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![[The Last Sanctuary]]( ../images/lastsanctuary.gif)
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In The Last Sanctuary, author Craig Holden justifies the glowing reviews and predictions that followed the publication of his first thriller, The River Sorrow, last year. Holden combines a keen sense of observation with a vivid imagination to create a spellbinding tale of murder, love, and betrayal played out in a manhunt from a small town in rural North Dakota to the Alaskan Peninsula.
When Desert Storm veteran Joe Curtis sets out from Detroit to retrieve his wayward brother in Seattle, he does not know that the trip will change their lives forever. The adventure begins when his tired, 13-year-old Pontiac gives out in New Salem, North Dakota, and he hitches a ride with two members of a radical religious cult called "the Family." Curtis soon finds himself the prime suspect in a bloody robbery and the object of a nationwide search by the FBI, not to mention a gun-running investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) and the Army. He realizes, however, that clever disguises and desperate open-field running can only delay the inevitability of his capture; he must penetrate the web of intrigue and deception that made him the law's prime target.
Memories of Waco and Ruby Ridge still haunt the Attorney General and shape the government's strategy when the Family surfaces in the investigation. As the chase continues, the role of the cult emerges. Kris and Rick, the cultists who recast Curtis's odyssey, reflect the contradictions between the endearing serenity and paranoid violence that so often mark the religious fringe. Each has sought refuge in the cult and, for varying reasons, accepted its leader, "the Father," as a prophet. Early brainwashing and the tight discipline within the Family assure that each member will respond to the Father's visions and orders.
Leanne Red Feather, a driven, reservation-bred investigator, brings a hunter's instinct to the BATF team as she follows the trail of stolen weapons from National Guard armories to militant groups and America's latest terrorists. Like Holden's other characters, Leanne is carrying mixed baggage: gratitude and resentment that affirmative action contributed to her acceptance into the macho BATF, a doomed office romance, and, like Joe Curtis, a ne'er-do-well brother cascading from one jam into another.
Holden adds a half-million dollars in stolen gold, six Stinger missiles, a psychopathic killer, an overzealous Army staffer, and Special Forces team to create an explosive and surprising ending to the story. The Last Sanctuary makes it clear that The River Sorrow was not beginner's luck--Holden is a significant new suspense writer. Make room on your shelf for The Last Sanctuary and, hopefully, many more from Craig Holden.
John Messer is a freelance reviewer in Ludington, Michigan.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.