In "The Dark Birth of the Secret Council," Tracy Cavelli takes the reader on a journey with Trisha as she attempts to make sense of God’s messages to her in her dreams while evil forces are building a secret council.

Two storylines — good and evil — Trisha, a writer and champion for God, and Charles, a powerful businessman. Charles believes the golden rule is “he who has the gold, rules,” while Trisha has devoted her life to faith charity, even marrying a youth pastor.

The story opens when Trisha has started having vivid dreams that feel as if she’s been teleported to another realm. Every time she transports, she finds comfort and protection from God when confronted by threats like dragons. Every dream seems to be pushing her to the truth behind a secret council.

Charles is organizing a council of men through blackmail and threats to complete a ritual that I can only imagine is meant to maintain the wealth and power held by 6 prominent families. As he contacts each representative of the 6 families, he uses a Faustian bargain they’ve made to force their participation.

I found Charles to be a fascinating character. He was charming and people in his orbit were drawn to him while others — stronger of faith — found him to be scary. He was the embodiment of temptation.

On the other side of the coin, Trisha was written as someone who leads with her belief in God and attracts people to help uncover the mystery of her dreams, much like a shepherd attracting a flock. On her mission to decode clues from her dreams, her husband, pastor and friends don’t hesitate to help.

The moral of the story, in my opinion, is that temptation can lead to good or bad, but if you surround yourself with the right people, you will be protected and supported in the light. Living in fear shackles you to darkness.

I’ve had the opportunity to read other faith-based novels with subtle messaging. This was much more straightforward in its intentions. When the main characters ask for God’s help, they will overcome the evil trying to destroy their lives. Within the overarching storyline of stopping Charles, each character is confronting the sins that have brought them to a critical juncture in life. His control is based on the representative of each family’s life being owned by evil, which can only be freed by asking for forgiveness and giving control over God.

This was well written and a quick read. Certainly suspenseful. I was engaged in the story and how Trisha would stop the secret council from following through on their evil agenda. It will keep you guessing until the end, leaving quite a cliffhanger for book 2.