A Haunt of Jackals

If you're looking for a novel that has a happy ending, don't read this book. This is a very sad novel. Which is precisely the point. Its aim is not to give us a warm fuzzy feeling, but to make us recoil over the horrors of abortion, feel ashamed, and motivate us to do something about it. As a pro-life activist, DeParrie is well qualified to write a book like this. As he notes in the after-word "This story is not really fiction. I have merely compiled true stories from within the pro-life movement." What this brilliant work of fiction does is convey the truth - a horrible truth about abortion. It is a story well-researched, and well-written. By means of several intertwining plot-lines, DeParrie successfully and comprehensively covers nearly all the important issues relating to abortion, including the emotional and psychological trauma suffered by post-abortion mothers, the legal history of abortion, the judicial and legal bias and corruption against the pro-life movement, the selfish motivation that frequently accompanies abortion, the lies advanced by the pro-choice (make that: pro-abortion) movement. Yet DeParrie is fair to both sides of the debate - he first pictures the situation from a pro-choice perspective and initially portrays the pro-life movement as anti-abortionist radicals. Throughout the novel he presents all the arguments raised by the pro-choice movement, and lets them speak for themselves with their own reasoning.But in the end, these arguments are shown to be what they really are: selfish, and hollow, and merely covering up the unavoidable truth that abortion is murder. DeParrie heightens his point with a unique authorial device of describing part of the story from the perspective of the newly conceived baby.As a reader, you may not find yourself completely agreeing with DeParrie on all accounts, but you are sure to gain respect for his view-point. For instance, if you do not already agree with DeParrie's defence of civil disobedience by form of peaceful protest will certainly make you rethink your position on this controversial matter. One criticism I do have to make is DeParrie's description of a protester's "Jesus loves you" sign, which seems entirely inconsistent with the message on the back cover of the book "The wrath of God is coming." It seems to me that the message of the cover is in this case correct - there is no love for those who reject Jesus, and the wrath of God remains on all those who do not repent from their sins, including the sins of abortion (Jn 3:36).In the end we are left with the grisly facts that will bring tears to your eyes. The grisly content is certainly suitable for mature readers only, but all who regard themselves as mature will greatly benefit by reading it. In such a novel, there can be no happy ending - not for the unborn babies, nor for the pro-life protesters. And in the end, there is no happy ending - and a good thing too, because it would only have softened the author's terr