When a U.S. Senate seat becomes available, the lives of divergent Chicago leaders converge. Megachurch pastor Eric Snow, newspaper reporter Garry Snider, lawyer Tom O’Sullivan, and Judge Reese McKelvie have one thing in common—ambition—which leads to corruption, violence, and murder. Strobel, who was an award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and a teaching pastor for two of America’s largest churches, gives readers a compelling insider’s view and critique of megachurches and newspaper publishers. Though somewhat predictable and preachy, The Ambition is an entertaining novel. (Zondervan)