Three Gates to Hell by B.F. Randall

Three Gates to Hell by B.F. Randall
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Iron Stream Fiction (March 26, 2024)

REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS

Bobby Richards is a man’s man: a Vietnam combat vet, a police officer, a prison chaplain (in San Quentin!), a devoted husband, and a dad. Bobby is the first-person narrator in this crime-procedural novel that’s so suspenseful it feels like Bobby’s on a tightrope with no net and you’re riding piggyback.

The story uses a framing device. It starts with Bobby as an older prison chaplain (did I mention San Quentin?!) then spends a good amount of time back when he was a police officer in the sometimes violent San Francisco Bay area. There are a few Vietnam flashbacks, too.

I was curious about the title Three Gates to Hell, but Randall reveals what it means about eighty percent of the way through the book. The revelation made me claustrophobic and prompted me to pray for both those who are locked up and those who minister to the prisoners.

Bobby prays too, but not at first. He’s a skeptical, injured, angry veteran. But we know from the framing device that Bobby eventually becomes a chaplain, so how did it happen? The novel shows Bobby’s gradual awareness of God’s hand in his life until at last he surrenders to Jesus. Bobby may have cried. I may have cried with him.

I kept thinking during Bobby’s shifts as a police officer and the scenes when he is a chaplain that Randall himself must have been in law enforcement. The terminology and the careful approaches to situations—this wasn’t merely a Saturday night TV cop show. This book sounded like the real deal:

“Go ahead, Xray-12,” came the response.
“I may have a four-five-nine in progress,” I said. “Check the emergency call sheet for the Safeway on Alhambra Avenue.”
“Ten-four, Xray-12. Need cover?”
“Negative.” I didn’t want the whole Southside to roll in.

&

The security vest was to protect me from being stabbed in the upper torso … The safety glasses were to protect my eyes if I was “gassed,” which is what inmates call throwing human waste into the faces of the guards.

-B.F. Randall, Three Gates to Hell

When I finished the book, I hurried to the author bio at the back to confirm my suspicions. Surely Randall was a police officer. Surely he worked in the prison system either as a chaplain or knew some chaplains. Gasp, there was no author bio! I took off half a fish because I had to “go fish” (haha) elsewhere. Randall’s bio on Amazon is succinct but good, and yes, he was both a police officer and a prison chaplain at San Quentin.

Overall, Three Gates to Hell is a powerful, pulse-pounding story with a strong Christian message. Loved it, 4.5 fish!

I read Three Gates to Hell through Kindle Unlimited.