The Protector (O'Malley, #4) by Dee Henderson

The Protector (O'Malley, #4) Reviews

• 
  Sarah Grace Grzy

  Wow! I loved this book! I am always hard-pressed to find clean-by-my-standards-of-clean suspense\mysteries, so I was very excited when my sister recommended this to me!
  
  The O'Malley family is a very unorthodox, but very sweet family! I love their close-knit and caring relationship. It actually reminded me a lot of my family. Jack was a phenomenal character, and my favorite of all the siblings, I think. I really enjoyed reading his story.
  
  The plot\mystery was well thought out and very suspenseful. It left me guessing numerous times! (And I'm usually pretty good at guessing the culprit. ;) It was a shocker when I finally got the end climax scene!
  
  CONTENT NOTE: I don't remember there being much in the way of questionable material . . . there is romance, but it is very sweet and wholesome. He does visit her apartment quite frequently and they are often alone, but he is very respectful, and never pushy, and nothing intimate ever happens. There is violence and a few deaths, but for the most part, it was very non-descript. I think that's all . . . I haven't read it in awhile, so I could be missing something. :P
  
  All in all, a very good book! Definitely something I would read over and over again! I read it in literally 24 hours, if that tells you how good it was! One thing I really liked about it was that I could just pick this up, and understand it, even though it was in the middle of a series. Highly recommended!
• 
  Jenny Jo Weir

  Christian fiction, mystery and action! Heck yeah. This series has been fun and entertaining. I like that each book has a specific person that is being witnessed to and is struggling with doubts. I like how the author intertwines their doubts into the story line and touches on different questions. Looking forward to more.
• 
  Mikayla

  This was probably my favorite O'Malley book yet. I loved hearing more about Jack, and his job. I loved Cassie. <3
  The plot of this one was a nice breather after how intense the last one was.
  My only complaint was how little the O'Malley family interaction there was. I was sad to see only brief appearances from most of the siblings.
  
  >>November 2019. Loved it even more the second time. Really did miss all the O'Malley's though!
• 
  Victoria Lynn

  I liked this book very much! Jack was one of my favorite characters from the get-go of the series, and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know him better and to understand some of his quirks. Cassie was also a very relatable character, someone I saw a lot of myself in actually. Unfortunately, I had a hard time understanding the plot because I took a week long break smack dab in the middle of the book. Not a great idea! LOL! But the story was great and I loved it! I can't wait to have this series on my bookshelf. Another thing worth mentioning is Dee Henderson's descriptions of a firefighters life. I have always been immensely grateful for the people who sacrifice their lives and time for such a noble profession. I was fascinated by the details and incredibly thankful for the individuals who do this for a living.
  
  Includes: a suicide, and various arson scenes described. Actually one of the tamer and cleaner O'Malley books. Recommended for ages 14+
• 
  Natalie Vellacott

  The story in this book isn't bad, but the theology is all over the place...
  
  For those of you wondering why I keep reading this series when I've been seriously underwhelmed to date, it's because I got the whole series free.
  
  Honestly, these books aren't bad and if I wanted something mindless to read on holiday I might pick them up, but I really can't understand the many 4 and 5 star reviews especially as the series progresses. The three books I've read to date are virtually identical to each other and extremely predictable.
  
  There is a back story either to do with the police or fire dept, in this case, it's an arsonist targeting members of the fire dept because he's upset about budget cuts. The back story in this book was slightly more interesting than the previous two. Then, there is a developing romance between one of the O'Malley siblings and a new character. If the O'Malley sibling is a Christian, the new character inevitably isn't and vice versa. In fact, I could hardly believe that the author used the exact same theme for this book as the previous two. She's basically working through the O'Malleys and converting them one by one through romantic relationships with non-believers. Sigh...
  
  I've written extensively about this subject elsewhere. Christians cannot date, court or marry non-believers. In all of these books, believers are flirting with temptation, developing romantic relationships with non-believers and then begging God to convert them. This will do damage to readers struggling in this area, especially when the non-believer converts despite the disobedience of the Christian...
  
  "No one ever said witnessing was easy. You've got to step back and get your priorities straight. It's wrong to flirt and mess up Jack's head only to draw back later because you can't marry someone who's not a Christian. Be a true friend and convince him about Jesus."
  
  Wise advice, but realistically cross-gender witnessing when you're already attracted to someone is impossible. It also means that the author knows that it's wrong to encourage this type of relationship, yet she still uses this as a theme for all of her books.
  
  I also had issues with the way the Gospel is presented. At the beginning of the book it is suggested that Jesus came to earth with nothing to prove but the Father's love, rather than obedience to the Father who had sent Him for a purpose. Later, we see a serious misunderstanding of the Gospel message:
  
  "Jesus chose to lay down His life to save us. And God the Father let Jesus make that choice, not because He didn't love His Son, but because He had decided in turn to express His own love for His Son and raise Jesus from the dead. God honoured the sacrifice His Son made.....Jesus made a huge sacrifice but God the Father actually made a larger one. He let the one He called His beloved Son be humiliated and murdered. Can you imagine how hard it was to sit on His hands and allow that to happen?"
  
  If this is what happened. We have to ask the question, who was punishing Jesus on the cross? From this account, it appears that Jesus fell victim to humans and God just watched powerlessly. This is a denial of substitutionary atonement which is key to saving faith. It is this heresy which is espoused by people like Steve Chalke who coined the phrase "cosmic child abuse" and refused to believe the truth.
  
  God actually punished Jesus on the cross. He poured out His wrath on Him. This is why we talk about a great exchange and Jesus being our substitute. He was literally punished for our sin so that we might be free of it. The resurrection proves that the sacrifice of Jesus was acceptable to God because He reversed the effects of the curse by defeating death. What happened at the cross was not just an expression of God or Jesus' love for us, it was a necessary transaction that had to take place for us to be saved from the curse of sin.
  
  Later in the book we have a character finally being convinced that Jesus is alive and equating this with being a Christian. The demons knew Jesus was alive....saving faith involves repentance; turning away from sin and putting our whole faith and trust in what Jesus did on the cross.
  
  I can only recommend for mature believers who can overlook the massive theological problems with this book.
• 
  Andrea Cox

  While Jack and Cole were a smidge more controlling of Cassie than I liked, this book is still one of my favorites. There's just something about firefighters that I can't help but admire. The way they risk their own safety and lives in order to save others is reminiscent of Jesus's sacrifice to save me, and I think that is one reason why I've read this book three times now (as of 1/24/18). The O'Malleys are one of my favorite fictional families, and it's always a pleasure to read their stories. It's fun to talk about them with real-life friends too.
  
  I was not compensated for my honest review.
• 
  Notbagels

  This was probably my least favorite, although there's nothing wrong with the story. It's just, at this point in the series, I'm a little bit over "protectorman must save damselgirl from badguy threat." Just once, I'd like the girl to do the protecting. Which, okay, Cassie kind of did. Whatever.
  
  I was also a little worn out on the "Non-Christian _______ O'Malley meets Christian love interest; finds Jesus, too" storyline. How about meeting a non-christian and seeking Jesus together? How about finding Jesus in a sibling's book and wrestling with being a new Christian in a new relationship in their own book (spoilers, that's the next book)? OR! Having a very new faith and falling for a non-believer from you life before Christ and not knowing quite how to approach it all? That might have been more interesting. There are just a lot of situations to explore here and Henderson uses the same plot over again. But! I liked Jack and I do love me some firefighters, so overall, it was good. Just a little redundant.
• 
  Kaitlyn Krispense

  I somehow knew even before I picked it up that this would be my favorite of the series.
  
  THAT WAS SO GOOD.
  
  I love Jack. I just...yeah. His entire character.
  
  I love Cassie. Her personality was as magnetic to me as it was to Jack (*smirk*) and the fact that she runs a bookstore and just loves books in general was a huge plus.
  
  And the romance? It...was actually really sweet. They weren't caught up in the romance of it all (aka no smooching all over the place *gag*) but I actually approved of it and I loved to see the way they cared for each other.
• 
  Brooke (i blog 4 books)

  Another great visit with the O'Malleys! Jack is primarily portrayed as a prankster, a funny man in the earlier books, but we get to see much more of who he is in The Protector. The relationship between he and Cassie was beautiful, and it was nice to see a romantic relationship develop around someone who wasn't your typical beauty.
• 
  Victoria

  The action is just right, and the O'Malleys are awesome. But come on now, is EVERY book in this series going to center around a Christian "not dating" (but totally dating) a nonchristian, leading naturally and necessarily to a conversion?
• 
  Sarah

  I loved this one so much. Somehow, I forgot to mark it as read when I read it in December.
• 
  Amanda Tero

  This one was really good. I loved the firefighter scenes so much!
  
  Again, I read this a few weeks back and a lot of life has happened since then. I really, really loved Jack's and Cassie's friendship, especially how Cassie wasn't this perfect, beautiful gal because of her injuries.
  
  The mystery had me guessing, which I really liked. It was a sad ending, but well done.
  
  I love the Christian themes that Henderson weaves into her stories (again, slightly annoyed about the Christians who practically date non-Christians even though they "really aren't"). Every single one of the O'Malley books have had a great message--and different themes. It has been really neat to read them all.
• 
  Abigail Harris

  RTC
• 
  Maria

  WOW!! Another fantastic addition to the O'Malley series!! What a novel! I really really REALLY enjoyed it!!
  Jack and Cassie's journey was one that I was really privileged to go on. It was enjoyably fast-paced and kept me turning the pages all day! Jack and Cassie are such a good pair and Henderson really developed their character and relationship well. I have to say that this is one of my favourite novels I've read this year and considering I go through about 300+ novels a year; a great novel!! It challenges the reader in the aspects of faith and who God is. Whether you believe in God or not, this novel will definitely make you think, and it faces the issue of who God is with different and unique perspectives.
  One part that I really enjoyed about the novel were the firefighter elements! It was super exciting to see inside the life of a firefighter. I've always admired firefighters, but even more so after reading this novel! Fell in love with the whole novel from the setting to the characters!! Great to also see Rachel and Cole's relationship start and progress. Now on to their story in 'The Healer'!!
  I would really highly recommend this novel!! A must read for all!!
• 
  Hannah

  I really enjoyed this story a great deal. It's pleasant to see improvement in Henderson's writing style; there are still errors, and some places where the meaning is obscured, but not on every single page.
  
  What gets me every time is these incredible characters. I wish I could meet this family! And I loved all the precise details about what a firefighter does each day, how the shifts work, how the firemen interact with each other...I learned quite a lot of interesting details. I also loved that it took some serious guessing to even narrow down who the culprit might be. I'll probably be reading Rachel's story next week!
• 
  Rachael

  Really enjoyed this one. Jack just may be my favorite male O'Malley, though that's a tough one.
  
  The mystery plot was great, characters very well done, and I love the strong faith theme. There aren't as many Christian books nowadays with the strong salvation message in like these classics! Very glad I decided to go back and re-read. Thoroughly enjoying them.
• 
  Micaiah

  HMMM CONFLICTED 🤔
• 
  Deidra

  Continuing my re-read month, I'm over halfway finished with this series. The O'Malley series focuses on a family that were all in an orphanage. They adopted each other because they had no family. They became their own family. Each book focusing on a different sibling. I love them.
  
  Jack's story centers around his job as a firefighter. In the last book, we learned that they were closing fire stations. Jack's life is starting to be majorly affected by that. Between that and dealing with his sister's cancer, Jack is really struggling.
  
  In the midst of the chaos, he has developed feelings for a fellow former firefighter. Cassie was injured a couple of years ago in a major fire. Where she developed her relationship with God in a deeper way, her partner is MIA. Now it seems like someone wants to make everyone's life miserable. There is an arsonist on the loose. The book is full of mystery and heartwarming moments. Jack is a joker who tries to make people's lives better. Reading his story makes me feel good about people.
• 
  Gracelyn S

  I really liked it! But I feel like it's the same as the other books in the story line. There's the main character who falls in love but can't be with the other because of their belief. Something dramatic happens and it causes the main character or the other to turn to Christ, and in the end they end up together. The situations do change, but I feel like the general concept is the same. But to be honest, I'm a sucker for this kind of book (Christian, Romance, Mystery) and so I love it anyway haha. I'm on the 5th one right now.
• 
  Sarah

  This book was really good. Jack is one of my favorite of the O'Mallys.
• 
  Marah McKissick

  It’s my favorite (and most believe able) love story in the series so far.
  The ending was hard to following. I’m still not sure I understand it. So it’s okay. I’m really only reading these to finish out the series.
• 
  Jessica

  I loved the character of Jack...throughout all the series...his character made me laugh with his antics. His story showed the person under all the jokes. He fought God a lot too....Cassie shows him God throughout the story....the part where she pleads with him not to go to Hell...really touched me....Cassie being a burn victim herself knows the feeling of being burned....it struck a cord with me that she's a knows a little of what Hell will be like and how awful it would be....I can't explain it...it just got to me....Jack is just an endearing character....
• 
  Olivia

  A great story; intense like the others. One thing I liked better in this one was how the romance wasn't as heavy and focused on. I was partly surprised at who was the arsonist, although I considered him at the beginning. You will love Cassie, who is partly deaf, and bares the scares from being trapped in a fire. And you will like Jack for his strength, but also for his good jokes and teasing.
• 
  Julie Graves

  Re-read 10/28/14
  reread 2/12/19
• 
  Megan

  Another great book from Dee Henderson focusing on the O'Malley family. I really liked Jack a lot! He was different to me then a lot of heroes. Jack was funny and always trying to bring a smile to others' faces. At the same time he struggled with the idea of faith in Jesus as well as his sister's cancer. I also really liked Cassie and of course I enjoyed catching up with the other O'Malleys. I found the subject of firefighters and fires really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot from this book. I will say I thought this book started out a little slow, but it definitely picked up and kept me guessing till the end. Looking forward to reading Rachel's story next!
• 
  Ed

  This is another fabulous novel in the O'Malley series. In all of Dee Henderson's O'Malley books you find lost people turning to Christ. I like the deep circumstances that the Lord brings upon people to help them see the need for salvation. You can learn a lot about counseling people through these novels. These books are fiction, but you can learn much about the Savior through the experiences of the characters in these books. The Bible is referred to often throughout her stories.