Review – The Watchers

In today’s world, every author, writer/songwriter, musician, and filmmaker is faced with a quandary that’s almost biblical in proportions: “There is nothing new under the sun”. Especially in the world of fiction, authors must undoubtedly struggle with the looming feeling that every story has already been told, and they face the pressure of putting unique spins and crafting original takes on stories that have been told over and over again.

Sometimes, that’s the barometer for judging a good book versus a great book; when reading a “good” book, readers think to themselves at the end, “That was good, but it’s been done before”. When finishing a “great” book, the reader is conscious this plot isn’t new, but some wispy intangible in the story’s narrative – be it the strength of the characters, vivid description, introspective first person narrative, or unique perspective – elevates it past that, and the reader thinks, “That was unbelievable!”.

The Watchers, by Mark Andrew Olsen, is written well, a few of its characters are interesting – the strongest, in my mind is assassin-turned-protector, Dylan Hatfield – and Olsen crafts suspense well enough, but the overall plot simply falls into the former category: a good, solid read that’s suspenseful, written well?but it’s been done before. For example: A young girl plagued with nightmares and visions is hunted by an ancient, ruthless Order older than time itself as she races to uncover the truth about herself and a mysterious, holy group of woman who are also being hunted by this evil, dark Order. Along the way, an assassin who’s always “followed” orders discovers a deeper truth as they hurtle on a global adventure that will reveal the truth about who they are, and who they will become.

Now for the disclaimer: this is not a bad book, by any means. For most of the novel, the sheer suspense and action is engaging, though I found myself far more interested in Dylan’s character, which seemed much deeper and more complex than the main female protagonist, Abby Sherman?who at times was flat, one dimensional, and uninspiring (of course, perhaps that’s just because I’m a guy). However, this need not be a gender-related thing: I just found it too convenient that these tremendous visions and dreams would come to someone who was already an ardent, passionate, zealous Christian. For me, I would’ve been much more engaged if Abby had been unsaved, and struggled with the meaning of visions through her unbelief. Also, Dylan Hatfield conveniently comes to salvation halfway through the novel, so everything is wrapped up nicely and neatly.

The bad guys are a little too predictable, and a usual pet peeve of mine: like many CBA novels, the dialogue for these evil bad guys is sanitized, watered down. As I’ve said many times before, I’m certainly not a proponent for allowing rampant swearing in Christian novels, but at some point the story’s realism breaks down when a hardened covert operative who’s sold his soul to evil and kills for sport and pleasure calls everyone either “fools” or “losers” for the whole novel. I certainly don’t want to be exposed to a trash-mouth, but when I read that, a little alarm trips off in my head and I think: ‘there’s just no way a guy like that would really say that’.

In the end, The Watchers definitely has my recommendation as a good read, and fans of a certain genre and plotline will definitely enjoy this tale, however, though it isn’t a bad story or novel, it just falls into my former category listed above: a “good” story that’s been told before.