If you've ever walked into the middle of a conversation, you know how discomfiting it can be. You want to know what's going on, but you've missed so much of the story that you're just confused and feel somewhat out of place.

For this same reason, I generally avoid reading any entry in a series of books unless I've read them in order, from the first volume.

Facing the Enemy is actually the third of a four volume series following the Williams family, contemporaries of Joseph Smith, members of the Church, and witness to its significant early events.

I was a bit dismayed when I realized I had entered the middle of a conversation; I was delighted to realize I hadn't known this until I'd read the back cover of the book, and this after finishing the novel! The book was complete in itself.

Facing the Enemy picks up the story of the Williams family as they struggle through the Saints' sojourn at Far West. Young Joseph Williams and his older brother Matthew are involved in the struggle to survive in the transient city. When it appears that they Saints have finally found a place to live in peace, some of their neighbors, intent on driving them out of the state, begin making trouble.

Matthew joins a group of Mormon defenders whose identity is kept secret from the rest of the family (turns out to be Avard's Danite band), while Joseph is enlisted to perform a few tasks suited to a young boy, including a reconnaissance mission to Haun's Mill. He there witnesses the aftermath of the massacre, and determines right then to avenge the deaths of his fellow Saints.

Returning to Far West, Joseph encounters a woman and her young child, whose home had been burned. Assuming she was Mormon, he offers his help, but is stunned to learn that she's a gentile, and that her home was destroyed by the Mormons.

Confused and angry, Joseph confronts Matthew, demanding to know whether his own people could act so horribly. Matthew is reluctant to discuss the Danite band, but he finally comes clean to his younger brother. And here is where "Facing the Enemy" becomes a very adult book. Joseph finds himself wondering how to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys.

     "Matthew, all these years, since we came out here, it's always been the old settlers. They were the bad ones. But now it's us too."
     "No, Joseph. Most of the Saints would never act that way. A lot more of the old settlers have done these things."
     Joseph stood and thought. The numbers didn't seem to matter very much at the moment. Things had always been simple before today. The bad people had always been on the other side.

Joseph enters into a moral struggle, one that we've all fought. When we were children, the lines seemed so straight and clean. As we grow older, however, things begin to blur, and we come to depend more and more on the Holy Spirit to lead us into making right decisions.

Dean Hughes has written a very good book, treating a difficult subject with compassion and understanding. I look forward to finding the other three entries in this series, and being involved in the whole conversation!

[Jeff Needle]

... nfx v3.1 jeff.needle@general.com