As the old saying goes, “You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.” Wait…that’s not it. Try: “You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.” In Soul Stealer by Kimberley Troutte, Sara’s inherited a rare heart condition which has claimed the lives of just about all her family members other than herself. Determined not to worry about her inevitable lack of longevity, she focuses on her life’s goal, providing a safe haven for the homeless. Just when she’s beaten City Hall and claimed the old JC Penney building as a future shelter, Death comes knocking in the form of a dark, sexy man named Cain.

Um, yes, Cain as in Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s first born son. In case you don’t know how the Biblical story went after everyone was booted out of Eden, Cain became a farmer, a man who grew crops and nourished growing things. His much more carefree brother, Abel, preferred livestock. Angered that God seemed to favor Abel over Cain, he killed his brother. In Ms. Trouette’s rendition, it’s an accidental murder. In any case, Cain is now condemned to lead Death’s minions.

Two weeks. That’s all Sara figures she needs to get the shelter ready. She begs Cain for more time and ultimately barters sexual favors in exchange for the two-week extension. Cain is intrigued and agrees to this offer, thus setting off a chain reaction of demons and creatures seeking Sara’s unclaimed soul. St. Joseph, Eve, St. Peter, Abel, and yes, even God, make cameo appearances in this tale. Unfortunately for Cain, he hadn’t counted on falling madly in love with Sara.

For the General of Death, taking Sara’s life at the end of two weeks will prove to be problematic.

Other than having the absolute longest acknowledgment page I’ve ever seen in a fiction book, Soul Stealer does little to distinguish itself from other paranormal stories out there. Don’t get me wrong -- it’s a good tale, a quick read, something that wets your appetite, makes you giggle in spots, and sigh in others. From a Christian perspective, it probably walks the fine line between creative license and blasphemousness, but it’s certainly not as over-the-top as Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. Would I recommend it to friends? Definitely. Would I read it again? Eh, probably not. Sara comes across as a little too Mary Sue-ish, unable to do anything wrong, totally and blindly dedicated to her cause. Cain comes across as ϋber brooding (though I’d probably brood, too, if I murdered my sibling). The plague of frogs caught my attention, but as soon as St. Joseph was called down from heaven to help build the homeless shelter’s bunk beds, I started cringing. Soul Stealer is well-written, well-paced, and put together with care; it’s just my grade school daily Mass background that makes it a guilty pleasure to read rather than a 100% enjoyable experience. Don’t take my opinion as Gospel. Read it for yourself.