The Crossing - by Serita Jakes

In 2000, a horrible unsolved crime is committed on a Texas school bus. At the time, Claudia Campbell was the beautiful head cheerleader, a hopeful girl who idolized her slain teacher. Now ten years later, Claudia's secret life threatens to destroy her marriage and possibly her very life.Casio Hightower, now a prominent member of the community and a police officer, was a superstar quarterback and tapped by several colleges as their next golden boy. Casio's rages are tearing him apart and are close to landing him in jail.

The only way to move forward with their lives is to readdress the crime of their past, with the help of God and his perfect grace.

This has been a LONG time getting to the top of my too be read pile.  I joined "Blogging For Books" last year some time in a hesitant start to this whole review blogging thing I'm doing.  I waited, and waited for the book to come in, but it never showed up.  Here now, with my resurgence of doing these reviews, I had them send me another copy so that I can finish what I started.

Claudia, Casio and the several other players and cheerleaders were on a bus back from a game when, while they were stopped for a train, a masked gunman boarded the bus taking the life of their cheer director and friend, BJ.  Other than minor injuries, no one else was hurt except for BJ.  The relationship between Claudia and her teacher had gone past the normal boundaries and they had become close friends.  Flash forward 10 years, Claudia is still haunted by what happened on the bus, Casio, now a police officer, is having trouble with anger management.  Claudia's husband is the ADA and has been given new evidence by Casio that gives him a reason to reopen the case to hopefully find the killer.  Is there a killer on the loose?  What is Claudia hiding and why doesn't she want the case reopened?  Does Casio ever get help with his anger issue?  READ THE BOOK!

This book was rather hard for me to get into, unfortunately.  The book is basically written from the perspective of about 4 characters; BJ, Claudia, Vic and Casio.  I guess I'm just a simple guy and having to read these perspectives was just a bit much for me.  The plot was pretty straight-forward, although there were some side stories that I thought distracted from the main plot (the affair that Claudia's mother had).  There are several underlying themes that were spelled out in the book; Spousal Abuse, infidelity, faith, etc. just to name a few.

So is this a "man's book"?  I would have to say probably not.  Not that I think all men are as easily confused as I am, but I would rather have a book that just tells the story.  Having it told by different perspectives was a major turn off for me.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Serita A. Jakes has been involved in Christian ministry all of her adult life and has served alongside her husband, Bishop T. D. Jakes, throughout their entire marriage of nearly 30 years. As an insightful speaker, she draws heavily from her education and background in theater and mass communications. A soft-spoken woman offstage, First Lady Jakes, as she is affectionately referred to by The Potter’s House congregation, possesses the rare ability to reach and stir her audiences as she works to complement her husband’s ministry.

In addition to raising three sons and two daughters, she has assumed an active role at The Potter’s House of Dallas where her husband serves as Senior Pastor. First Lady Jakes serves as Executive Director of the church’s WoMan-to-Woman women’s ministry. She is founder of the much-acclaimed God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment program for women and The Potter’s House’s Debutante Program for teenage girls. Mrs. Jakes also speaks across the country on women’s roles in supporting their husbands, and she is in demand by women’s organizations throughout the nation as a celebrated speaker on issues concerning marriage and family. 

In 1998, First Lady Jakes and her husband founded Clay Academy, a private college preparatory Christian school. In August 1999, she released her first book, The Princess Within, which to date has sold more than 200,000 copies. The book, which is a poignant and revealing autobiographical reflection of encouragement and victory over pain, trauma, and abuse, is scheduled for re-release spring 2011. First Lady wrote the book as a vehicle of encouragement for hurting women who want to break the silence surrounding their secret pain and obtain healing from it. In November 2003, Warner Faith published First Lady Jakes’ second book, Beside Every Good Man: Loving Myself While Standing By Him. It challenges women to explore the seasons that shape their views of male influence in their eyes.