IVES ANDRICH A Man Among Men Part Three

Ives in The Lost Days In The Lost Days, the third book in the series, readers experience Ives on a differ - ent level: quiet, stoic, regretful, pensive and a bit lost, yet still in complete com - mand of his actions, emotions and thoughts. In a way, he is strangely deliber - ate. Perhaps Walzinski observation said it best in book one: Drowning in those per - sonal ideals, Ives looked away and his tears tumbled to his shirtfront. It was nearly impossible for Walzinski to watch this dis - play of powerlessness. Ives commanded so many, while he bore the burdens of his country in one hand, and tempered his power with justice and wisdom in the other. To control so many lives, but not control your own life, was a prime seat between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Once again, Ives was is in that place. He cannot go back to the way it was before the disaster at the end of The Chase, and determining how to continue is a task he alone must figure out. The reader is included in his deepest and most private thoughts and emotions. They live with him, his doubts and fears; however, they also live his trust in God as he continues to give his entire life over to God. Trust is a fragile emotion and sometimes, time is the key to it. Through all the pain, Ives knows God’s timing is best. From all he has been through, there are two distinct personas to Ives: the first is his outer persona that is the influential gov - ernment agent as he is the second most powerful man in law enforcement in the world. The second, the inner man, is a man humbled by events which he could not con - trol. Coming to terms with his lack of con - trol is an ever-constant lesson. An invisible dragon he must slay, which is the complete opposite of his life as a special agent with the Bureau. With them, he knows who his targets are. They are flesh and blood, but now he has to cope with the invisible. And he does so by deep contemplation of the events in his life. Ives knows that the essence of the inner man is to always search for truth. So, in book three, when a strange man comes on the scene, talking about Allina, Ives’ “Spidey Sense” is immediately alerted. We’ve seen it before. In book one when he circles around the block to find Allina and the dogs as it reads: Turning to face for - ward, he shook his head at the anxious sensation that persisted; he felt as if that would be the last time he would see her. “Drive around the block and find Mrs. Andrich and the boys,” he ordered, then he called his office to say he would be late for his appointment. In book two when talking to his longtime friend, Dr. Richard Bland - ings, about Shepherd’s next move it reads: “Or he may die doing it,” Ives said. Just then, he got a knot in the pit of his stomach and an odd surge, like a shiver, ran up the length of his spine. In book three, he has more ominous feelings of dread. But it is up to the reader to determine if it is his extreme connection to Allina, is God speaking to him, is it his bureau training, or a combination of all of them. Through all his trials in his life and career, this situation, where Allina goes missing and is declared dead by the bureau, Ives faith is tested beyond anything he could have imagined for himself. However, he endures and his faith in God’s ability to turn all wrongs into something for His glory is rewarded as he is proven right, that Allina did not die when she stepped off that pier and fell into the storm ridden waters of the Lower Narrows of the New York Harbor. But what happens next, is a new twist in the plot of Ives’ life.