Bibles and Ball Bats — Chris Allen

Lucas Atwood has it pretty good. His family owns a car dealership, his parents actually like each other, and he can play the infield as well as anyone in Giles County. His best friend, Junk Maybaum, has small, circular scars on both shoulders that no one ever speaks of, and he swings a bat like an act of God. Terry Ingles has a reputation for sleeping around and for painting the corners with his slider and curve. They plan on teaching baseball for a week in Chisinau, Moldova, but their mission changes radically when an orphan girl goes missing. “Went to rescue Oxana from traffickers. Be back ASAP,” reads the note they leave for their youth minister. “Prayers appreciated.” Guided by Anatoli, an orphan with a gift for maps, and armed with baseball bats, they wade through the seediest parts of Chisinau, coming face to face with some of the vilest criminals on Earth. The boys wrestle with their own morality during an increasingly violent effort to save Oxana before she disappears into the abyss of human trafficking.