Book Review – Redeemed By Blood by Shannon Baker

This was a nice and complete short story with a fully fleshed-out set of characters and story arc. John, the old man and main character, is a character to quickly be endeared to. His stalwart faith and down-to-earth nature are the story’s biggest driving forces. Sampson, whom John essentially rescues from death in a Good Samaritan parallel, is the outsider who brings the greater threat from the outside world to John’s doorstep in the form of a biker gang Sampson stood up against. The plot follows learning about the two men as they learn about each other. John learns about Sampson’s standing up and being kicked out of his biker crew and Sampson learning about what makes John someone to rescue a “bad dude” from death but not turn him into the police. John’s Christian faith is in focus through the story without a doubt and culminates in a confrontation with evil.

Some readers of Christian fiction will enjoy the familiar plot beats seen in other books. Also, there are good action scenes (without gratuitous violence for the sake of violence). With the understanding that this is a short story, it would have been valuable to see more characterization of Sampson and his growth or change. Without spoilers, a big character change does seem to happen quickly because the story is coming to a climax and an end. John also tells Sampson the parable of the Good Samaritan and it would have worked better for the audience to put that together or maybe for Sampson to discover the parallel himself if the author wanted to make that clear to the audience.

The straightforward nature of the story is there for the purpose of focusing mainly on the two men. A few more details and a bit more subtlety would have been preferred but it’s a good, simple story to enjoy in less than 100 pages.