Newpointe 911 Series by Terri Blackstock

First published:Private Justice, 1998; Shadow of Doubt, 1998; Word of Honor, 1999; Trial by Fire, 2000; Line of Duty, 2003. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Press

Genre(s): Novels

Subgenre(s): Mystery and detective fiction; thriller/suspense

Core issue(s): Doubt; good vs. evil; justice; marriage; problem of evil; trust in God

Principal characters

• Mark Branning, a firefighter
• Allie Branning, Mark’s wife
• Craig Barnes, a fire chief
• Stan Shepherd, a detective in the Newpointe police force
• Celia Shepherd, Stan’s wife, accused of poisoning him
• Dan Nichols, a firefighter who becomes paralyzed
• Jill Nichols, Dan’s wife and a lawyer
• Ray Ford, a fire chief
• Nick Foster, a firefighter and pastor of local church
• Issie Foster, Nick’s wife
• Ashley Morris, a rebellious teen

Overview

Newpointe 911 is a series of five mysteries based on the trials and tribulation of a group of firefighters and their families, friends, and neighbors in Newpointe, Louisiana. The books have the main characters solve mysterious deaths and other crimes while maintaining a Christian perspective on the evils of humankind and keeping in mind God’s plan for every person. The series has its share of crime and violence, ranging from a serial killer in Newpointe who is stalking the wives of firefighters to a massive series of explosions in a thirty-story tower in New Orleans that produces a chain-reaction collapse of the tower that is reminiscent of what happened to the towers at the World Trade Center. These manmade disasters and crises may test but never seem to shake the characters’ faith in God or their belief that death frees one from the difficulties of their physical being. The first and last books of the series provide insight into the themes of the series and the problems experienced by its characters.

The first book in the series, Private Justice, sets the tone for the series, as characters face life-changing events that cause them to question their faith. The wives of firefighters in the town are being murdered. The survivors are frightened and seeking answers on how good people could be struck down by an unknown evil. Among them are Mark and Allie Branning, whose marriage is disintegrating even as danger closes in on them. As Mark struggles to protect his wife, who believes he has cheated on her, he begins to question whether God has forsaken him or if he has forsaken God. Mark seeks his answers in Scripture, realizing that memories of his alcoholic father and a fear of following that path had pulled him away from the Church. As the pair seek to escape a killer who stalks them, Allie sees her husband in a new light, as a man who will sacrifice his own life to save her. Her earlier anger and suspicion melt away, and the pair renew their faith in God and each other in order to reconcile their marriage.

As with all the novels in the series, the characters struggle with the difficult reality that God allows bad things to happen to good people. The deaths of three women, all married to firefighters, including one with two small children, causes the main characters to question whether God is looking out for them. Suspicion of friends and neighbors threatens to tear apart the community, and the discovery that the killer is one of the firefighters further causes the people of Newpointe to wonder whether they have been forsaken by God.

Yet death and mayhem are not the only challenges faced by Newpointe residents. Everyday life provides its own difficulties, including the pressures of marriage as husbands face danger in their everyday work. The characters experience dramatic changes in their lives as the series continues. In the first book, romance blooms between firefighter Dan Nichols and Jill, a successful attorney. The two are later married. The same occurs for the town’s pastor, Nick Foster, who romances, then marries Issie, the woman responsible for coming between the Brannings in the first book of the series. As pastor of the church to which the Nichols and Brannings belong, Nick must juggle the demands of his congregation while working as a firefighter to make ends meet. His financial difficulties are only a sample of the economic struggles of the poor Newpointe community.

There are additional pressures of family, the desire to have a family, and past failings. Dan Nichols is haunted by memories of his absentee parents, including a mother who did not attend his wedding and whom he has not seen for a decade. Lacking the experience of having good parents, he suffers doubts about his own ability to raise children even as he and his wife struggle to create a family. The Brannings, Mark and Allie, must juggle life as parents while both work outside the home.

The development of the characters continues through the remaining four books. The series was originally to last only four books, but the events of the World Trade Center in September, 2001, caused Terri Blackstone to add a book that uses the disaster as a backdrop for more lessons about Christian faith.

The second book in the series, Shadow of Doubt, centers on the poisoning of a Newpointe detective, Stan Shephard, who falls into a coma. His wife, Celia, is accused. The death of her first husband through poisoning places her in the role of a would-be serial killer, and her faith in God and the faith of her husband in their marriage and God is strained as the evidence builds against her.

In Word of Honor, a bomber strikes at the post office, and the death of three people and the serious injury of a child tests the residents of Newpointe. A hostage taking adds to the suspense along with a rush to judgment that places a prime member of the community and many of her friends in danger.

In Trial by Fire, the burning of the town church forces part-time firefighter and part-time pastor Nick Foster to question God’s wisdom and grace and his own dedication to his chosen fields.

The five-book series includes many lessons on Christianity and a belief in God’s plan. However, the final book best presents many of these challenges and lessons on how Christians should use prayer to guide them to accept God’s plan while realizing that their earthly life is not as important as life after death. In Line of Duty, the final book, the Newpointe firefighters are on call when a series of bombs explode in a New Orleans high rise. Based on the struggles faced by firefighters and their families during the World Trade Center collapse, the book relates how the community of Newpointe must handle the deaths and injuries of several of its firefighters. The collapse of the building produces its own lessons as the trapped firefighters are helpless, uncertain about survival of some of their loved ones and wondering if they will die themselves. Their only avenue is prayer. Facing death, the trapped firefighters must come to terms with never seeing their families again or accepting the possibility that their colleagues may die. Only through prayer and an acceptance that their lives are part of God’s greater plan are they able to get through nearly impossible times.

Not all the lessons of life are played out among the central characters. In Line of Duty, Ashley Morris is a rebellious teen who has deserted her mother and is living with a group of teens, who spend their days in a drunken or drug-induced haze. Ashley’s mother is caught in the building explosion and killed. Suddenly orphaned, Ashley spends much of the book reconsidering her life and the direction she has taken. She finds that she no longer fits in with her rebellious friends, but her attitude and appearance prevent her from fitting in with the people of Newpointe. Ashley considers suicide then revenge against the man who has killed her mother. The book’s climactic scene has the girl confronting her mother’s killer with the means of killing him but choosing against revenge, instead managing some form of forgiveness for his act.

At the same time the firefighter Dan Nichols must face the loss of his ability to move his legs. As he moves from a life built on physical strength to one plagued by physical weakness, he concludes that God has a new plan for him, a different life that must be accepted. His decision is based on Scripture, including the story of Job and God’s decision to allow Satan to harm a just believer as a test of his faith. Only by strengthening that faith and surrendering to God’s will can he survive the test and continue to live his life, Dan realizes. The book and series end with Dan a paraplegic but more accepting of his fate and more at ease with his condition. Dan’s illness also affects his mother, a woman who had neglected him during his childhood while pursuing a life of wealth and comfort. Suddenly faced with the death of her son, she seeks to redeem herself by helping care for him during his illness.

Christian Themes

The Newpointe 911 series presents the Christian perspective in a suspense and mystery format appealing to modern readers. The continuing cast of characters must face personal and community catastrophes while maintaining their Christian beliefs and faith and learn to accept that God’s plan may force them to put their own plans aside. The five books in the series portray the many difficulties faced by Christians in maintaining their faith while struggling to understand how a loving God could allow horrible things to happen to good people. In showing how the faithful are tested, the series highlights one of the oldest precepts of Christianity, dating back to Job, that the righteous will suffer hardships and that they must maintain their faith.

The series also presents a stark battle between good and evil and shows how that battle sometimes consumes the lives of good people. The most graphic example is the final book in the series, Line of Duty, in which a mass murder was committed by a man who was driven to evil acts by corruption and the evil of others. Through most of the series, the crimes take second place to the everyday crises faced by Newpointe residents. Marriages are shaken by suspected infidelity, past troubles explode in the present, and friendships are strained. The characters must rely on divine guidance throughout their lives while asking questions of faith on why God allows suffering to continue.

Sources for Further Study

Butler, Tamara. Review of Line of Duty by Terri Blackstock. Library Journal 128, no. 18 (November 1, 2003): 66. A brief review of the last in the Newpointe 911 series by this Christian mystery writer.

Byle, Ann. “Author Quits Romance Writing for Christian Books: Terri Blackstock Caught Upswing in Christian Fiction Market.” The Grand Rapids Press, December 4, 2004, p. D9. Blackstock talks about her switch from writing romances to Christian fiction in 1995.

Hanna, John, ed. Faces of Faith. Gainesville, Fla.: Bridge-Logos, 2006. Highlights a group of people, mostly women, who accepted God. The book includes a biography of Terri Blackstock, the story of her conversion, and a brief discussion of her various book series.

Nappa, Mike. True Stories of Answered Prayers. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1999. Includes brief stories about famous people who faced difficult times and found prayer and God to be the answer. The book includes a discussion of Terri Blackstock and her conversion from secular writer to religious author.