Power in the Blood
ISBN 1-888-146-14-1
In a mystery book market saturated with stories of gruesome serial killers devoid of morality and shady investigators whose questionable tactics make them difficult heroes, Power in the Blood by Michael Lister offers a more spiritual view of social ills and acknowledges that, behind every despicable act, there is always room for forgiveness and redemption.
In this debut novel Lister, a prison chaplain, introduces John Jordan, chaplain of a prison in the Florida Panhandle, who witnesses the bloody death of Potter Correctional Institution inmate Ike Johnson. Jordan discovers that in the closed society of captives and captors no action goes unseen, and no one takes kindly to a cop in a collar. He soon finds his reputation, his career, and even his life are at stake.
"While writing Power in the Blood , I attempted to present Chaplain Jordan as a person who is in many ways quite ordinary despite being a man of the cloth. Like everyone else, Jordan attempts to find romance, deals with the demands of work on a daily basis, and struggles with his faith," said Michael Lister. "Despite the extraordinary violence that he must face and the misdeeds of fallen souls he endures, Jordan manages to pursue the investigation with honesty and grace. I think that makes him an unusual hero in today's mystery market." By offering up the sacred as well as the profane, Power in the Blood is sure to please both mystery readers and general fiction enthusiasts.
Michael Lister was a chaplain with the Florida Department of Corrections from 1993 to 2000. During his tenure at Gulf Correctional, Lister earned these words of praise from his warden, "Chaplain Lister's un prejudiced concern for the welfare of staff as well as inmates has brought a spiritual soothing to both populations at this institution. He is an exceptionally gifted teacher, truly an angel, a shepherd to all."
Reviews
Power in the Blood
John "J.J." Jordan was a cop who hit bottom (too much booze and violence) and then decided to become a man of God. But a cleric’s collar doesn’t shield him from the seedier side when he finds himself as the prison chaplain of Potter Correctional Institution. His past life creeps even closer when he is coerced into investigating the bloody death of an inmate, a death he witnessed. Things seem to be picking up a bit when he meets Laura, an overnight delivery girl, who apparently has a gleam in her eye for him as well. Such personal travails take a backseat to his investigation, however, when J.J. learns that a Pottersville banker has been murdered. Lister, a prison chaplain himself, gives his leading character the depth and shortcomings of a "regular guy," a refreshing change from the typically flawless clergy found in much pop fiction. Considering the scarcity of mysteries featuring prison chaplains, the competent, authentic tale carves a nice niche for itself. ---Booklist
"Power in the Blood provides an unflinching and disturbing look at contemporary prison life, and prison chaplain John Jordan makes for a convincing and altogether appealing detective/protagonist. An auspicious debut." —Les Standiford, author Presidential Deal
"Lister, a real-life prison chaplain who knows his turf, delivers gritty portrayals of inmates and prison workers." —Publisher’s Weekly
"Lister’s descriptions of a prison setting, as well as the situations Jordan encounters, are about as real as it gets—and it’s not surprising. Power in the Blood is the first novel for the North Florida resident who spends his days working as a chaplain for the Florida Department of Corrections." —Orlando Sentinel
"Michael Lister’s Power in the Blood is a promising first novel." —Library Journal
"Power in the Blood, is a first novel that takes a uniquely uncompromising view of grace." —Kirkus Reviews
"A breakout of mystery writer: A Panhandle prison chaplain weaves an engaging debut set on familiar turf—behind bars. Power in the Blood is a laudable debut, and shows potential for a continuing series . . . . Taut, highly readable story that manages to deliver a few surprises and a unique hero. John Jordan is committed to his faith, but he is no saint. . . . A refreshing use of religion as a background for narrative which the author never overdoes." —Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Michael Lister, a North Florida prison chaplain, is a first-time author, but you’d never know it. His book, Power in the Blood, reads as if it had been dreamed up by a skillful old pro.
It helps that Lister writes convincingly about a world he knows well: prison. Others may tiptoe into the territory, but not many sound so authentic. Lister is refreshingly at home behind bars.
Blood opens (surprise!) Bloodily. A Panhandle prison corrections officer is making sure nobody’s trying to escape on the garbage truck. He’s thrusting a long metal rod through each bag of trash. A chaplain, waiting to be buzzed into the compound, is watching idly when the rod hits pay dirt. Or rather, pay flesh—the officer stabs a body. The chaplain runs to the officer’s aid and winds up drenched in blood. The guy in the bag is dead. And HIV positive.
The chaplain is John Jordan, a riches-to-rags clergyman who once had a wife, a fancy church in Atlanta and a nasty drinking problem. He lives in a ratty trailer outside Tallahassee, ministering to lowlifes and trying to stay off the sauce. He does have his faith, but it’s about to take a real beating. The rest of him, too.
As a theme, blood flows freely here. It’s not just the Blood of the Lamb that wields a mighty power over Jordan, who’s asked to investigate the killing. Haunting every moment is the terrifying probability that he’s been exposed to the AIDS virus.
You might expect a minister to shy away from prison’s more brutal realities, but Lister doesn’t. His violent, dangerous inmates talk and behave like violent, dangerous inmates. Some people get raped. Lots more get killed. This ain’t Brother Cadfael.
Lister doesn’t make the tired mistake of making Jordan a wisecracker, although the good chaplain does get in a few good lines: "Attempting to escape (the prison) in the back of trash truck was a bad idea. And, although inmates were sometimes treated like trash and, at times, acted like trash, they were not going to escape by pretending to be trash."
The cruel, small world inside prison could make for an unpredictable, claustrophobic series. Something untried, different, interesting. Thank heaven. ---By Connie Ogle The Miami Herald
