For those that haven’t read the first in this trilogy written by Mark Reefe, I’d advice that you do so now before you die. Otherwise, Finn McCallan might come down to Hell and give you a beating worse than what you’re normally accustomed to. For those that have read The Road to Jericho, but have not  had a chance to sink their teeth into El Sendero then what are you reading this review for? You’re wasting valuable time. Go out and read this amazing book now and then come back and read my review. Don’t worry I’ll wait.

I’m assuming that either you’ve already read the books and would like to know what I thought or you’ve not read the books and want to know my opinion before you make that choice. So the short answer is yes, you should definitely purchase these books. Buy them on eBook or better yet, purchase them in paperback. They’ll make a great addition to your bookcase next to the Ted Dekker and Stephen King books. Because if you like Dekker and King, you’ll find a comfortable home in the books of Reefe.

El Sendero picks up some time after the events of The Road to Jericho with Finn having settled into a life with his love, Carmen, and her mother on a ranch south of the Mexican/United States border. That life comes to a crashing halt when Miguel, who was an ally in the first book, comes to the ranch looking to enlist Finn’s help in uncovering the mystery behind the disappearance of an entire town. Reluctantly, Finn goes along and together they travel to El Sendero where they uncover a sinister supernatural plot to destroy the world.

There are many things I’d like to discuss about this novel, but I can’t because I don’t want to spoil anything for those that haven’t read this great book. What I will say is that the writing, editing, and formatting of this book was fantastic. There was one editing mistake later in the book, but it was minuscule and didn’t effect the turn out of the story.

The best part of El Sendero had to be the characters. The way Reefe writes these characters, you’d think they could leap off the page and interact with the reader. Which could be a good or a bad thing depending on the character. I’d like to party with Miguel, drink bourbon with Finn, taste the chorizo breakfast tacos with Flora, and do some other things with Carmen that I can’t detail in this particular review. On the other side, I wouldn’t want to encounter La Prophetisa in a dark alley or a dark cathedral.

The ending to this story leaves the reader wanting more which is a good thing because book three, The Valley of Hinnom, is coming soon.

For those that enjoy religious thrillers this and The Road to Jericho is going to be one you’ll want to read. There isn’t much that I didn’t like about this book except that it was too short and I wanted more. If I had to pick something that I didn’t like it would have to be one character’s disappearance from the narrative later on in the book. That really didn’t deter the story and probably helped things progress towards how it ended. Overall, I’d give El Sendero a 5 out of 5. Can’t wait to see how Finn fairs in the last of the Hell Walker Trilogy.

El Sendero and The Road to Jericho are both published by Burning Willow Press.