith, family, country and honor are strong themes. Martin’s writing is free from foul language, descriptive sexual content and explicit violence. It’s also replete with technical details about guns, ammunition and security technology. If you’re interested in these things, you’ll be in heaven. If not, break out your scan & flip skills as the descriptions can go on for multiple pages.

Originally, I tho’t this was going to be the final episode for Murphy and his crew but the ending leaves a door for them to once again stealthily pass thru📚

Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks

I have not read all of the books in the series, and I would strongly suggest that you do read them in order. In general, there seems to be a lot of info dumps. That is good in some ways, to refresh the reader, but it was too much at other times. Overall, there is just a lot going on. As a result, there were many scenes that dragged along. There were a lot of good scenes, as well, but it was a bit unbalanced for me. Perhaps a tighter edit could have helped this. The subject matter is a serious one, but it is also a difficult one. There is definitely a spiritual angle to the book, along with key themes of grief, healing, and love.

Another great Murphy Shepherd book by Charles Martin! After Bones gives his life to stop his brother's evil, there is still work to be done. But Murphy doesn't know how to go on without his friend and mentor, Bones, But the daughters of the vice president have been taken and there are no leads, so Murphy has to get to work with or without Bones. How can he focus on this rescue while grieving? Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I always appreciate Charles Martin's lyrical style of writing that flows with grace and simplicity. The story, also, is compelling, particularly as part of the Murphy Shepherd series. The biggest challenge here is the while this story stands on its own, the significant flashbacks/summarizing of past stories might leave those who enjoy the series saying "I already know this; let's move on." I think that is a major difficulty when writing books in a. series. Others may think differently than I do.

In addition, while I know the twist in the third act probably made a lot of fans of the series happy and definitely sets up another book, I would have been curious what would have happened if Martin would have left things going in the direction they were going, wrapped up the Murphy Shepherd stories and began something new.

Again, I think Charles Martin is one of the best writers in his genre. These are just some musings of a long-time fan.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

I was so thrilled to know that a 4th book was added to The Keeper series, and this one was just as much of a beautifully insightful, twisting journey as all of the others!! Murph is trying to get his feet under him after the loss of Bones, and struggling to do so. When he’s called upon to rescue the kidnapped daughters of the vice president, he throws himself into his natural role of rescuer, despite his grief. Deeper layers of evil are brought to light as Murph and his team do what they do best. The surprises in this one are delightful, and true to form, Charles Martin weaves Christ’s love for His Bride all throughout the story. I’m hoping for a 5th book (at least), as the ending seems to leave an opening for more to come!

Murphy Shepherd has been well trained by his mentor, Bones, to take on the daunting task of rescuing young victims of human trafficking. The problem is that he has never done so without Bones by his side. When Bones is lost while trying to free his evil twin brother from the chains of his depravity, Murph does not know how to carry on alone. He is caught up in grief and an endless replay of memories where Bones was everything to him. Though Murph is finding it difficult to move forward, he knows he must because the seven deputies under Bones' brother will be looking for greater power to enslave others. Fortunately, Murph has the love and support of his wife and close associates, as well as the unquestioned support of the Vice President.

The first three books in the Murphy Shepherd series are brilliant. This fourth one, though still beautifully written and painting a hopeful picture for the one out of a hundred who is lost, has a much slower pace. It includes a lot of flashbacks of Murph's recruitment and training by Bones, as well as a lot of trawling through Murph's psyche as he grieves. Readers will definitely want to go through the books in sequence as one builds upon the next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Charles Martin just has a way with creating a story with emotion, action and an uplifting message that never disappoints. This book is the fourth in the series and dealt with loss and grief as well as the evils of human trafficking.

Murphy has lost his mentor and tries to build a team to help him take down the evil that has taken the daughters of the Vice President. I absolutely love Murphy Shepherd and I really enjoyed how deep Martin went into the life of faith a person lives. The addition of Camp to the series adds even more interest and another amazing character in the series. As each event happens you learn more and more about unconditional love and how Murphy grapples with some hard truths.

I highly recommend this book as a great page turner with twists and turns as well as some deep insights into dark topics.

Charles Martins has my heart any day and anytime with his book. This was an amazing read.

This is the fourth installation of the Murphy Shepherd series, and it did not fall short.

My heart went out to Murphy. His pain was so palpable through the pages after the loss of Bones and trying to feel his shoes. Even through his pain, he still found the strength to do what he did best; finding the one. When Ashley's daughters were taken, I thought my heart was going to stop.

The inhabitants of Freetown are my favourite people. People hurt by others, but tranformed into a beautiful mosaic by love of the Shepherd.

The overarching theme of God's love for us was the highlight of this book for me.

I received a copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion.

This is book 4 of the Murphy Shepherd series. I didn’t realise this until I was about 12% into the book. I felt a bit lost at first but fairly quickly caught up. Still, I wish I had read the first three, which I plan to do.
This story is about rescuing, mostly female, children from the atrocities of human trafficking. Murphy Shepherd puts his life on the line to rescue these children.
The Keeper begins with Murph at Arlington National Cemetery, where his mentor and best friend, Bones, is being laid to rest. Although he is dealing with his own agonizing grief, in Bones honor, he vows to continue with the mission of saving innocent children. Already in the works is a plot to take the three daughters of a high-profile family.

Lots of plot twists and tense scenes will keep you turning pages with themes of sacrificial love and the healing power of love in this heartfelt story.

Fans of Martin will enjoy the 4th installment in this beloved trilogy. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this exceeded them. Well done.

I have recommended it on social media in a private group with thousands of members.

Charles Martin always delivers an excellent novel and this one was no exception. The Keeper is the 4th book in the Murphy Shepherd series, and is based on human trafficking. The story has many twists and turns and will keep you guessing till the very end. Martin shows the web of deception and evil that is in our world today. The story is also about redemption, healing, sacrificing, love, and good against evil.

The keeper starts with Murphy mourning his best friend and mentor, Bones. He is trying to deal with such an enormous loss and carry on to rescue boys and girls who have been trafficked by evil people. Murphy is in a race against time to rescue the Vice Presidents 3 daughters. Will he be able to without Bones by his side guiding him. I liked the way the author talked about spiritual things in a natural way dealing with grief, healing, love, etc.

I highly recommend this book and all of Charles Martin’s books. He is an exceptional author. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for an advanced copy of this book.

The Keeper
Charles Martin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In this fourth book in the Murphy Shepherd series, Murphy is still reeling from the loss of his mentor, Bones. Knowing that Bones sacrificed himself to take down an evil empire created by his brother, Frank, doesn't make it any easier. Although Frank is gone, his underlings are not, and someone has kidnapped the three daughters of presidential candidate Aaron Ashley.

Murphy is called on to find the missing girls, but he's never completed a rescue mission without Bones. In spite of his grief, he assembles a team and determines to not only find the girls, but to take down whoever ordered their abduction.

The overwhelming theme of this book was love, but not in the romantic sense. Instead, it is the deepest love imaginable that overcomes darkness. Love that willingly sacrifices at great cost. Love that binds hearts together beyond friendship or family. Intentional love that invests in the lives of others. Love that invariably leads to deep pain.

Martin is a master storyteller writing on the outskirts of human depravity that crushes the soul. Somehow he makes his story about light and about love. He challenges our conceptions of true love and whether we are willing to risk all to gain something priceless. Martin illustrates the real truth of a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine in search of the one who is lost. It’s more about the shepherd being willing to leave the security and comfort of the flock to let the one sheep know he is valued. The shepherd must be willing to sacrifice himself.

The Keeper is a beautiful story that will make you long for a friendship like that between Bishop and Bones. More importantly, it is a story that produces great thankfulness for our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God.

We received an advance copy from NetGalley. This is our honest review.

The Keeper is the 4th book that follows Murphy Shepherd and his team as they work to find missing girls.

The beginning was a bit slow to get through, and I feel like without Bones there was too much back and forth in Murphy’s decisions that caused the storyline to be harder to follow.

Thank you for the opportunity of an eARC, and I am leaving this review willingly.

Oh Murph, how I have missed you!! So a couple of good and bad things in this novel. I loved seeing the friendship between Murphy and Camp start developing into what Bones and Murph had. Camp brings out an extra layer to Murph’s personality. Seeing Aaron Ashley come back and have a greater role was an interesting plot line. Clay and Gunner, as always, are highlights.

Now for some of my not-so-favorite parts… there are a lot of flashbacks and repetitive scenes/language. It slows down the pace of the book. There are moments of action but much less than the first three in this series. This is more of an introspective book as Murph deals with the loss of Bones. As someone who has read the rest of the series, I felt like some of these flashbacks were unnecessary.

While I didn’t mind the pace being slower, it was just unexpected. I thought the last book should have been it, but with the ending in this one, I am hoping there is another installment.

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

Charles Martin has written another fantastic book. The plot is based on human trafficking and is fast paced and a real page turner. I definitely recommend this book.

This series overall is for sure one of my favorite sets of books ever. I was excited to find out it was continuing after the first 3, however, I was so conflicted on this book after finishing it.

The “new” parts of this book were fantastic. Same great storyline, characters, action, and struggles as the first 3. I loved the plot reveals, and while I had figured they were coming, rolled out in a great way and still offered a couple fun additions you didn’t know would show up. It also sounds like the series will continue, especially now that Camp has shown up as a new protege with a lot of skin in the game.

The difficulty I had was in the “old” parts of the book. Especially in the first half, there were a ton of flashbacks to the prior 3 books. Not just summarized recaps (which I’m all for) - verbatim, word-for-word, paragraphs or chapter majority sections of previous content. I’d maybe estimate 25+% of this book was from the previous books. It just made it difficult to get into and had me skimming because I knew all this already, and just wanted to get to the story at hand, which was frustrating.

I still love the series and that it sounds like it’s going to keep going which I’m all for. These are such a great mix of action, hope, great characters, and a little bit of romance, and I’ve enjoyed them a lot.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of these books. All opinions are mine.

"The needs of the one outweighs those of the ninety-nine." Another stellar installment of the Murphy Shepherd series by Charles Martin. I was super excited to hear that a fourth book was coming after reading the trilogy of the Keeper series books. This book will keep you guessing and has many plot twists and lots of action. Similar to the others, the focus on the atrocities of trafficking are detailed in a way easily understood, although it is sickening to digest the horrors that befall so many who are subject to such terrible actions. Martin shows with great insight the web of deception and evil that is so prevalent in our world today, and he also does a wonderful job of sharing what is means to have redemption, healing, growth, and an understanding of unconditional love. "Identity precedes purpose. You can't know who you are until you know whose you are. Belongingness matters."

I highly recommend this book to not only give you insight into the dark side of evil, but also how those enmeshed in darkness cannot truly know they are in darkness, as Martin describes, unless someone turns on a light, or becomes the light for them! Exceptional depth pointing the readers to the true Savior. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the early review copy. All opinions are my own.

Charles Martin always delivers such excellent stories and this one was no exception. The Keeper was thought-provoking and kept me emotionally invested. Though the topic can be difficult to read about, Martin handles it with care and provides hope that there can be healing and restoration.

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

The ability Charles Martin has to give you an action packed story with wit and charm from the narrator, while also weaving in deep emotional and inspirational paragraphs always amazes me. The Keeper is the fourth installment in this series. While it did start out a bit slow for me with lots of backstory from the previous books it was needed for the story. The first half of the book was 3 stars and the back half was about 8! Do yourself a favor and start at book one of this series and enjoy the ride! I hope Martin keeps the The Keeper coming!

I was equally thankful and torn in parts of this book for how much of the story was retold. I was thankful because it had been a few years since I had read the previous books in the series, but I was torn because there was a LOT of description and detail given to parts of the story previously told. It seemed at times that it was dragging out the book... I wanted to get on to the new parts of the story. Other than that, I liked the book very much and hope there will be more in this series!