Robert Whitlow’s A Time to Stand

Adisa Johnson, a young African-American attorney, is living her dream of practicing law with a prestigious firm in downtown Atlanta. Then a split-second mistake changes the course of her career.

Left with no other options, Adisa returns to her hometown where a few days earlier a white police officer shot an unarmed black teen who is now lying comatose in the hospital.

Adisa is itching to jump into the fight as a special prosecutor, but feels pulled to do what she considers unthinkable—defend the officer.

As the court case unfolds, everyone in the small community must confront their own prejudices. Caught in the middle, Adisa also tries to chart her way along a path complicated by her budding relationship with a charismatic young preacher who leads the local movement demanding the police officer answer for his crime.

This highly relevant and gripping novel challenges us to ask what it means to forgive while seeking justice and to pursue reconciliation while loving others as ourselves.

Review

I love Robert Whitlow books. He writes fantastic legal fiction with a spiritual lense…that didn’t mean that I wasn’t hesitant to read this book once I read what it was about. Obviously US race relations are tense and let me tell you, I consider myself to be a Christian Evangelical, but half the time I can’t stand them. They drive me nuts when it comes to race relations. I have stopped reading an author who I liked because of what she would say about black Americans on her social media sites…thus I was worried. I didn’t want to start side-eyeing one of my favorite authors. I remember picking up this book and saying Whitlow you can either make me love your writing and make me hate it. Reader, I loved it.

What I liked:

Race relations. Whitlow could have chosen to really sugar coat this book and he didn’t. I thought he did a very accurate job of showing the suspicion on both sides of the racial line and of dealing with the fact that blacks and whites have a complex history. I love that he acknowledges it instead of shying away. You can’t deal with a problem if you pretend it’s not there.

Adisa. Adisa is a young black female attorney who works hard and loves the Lord. She is faced with quite a few challenges in this book. I did not envy her once. Nevertheless, she stays continually in prayer and trusts that God will work things out. She is a main character you can trust to make the right decisions and to handle delicate situation. When she faced difficult decisions, her thought process felt real.

Luke. I will admit he wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but Whitlow made him real. I managed to be both irritated at him and still want him to be cleared. So kudos Whitlow.

Law. I can never argue with Whitlow’s grasp of the legal field. As a lawyer, reading all that Adisa had to do made me tired. Poor girl.

Secondary characters. They are much needed to the telling of this story so that you can get different points of views. There is even a little romance (but this is a book that didn’t necessarily need it.).

How it wrapped up. I’m sure you would like to know. It worked.

Sidenote: Whitlow is either an aspiring chef or a foodie. He made me hungry on several occasions.

Spiritually, there is a great emphasis on the power of praying and how if you serve God, He will bless your descendants.

What I didn’t like:

I liked the entire book!

Romantic scale: 7

Overall, a wonderful book. I think Whitlow handled the topic beautifully. I was worried at first, but if anything he made me love his writing more. It was a book I couldn’t stop thinking about and read much faster than I intended.

**I received a copy from Netgalley. My opinion was not affected in anyway.**