book review: Light Under the House by Aaron L. and Donna Dawson

Light under the House by Aaron L. and Donna Dawson is a family saga in which we follow several generations of the Levi/Quince clan. We see how the decisions and choices of one era impact the next, and witness how the results of bad choices expand to impact many beyond the family circle.

The story starts out simply, almost like a fable or parable (the opening scenes reminded me of the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible). However, it soon becomes much more complicated and unpredictable as fantasy and paranormal elements enter the plot. In some places the writing reminded me of apocalyptic passages from the Old Testament prophets and Revelation. Other scenes took me back to Pilgrim’s Progress. In still other places I saw similarities to modern tales where characters go in search of religious artifacts (e.g. The Ark by Boyd Morrison).

The book is labeled Christian suspense, but overt Christian content is practically non-existent until the last few chapters. Though there are references to biblical imagery in various places (the biblical character Jezebel figures prominently in the book; in one vision John Quince sees a lamb; in another a stone crashes into and topples an idol; and in still another he experiences an ever-rising flood of water), the meaning of these story elements is never explained.

I wasn’t sure if the authors were attempting to evoke the Bible themes they suggested or were using these scenes as a simple link to the Bible, as in causing us to ask: Where have I seen that before? Ah, the Bible. By the end we discover that the Jezebel theme is meant to convey all that that character conveyed in the Bible. Similarly, the theme of light and dark — note the title — runs true to biblical form.

In trying to understand my reaction to the book, something writer Sol Stein says about reading and writing came to mind: “…the reader most wants an experience different from and richer than what he daily abides in life …. Good writing is supposed to evoke the sensation in the reader, not the fact that it’s raining, but the feeling of being rained upon” – Stein on Writing, p. 8.

In that last sense this book has lots of good writing. The description is detailed. The interactions between people are believable. The conversations are realistic. The conflicts are intense. The fights are brutal. The taste of blood is metallic...

The trouble is, I didn’t enjoy the amount of time I had to spend submerged in this story’s dark places, amplified because they are portrayed with graphic realism. This story contains a lot of violence, abuse, mayhem, and murder. There are many sexually suggestive scenes. None of the characters is in a good place emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually. Up till two thirds of the way through the book I had to force myself to read on. The story does end on a positive note, though.

According to author Aaron L.'s recent Blogcritics interview, the book is somewhat autobiographical in that it deals with a lot of his personal issues. For someone wrestling with the same demons, the book will no doubt come across differently than it did to me, and may well provide a sense of companionship and hope.

The anything-goes setting was also a problem for me. So many things just happened out of the blue. For example, two characters were in the supposedly secure compound of an estate, but then were assaulted by a host of intruders with not even any puzzlement on the part of the victim as to how they got in. People appeared and disappeared willy nilly. Half the time I didn’t know whether the main character was having a vision or experiencing "reality" — and sometimes neither did he. The journey through the random setting the authors created— a universe in which there seemed to be no rules and anything the writers dreamed up could happen — left me disoriented.

As you can see, this book is not my preferred genre. However, if suspense/fantasy/paranormal is yours, and you like it served up by flawed, edgy characters via a plot that is completely unpredictable, Light under the House may be your cup of tea.

Aaron L. is a newcomer to writing fiction. He was recently interviewed for a Blogcritics article. Donna Dawson is an award-winning Canadian writer and the author of numerous books.

(I received this book as a gift for the purpose of writing a review.)

Title: Light Under the House
Author: Aaron L. and Donna Dawson
Publisher: Ravensbrook Press, October 2011, paperback, 362 pages
ISBN-10: 0615556035
ISBN-13: 978-0615556031

book review The Watcher by Sara Davison

The Watcher, Ontario native Sara Davison’s debut novel, is not for the faint of heart. Set in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, this offering of contemporary romantic suspense is riveting in more ways than one.

The story is rife with foreboding and danger. Twenty years after the crime which wrecks all of Kathryn Ellison’s youthful plans, she is almost ready to let a new man into her life. But first she must cut ties to the past and deal with her 19-year-old daughter’s quest to find her father.

As Kathryn sorts through an old shoebox of memorabilia she remembers, and we are dropped into a soup of issues. We see that God doesn’t stop bad things from happening to His children. Truth will always come out. Consequences are inevitable. Forgiveness is key. Good things can come from evil situations. Above all, grace is tenacious.

Davison’s action scenes are dynamite. She knows how to ratchet up the tension (of which there is plenty) and how to relax us and put us off our guard. The story comes out in a puzzle-piece manner, giving the reader lots of opportunity for discovery and participation.

Davison tells the story through a celestial being (the watcher). What a great perspective this quirky narrator provides with the ability to sense human thoughts, feel emotions, move effortlessly from one location to another, recognize cohorts (like Faith, Grace, Courage, Fear etc. and in this way explore another spiritual layer), and provide welcome comic relief: “Of all things human, coffee is the thing I crave the most. I’ve never tasted it, of course, but the smell alone is enough to curl my toes in equal parts delight and envy” (Kindle Location 1212).

Canadian fiction has a fresh new voice in Sara Davison. (The Watcher won the 2010 Word Alive Publishing Contest – fiction category.)

Title: THE WATCHER
Author: Sara Davison
Paperback: 352 pages 
Publisher: Word Alive Press (February 22, 2011), Paperback, 352 pages (Kindle version also available)

• ISBN-10: 1770691456
• ISBN-13: 978-1770691452

(Review first published in the September/October issue of Faith Today.)

book review: The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt

In The Fine Art of Insincerity, author Angela Hunt takes us through one grueling weekend in the lives of three sisters. They meet on St. Simons Island (Georgia U.S.A.) to empty out their deceased grandmother’s beach house, but end up going through a lot more stuff than just what their grandmother left behind.

Hunt gives each sister – oldest Ginger, middle Pennyroyal, and youngest Rose — a voice of her own to the extent of setting each speaker’s chapters in its own font. Each woman speaks in first person, present tense, giving the story a feel of immediacy. Chapters are titled with the name of the speaker so there’s never any doubt as to whose head we’re in.

In this way Hunt explores the impact of a childhood that was colored by trauma and parental abandonment, the parenting of a loving grandmother, that grandmother’s own series of husbands, and the birth-order roles that each of the girls has played and continues to play.

I enjoyed the way Hunt brought out the issues between the sisters by putting them in singular situations or together to let us watch them be bossy, argue, weep, avoid, sneak around, flirt etc., allowing us as readers to draw our own conclusions about each character.

As the title suggests, there are people with honesty issues in this story. Other themes that get top billing are sibling roles, the fact that things are often not as they appear, the importance of communication, and an exploration of what love really looks like – in families and in marriage. Religious faith, though present (an epigraph quoting 1 Corinthians 13 opens the book) plays a minor role in this story.

This character-driven book is not fast-moving or particularly exciting. But it does give us a chance to get to know these three women and their grandmother in a way that leads us to probe our own selves and look at our own relationships with sisters, spouses, and other family members.

As an oldest girl child, I saw a lot of myself in Ginger, unarguably the most irritating of the three sisters. Though I often felt like giving flirty Penny a shake, there were times I applauded her for her perception. I saw bits of my own younger sisters in soft, dreamy, yet relationship savvy Rose. And of course Grandma Lillian, who doesn’t make an appearance but casts a long shadow via memories and memorabilia, is someone I, and probably many readers, wouldn’t mind being like – sans all the husbands of course.

The paperback edition of The Fine Art of Insincerity ends with discussion questions and an interview of the author, making this an excellent choice for reading clubs.

Title: The Fine Art of Insincerity
Author: Angela Hunt 
Paperback: 320 pages 
Publisher: Howard Books; Original edition (May 3, 2011) 
ISBN-10: 1439182035 
ISBN-13: 978-1439182031

Watch a video trailer of the book.

Angela Hunt's website.

Thank you to Angela Hunt for picking my name in her Share it with a Sister contest and sending me the book – for free.

This review was first published on Blogcritics.

book review: Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock

 Not even a week after 11-year-old Roz and her family move from Minneapolis into their new home in Mills River, Illinois, do they find Tillie Monroe, the property’s former owner, comfortably enthroned in a lawn chair on their front porch, reading their morning paper. The feisty 70-year-old is determined she will die in the house she helped her husband build despite the protest of her sons.

Tillie soon inveigles her way into the family, which proves to be a good thing since she is there to provide the adult supervision and house-help that Mom needs so that she can go back to work now that Dad of the drunken sprees and scary driving is no longer with them.

A new friend, Mara, gives Roz just the outlet she needs to express her confused feelings about leaving behind the father whom she loves despite his faults. The appearance in her school desk of the Sugar Daddies he always bought for her puts her on high alert. Maybe the man she has momentarily glimpsed here and there, the one wearing the fishing hat just like her dad’s, is her dad.

In Promises to Keep, Ann Tatlock’s latest novel, we have a tale of a child’s longing for family. Tatlock spins out this Vietnam war-era story in a plot that is riddled with questions, dreams, schemes, secrets, and lies – all evidences of a little girl’s yearning and determination. Will she get her daddy back? Or did Mom know what she was doing when she tore them apart?

Roz (the first-person narrator), Mara and Tillie are the characters we come to know the best. They are easy to like and be with. I especially enjoyed senior Tillie’s homespun wisdom, motherly heart, and spunk. Roz’s dad Allan is the most mysterious of the characters. His dark, unpredictable personality overshadows the entire tale giving it the flavor of danger.

Tatlock explores family relationships of various kinds as her characters respond to issues of alcoholism, spousal battering, dealing with lost or missing fathers, grappling with the question what is the role of a father anyway, and responding to a new male “friend” in Mom’s life. Faith in God and prayer are themes that character Millie most often takes up. Though the Christian worldview foundations the whole story, the book is not preachy.

The story’s vocabulary is simple – the point of view teller is an 11-year-old, after all – but the storytelling is strong with events unfolding in ways that build suspense. Though the book is categorized as Contemporary Fiction, it may also be suitable for some younger readers (a few of Roz and Mara’s escapades reminded me of Anne and Diana’s shenanigans in Anne of Green Gables). The paperback edition I read also contained discussion questions following the story, which would make it a good choice for book clubs.

I frankly found the book a bit slow at the beginning. And there were times I felt impatient with being in the head of a rather unexceptional 11-year-old. However, midway through, the book got stickier for me, and by the last quarter it was hard to put down.

All in all, Promises to Keep is an entertaining and heart-rending story of a little girl and her family under stress. The happy ending sends a note of hope to other families struggling with betrayals, questions, secrets, lies, and broken promises.


Book facts:

Title: Promises to Keep
Author: Ann Tatlock
Publisher: Bethany House, February 2011, Paperback, 348 pages
ISBN-10: 0764208098
ISBN-13: 978-0764208096



I received this book as a gift from the publisher for the purpose of writing a review.

This review was first published on Blogcritics.

book review: The Boy in Me by Alvin Ens

The Boy In Me is the fictional account of Edgar Schroeder, the prairie boy who, like the book’s author Alvin Ens, grew up in Saskatchewan and then moved to Abbotsford, British Columbia. When Edgar’s 85-year-old mother can no longer live alone in her Saskatchewan home, his siblings volunteer him, a recently retired teacher and new widower, as interim caregiver till a spot in a care home opens up.

The book begins with “Still Waters,” the story of Edgar driving his mother through an Alberta blizzard to her new home with him. Their conversation jogs the first of Edgar’s many memories – reminiscences of his childhood and adolescence – that reveal the boy inside the man.

These spill out in rich chronology as his mother spends the next five months with him. Her question about where he will get ham for the Mennonite kielke noodles she’s making, for example, revives the memory of the days his family spent butchering and preparing their winter meat supply. His promise to cook her some west coast cuisine – a salmon perhaps – brings to mind fishing for goldeyes in the Saskatchewan River. Her query about the cost of his golf equipment reminds him of the hours of fun he and his friends had playing with an inexpensive rubber ball.

Each of the 23 chapters is a self-contained story. Many have been previously published in places like Canadian Stories and several have won prizes. But they feel like one story too, due to the single narrator and his first person telling which ties them together well and makes the book an organic unity.

Ens is a great storyteller, managing to grasp what is going on under the surface, articulate complicated emotions, and describe revealing interactions between characters. In his typical style he often plays with words, extracting every ounce of goodness, like a dog chews a bone. Here, for example, is a paragraph from “Ready” – a story about Edgar and his typing teacher:

“’You have ten minutes for exercise 33 and then we’ll hand it to the person behind you and correct. Are you ready?’ said McCredy the Ready, that battle-ax, Battle X, Battle M. McCredy, the Ready. With her favourite question, ‘Are we all ready?’ McCredy the Ready. McCredy the ready, always ready with her whip. In front of me everyone was typing. What? Had I missed the signal? I typed frantically.” p. 106.

The stories touch on a multitude of themes – parenting and being a parent, discovering yourself, learning values of honesty, truthfulness, compassion, and obedience, and showing how a slide into skepticism doesn’t necessarily mean the end of faith. There is lots of prairie boy risk and delight, adolescent coming of age and first love, with a dessert of adult romance, all garnished with fattening dollops of Mennonite deliciousness.

As someone whose ethnic upbringing is similar to Edgar’s (and Ens’s) I found The Boy In Me resonated on many levels. But its exploration of ageless human themes transcends ethnicity. This novella-length book is pure gold in its detailing of childhood memories, its sly humor and its generous portions of life-wisdom. Readers across ages and backgrounds will delight in these homey stories.

Title: The Boy In Me
Author: Alvin Ens
Publisher: Ensa Publishing, Abbotsford, B.C., paperback, 140 pages
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-9732224-4-9
Price: $15.00

 ***********

Alvin Ens will be launching The Boy In Me at a Blue Moon Reading (MSA Poets Potpourri Society)

Launch Details

Monday, May 30th
Clearbrook Library,
32320 George Ferguson Way
Abbotsford, B.C.
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Copies of The Boy In Me will be for sale at the event.
$15.00 ($12.00 for MSA PPS members)

Order by email.

Or order by surface mail:

Alvin Ens

3947 Paradise Place,

Abbotsford, V2S 8E3

(Add $3.00 for mail delivery.)

book review: Necessary Heartbreak by Michael J. Sullivan

Title: Necessary Heartbreak: A Novel of Faith and Forgiveness
Author: Michael J. Sullivan
Publisher: Gallery Books (SimonSchuster.com), March 2010, paperback, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1439184232
ISBN-13: 978-1439184233


When single dad Michael Stewart takes time out of his busy Saturday to help Elizabeth, his teenage daughter, earn needed community service points at a church food drive, he has no idea what a time commitment he has really made. A trapdoor in the church basement lures Elizabeth into an underground tunnel. Michael follows and they emerge a short walk later onto a first century Jerusalem street in Necessary Heartbreak, a first novel by Michael J. Sullivan. They are soon in the thick of Jerusalem events with Michael arrested and put in prison while Elizabeth is rescued by a beautiful stranger named Leah. During the days they spend in the city they witness and take part in scenes from the Passion week. In a face-to-face encounter with Jesus, Michael experiences an epiphany that changes his life.

Setting-wise, the characters are suitably surprised when they go from technology-driven 21st century America (complete with Bruce Springsteen T-shirt, though thankfully they left cell phones behind) to the simple life of first century Jerusalem. Their reaction made the contrasting settings feel credible.

However, the plot seemed creaky in parts. Michael and Elizabeth repeatedly voice intentions and make attempts to return to the tunnel and home, which always end in postponement of failure. In this regard, it didn’t take long for me to feel like I was trapped in a bad dream – one which I quickly realized wouldn’t end until the Passion story had played out. One of the questions in the Reading Group Guide at the end was, “Why do Michael and Elizabeth keep finding excuses to stay in Jerusalem one more day?” The answer seemed obvious: because the author needs them to, in order for them to take part in the Easter story.

The ongoing narrative is interrupted by many flashbacks giving back-story scenes from the lives of Michael, Elizabeth and Leah. Despite the sometimes less-than-stellar reputation of the flashback as a storytelling device, I felt these worked well. They are told in the same brisk style as the main narrative (read an excerpt) and fill the reader in on pertinent background information.

The main characters are likeable enough. Sullivan does a great job of depicting Elizabeth as a typical teenager in the modern setting part. Elizabeth and Michael’s relationship is warm and tangible – though he does have a tendency to smother her, and she is often whiny, demanding, and acts like a typical spoiled only child. Both Michael and Leah gained my sympathy through the flashback scenes of Michael’s difficult childhood, his relationship with his wife, and the death of Leah’s husband.

One of the big issues that Michael struggles with is how to make sense of his wife’s tragic and untimely death. In this regard, I thought Sullivan’s explanation (in the “Author Q&A” section) of how he came to explore handling life’s pains in the way he did is revealing and speaks to what he hoped to accomplish in the book:

“I was without money and a roof over my head, riding the E train in New York City at night. I sought help from many including a family friend who helped run a church. He turned me back into the cold New Year’s eve night in 1983…. I found myself questioning the wrong person – Jesus Christ. So I wanted to send my characters back in time to restore the meaning of life to myself. I wanted my characters to be part of history’s most important moment. I wanted them to experience what the true meanings of life, faith, and sacrifice really are” pp. 248-9. (Read more personal thoughts written by the author on his blog.)

All in all, in Necessary Heartbreak Sullivan has written a thought-provoking book about the roles that pain and the healing of faith and time play in maturing us and helping us live fully. A sequel – The Greatest Christmas Gift – is in the works.

book review: Beguiled by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand

Title: Beguiled
Author: Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand
Publisher: Bethany House, February 2010, Paperback, 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0764206281
ISBN-13: 978-0764206283

Rylee Monroe loves her job as a dog-nanny and -walker for the residents of the Charleston neighborhood that’s on the right side of the tracks. But what really keeps her going is the fact that her grandma, Nonie, the person she loves most in all the world, needs her and her dog-sitting income.

Logan Woods’ job on the newspaper’s crime beat is perfect for feeding his real passion – writing his first book of true crime stories. But so far the pièce de résistance — the Robin Hood Burglar — has eluded him. Meeting Rylee and hanging around with her helps in that department. She and that burglar seem to run with the same crowd. He has to make some hard choices, though, when detective Nate Campbell suspects her of the crime. It’s a good thing Rylee’s godfather and his dashing son are lawyers and seem eager to help.

In Beguiled Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand have collaborated on a fictional tale that lives up to both of its monikers. It’s a hearty main course of suspense served up with a generous side of gooey romance (or maybe it’s really the other way around).

I was prepared to dislike the characters – especially the main female. Rylee is just too pretty, smart, and the embodiment of everything trendy and hip (she runs all these designer dogs on inline skates, for crying out loud). But somewhere in the early going, I started liking her. The book became compelling after that.

Though the story is a romance of the emotional x-ray variety (with lots of potential for nausea as we get many moment-by-moment accounts of how he affects her, she him) some of those first-love encounters of the book were epiphanies that gave their relationship a sense of authenticity – this scene describing their feelings after an early date, for example:

“They had crossed out of clearly defined territory into the shadowland of … something else.

[…] The easy camaraderie of their lunch conversation was gone, replaced by acute awkwardness. Giddy constraint. Happy with the new development but afraid to stay too long in each other’s presence. They both needed to retreat so they could ponder what had just happened.” p. 132

Gist and Bertrand’s writing style is brisk. Taking little time for description and backstory, the authors plunge us, scene after scene, into full-strength action. The dialogue is smart, realistic, and captures these 20-somethings in living audio.

Thematically the book is pretty light. Both Rylee and Logan come from backgrounds of Christian faith and their scrapes with danger test the strength of their beliefs, but not to any earth-shattering degree. Rylee has issues with the past and these threaten her relationship with any many who would get too close. Of course underlying the story is the idea that romantic love will triumph. Can it – even to the tune of challenging Logan’s six-figure book deal?

All in all, Beguiled was a pretty decent read – and fast too. The suspense elements made it hard for me to put down. Let’s hope Gist and Bertrand decide to collaborate on more tension-filled escapades in the future.

*****************
Available now at your favorite bookseller from Baker Publishing Group. I received this book from the Graf-Martin agency for the purpose of writing a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
 
From Amazon.ca



From Amazon.com



Deeanne and Mark talk about co-writing Beguiled

book review: Hunter's Moon by Don Hoesel

Title: Hunter's Moon
Author: Don Hoesel
Publisher: Bethany House, February 2010, papberback, 384 pages
ISBN-10: 0764205617
ISBN-13: 978-0764205613

When C. J. Baxter decides to come home to Adelia, New York for his grandfather’s funeral, he is aware there will be a lot to face. You don’t just break with the family when you leave for college and stay away for seventeen years without there being some fallout. One of the things he’s sure will bite him is the ire of his people because of the fiction he has written. Everyone in town reads his books to see if they can guess which incidents or people his latest tales are based on.

However, C.J. and at least some family members know there is one secret he has never shared. Politically ambitious older brother Graham sure hopes he keeps quiet about it, especially now that his campaign for a senate seat is in high gear.

In Hunter’s Moon Don Hoesel delves into the life and psyche of the Baxter family through its returning prodigal. C.J.’s visit home revives disturbing incidents from the past, breathes life into old relationships, and exposes an ambition so ruthless no price is too high to pay to have it realized.

Hoesel’s considerable storytelling skill made the book a pleasure to read. Though it begins slowly, the foundation laid by the detailed description of the town, the Baxter family and C.J.s reaction to the disintegration of his personal life sets us up for the story’s complex situation and web of relationships. Gradually C.J. reveals the secret that has haunted his life. Incident by incident we get to know the various members of his family. As we come to realize what they are really like, tension escalates. By the final suspense-filled scenes, the book is impossible to put down.

Hunter’s Moon has many characters and the author’s clear vision of each one makes for a satisfying read in the people-watching department. Besides the conflicted C. J. we see a lot of his ambitious older brother Graham, his friend Dennis, his aloof and disapproving father George, his old flame Julie and the kind and arthritic Artie. Hoesel does a great job of exploring family dynamics during mass scenes like family dinners and get-togethers, as well as pitting family members against each other in tense one-on-one encounters.

Family secrets and the way they affect all involved is one of the themes the book explores at length. C. J. comes to see that his self-image has been shaped by one such, but so has it affected his opinion of and relationship with others. The possibility that he could choose to forgive is a new concept for him and one which he fights whenever it comes up.

C. J. is also a recent convert to Christianity. If there is one area where the book stumbles, in my opinion, it is in its treatment of his faith, especially early on. Through the first chapters when he is scheming about how to handle things with his ex-, then reconnecting with his family and attending his grandfather’s funeral service there is not a whisper of any spiritual faith. The first hint of it is announced, via his thoughts, when he includes his “newfound faith in God” in a list of topics he wishes he had the nerve to discuss with his former (and now married) girlfriend (page 124).

What "newfound faith in God" I asked myself when I read that. For an author who has been so brilliant at showing (versus telling), this felt like an awkward lapse when there had been lots of opportunities to show this new set of beliefs in operation early on (as he struggles with his attitude toward his estranged wife, reconnects with his family, and attends the Catholic – he now attends a Protestant church, though he was once an altar boy – funeral service of his grandfather).

When C. J. does mull over aspects of his faith he appears a reluctant convert, more critical than believing (doesn’t like to confide in his men’s group [p.131] and prefers attendance at the bar to being in church [p.209] - where he takes issue with his denomination's beliefs [p. 210]), though repeated references to the buzzword “grace” seemed the author’s way of telling us C. J. had bought into something deeper than the trappings of any organized church. It stayed buried pretty deep though, failing to make too much of a difference in his drinking, gambling etc. lifestyle habits.

The book’s ending is more believable in the faith department, with C. J. making decisions and growing in ways that feel consistent with his character and organic to the story. There are some other nice touches, too, like the way bit-player Sister Jean Marie feels a need to pray during the exact time our hero is in some major trouble.

My quibble aside, the book really is a great read. Its delve into relationships especially within the family is realistic and instructive. Its exploration of the dark side of a family’s life and how things can escalate to the unthinkable is guaranteed to keep you reading way past lights out.

Sample first pages of the story.


Available now at your favorite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group. I received this book free from Graf Martin Communications Inc. for the purpose of writing a review. The opinions I express are my own.

book review: The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher

I rate this book * * * * *


Title: The Choice
Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher
Publisher: Revell, January 2010, paperback, 308 pages
ISBN-10: 0800733851
ISBN-13: 978-0800733858

Carrie had no idea, on the morning that was supposed to be one of her last at home before running off with Sol, that a terrible tragedy would soon change everything. But events set in motion that day led to a choice that altered the course of her life.

In The Choice, Suzanne Woods Fisher introduces us to an Amish community in Lancaster County, where we meet Carrie, Emma, Sol, Daniel, Mattie and others. We follow main character Carrie for just over a year as her life takes many unexpected turns, leaving her a wiser, stronger person than she was on those July days when she sneaked away to watch baseball games in town and got up in the middle of the night to rendezvous with her sweetheart via a nearby payphone.

Characters are the book’s strength. Carrie is attractive, likeable, impressionable yet strong-willed, intriguing and a little mysterious. Other characters, though not explored to the same depth, are also complex, interesting and varied. Fisher’s range is seen in how she depicts both Amish and ‘English’ characters with skill, capturing their personalities in actions, mannerisms and conversations.

As much as I enjoyed the characters, I found my credulity stretched by the plot. Three deaths by page 86! That’s hardly what one expects from an Amish pastoral. I had moments when the events felt so random, I wondered if all this was really going anywhere. The plot does manage to come together in the end, though, with even a little mystery to solve.

Fisher’s knowledge of the Amish – including their Pennsylvania Dutch dialect which she often includes in the conversation (always with translation of course) – makes for nice vicarious Amish experiences, like barn raisings and community feasts. It also gives rise to the humor, which comes about when Amish and non-Amish characters meet. Here, for example, Steelhead, a rough-around-the-edges friend of Abel’s from prison, makes mealtime conversation on the day prim and proper Amish matriarch Esther comes for supper:

“'Hooboy!' Steelhead continued, his head turning shiny. 'I never want to eat another morsel of prison grub. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Know what I’m saying?'


Esther’s eyes went wide with shock and her lips puckered as if she’d just eaten a pickle. Emma covered her face with her hands. Carrie tried to kick Steelhead under the table but missed. Abel cleared his throat, trying to get Steelhead to stop talking, but Steelhead was cornered. His mind was whirring along, and his mouth dragged along behind it, spilling out any thought that passed through his head.” p. 235-6

(Want more? Read the book's first pages here.)

The Choice is about a lot more than just Carrie’s choices. Some characters are faced with choosing whether to be open or to keep secrets. Others are confronted with the choice of whether or not to forgive. The choice of whether to continue to ‘live Amish’ is also an issue. That’s not surprising as many of the characters are in their “Rumspringa” – running-around days, when they can sow their wild oats without the threat of being shunned by the community. In this regard the presence of non-Amish characters is a nice little vehicle for illustrating the temptation to leave by contrasting contemporary plain life with the much freer, though cluttered and technology-driven life of the non-Amish.

Another theme of the story is faith. Both Abel and Mattie are outspoken about their Christian faith – though they live it and speak about it in different ways. In that respect, this Amish story felt different from others I’ve read, where breaking rules like some of these characters did led to much harsher consequences. This story dwells more on the positive aspects of Amish life – like the community helping their own, and their unwillingness to judge people or press legal charges against them. The discrepancies made me wonder whether Amish standards may be not be quite as rigid as I had thought.

If a story about the plain life peopled by a variety of interesting characters is your fancy, The Choice is a good choice for you. More Amish books by the same author will soon be available as The Choice is only the first book in a series called Lancaster County Secrets.

Available now at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

(I received this book free from a publicist for the purpose of writing a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.)

book review: A Questionable Life by Luke Lively

I rate this book * * * * *


Title: A Questionable Life
Author: Luke Lively
Publisher: Beaufort Books, October 2009, hardcover, 432 pages
ISBN-10: 0825305217
ISBN-13: 978-0825305214

Jack Oliver’s whole life has been consumed with getting ahead in his banking career. He has worked long hours, shoved his wife and kids into second or third place, and jumped through every hoop that PT&G’s CEO Chad has put in his way. Jack is the heir apparent and knows it’s just a matter of time until he inherits the corner office. That is, until Chad and the board get an offer from Merchant’s Bank that’s too good to refuse.

The merger changes everything. The new management hands out a rash of pink slips. Jack’s future security morphs into a two-year contract. His worsening performance reviews and a health crisis threaten even that.

Enter Benjamin Franklin Price – the head of a small bank in Roanoke, Virginia. He’s looking to groom a successor. Would Jack be interested in moving from fast-paced Philadelphia to Roanoke?

In A Questionable Life, a first novel by Luke Lively, we follow Jack Oliver as he navigates toward his decision and so much more. In every interaction Price asks him questions that make him look long and hard at his life and rethink everything he has ever valued. Could it be there are things more important than success, prestige, and position? Has he come all this way only to find he has taken the wrong path?

The strength of this book lies in its study of character. In brisk and vivid storytelling, Lively narrates the events of Jack’s life in first person, delving into his thoughts and emotions to make him come alive. Though the actual events of the story take place within the span of several years, we get familiar with all of Jack’s life through flashbacks. Lively does explore other characters to some extent as well, but we see them through Jack’s eyes only.

People who work in the financial sector will relate to the office politics, emphasis on the bottom line, and the climbing-over-bodies attitude toward getting ahead. The Price character, with his homey wisdom, provides a stark contrast to that modus operandi. He poses a series of questions which make Oliver, and the reader, stop and take stock.

Each chapter title is a question (“How Did I Get Here?”… “What is Stopping You?”) and contributes to the theme of the need for life evaluation. Little sayings attributed to Price appear in quotes at the top of each chapter (e.g. “Opportunity knocks only if you’re listening” … “If you only focus on what you want, you will miss out on what you have”). They too add to the theme of living an examined and intentional life.

All in all, I found the book a worthwhile and enjoyable read. Though the frequent flashbacks, especially at the beginning, kept delaying present action, those stories were colorful and full of action themselves. They certainly filled in the blanks as to why Oliver was the way we found him and gave us a context for his growth within the story.

Besides being an entertaining read, I can see this book working as a discussion starter at business and professional development meetings on topics of business practices, ethics, and company culture. Hopefully Lively has more stories about bankers and their milieu up his sleeve.

(I received this book as a gift from the publicist for the purpose of writing a review.)

book review: Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish

I am seriously behind in posting book reviews. (I put them up at Blogcritics first because they want initial publication due to Google rankings or some such - and then forget to add them here.) But if you think I've forsaken my beloved books - you'd be mistaken.

I'll be catching up in the next few days. We'll start with the captivating 2nd novel by Christa Parrish - Watch Over Me, which I finished reading in early November.

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I rate this book * * * * *


Title: Watch Over Me
Author: Christa Parrish
Publisher: Bethany House, October 2009, paperback, 352 pages.
ISBN-10: 0764205544
ISBN-13: 978-0764205545

Abbi works a regular shift at the local grocery. Her husband Benjamin Patil is a member of the local police force. But Ben’s tour of duty in Afghanistan has changed things between them. They’re no longer the easy-going newlyweds they were when they first came to Beck County, South Dakota.

The day Ben finds a newborn girl abandoned in a grocery bag beside a dried-out stream near town starts a chain of events that alters their lives forever. When Ben can’t find out who the baby belongs to, he and Abbi agree to foster it. They call the little girl Silvia, and over time looking after her draws them together. Abbi stops stalking the laxative aisle, and Ben begins sleeping at home again instead of at the station. The crowd at church, oblivious to their problems, welcomes them back as the happy family they are becoming.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Matthew Savoie wonders what his medical condition will take from him next. The brilliant but deaf math whiz lives with his aunt and her four daughters. In an attempt to raise money to visit his father – maybe, just maybe he’ll agree to give Matt the kidney he so desperately needs – he gets a job helping Abbi and Ben cut the grass and look after Silvia. His involvement with them leads to the uncovering of a tangled web of relationships, emotions and coping strategies. Watch Over Me is a tour de force of a second novel by Christa Parrish.

Parrish’s very real and flawed characters make this book interesting and delightful. She draws her people with a particularity that brings them to life and makes them feel like folks one has met.

Abbi is especially convincing with her hippie outlook, her anti-establishment views and her veganism (she’s even true to the latter in her bulimia, binging on bags of baby carrots).

War-shocked Ben is often unpredictable, though one can’t miss his sterling qualities especially as little Silvia brings them out.

The cultural tension between Abbi and Ben’s immigrant parents feels believable.

Matthew the brilliant is the most sympathetic of the three. Who couldn’t like a kid who looks after his little cousins like a mother and takes comfort during hours of dialysis with thoughts of how God is like his favorite math concept:

“In pi he saw the reflection of God. Pi was constant, always the same – today, tomorrow, and forever. It was irrational, like the cross, foolishness to those who didn’t believe. It was transcendental; no finite sequence of operations on integers could ever create it.

It never ended.” pp. 50, 51.

Parrish’s writing is also a treat – brisk, gritty. specific and poetic. Note, for example, how this description of eating cereal rings true:

“The cereal, a store brand that came in a huge plastic bag, lost its crunch before Matthew sucked the first bite off the spoon. Still, he finished it, the soggy flakes filling the pits in his molars. He dug the mush out with his tongue, a silvery pain shooting through his jaw as he brushed the cavity he needed to have filled.” p. 21

In another poetic passage she brings together the setting with the emotional state of Abbi and Ben:

“He heard Abbi come out of the bedroom, the swollen door opening with a sticky pop. Everything swelled in the heat. Problems. Fears. Sins. All puffed with humidity and ready to rain out with the slightest change in air pressure.” p. 27

In telling the story Parrish alternates between Abbi, Ben and Matthew’s viewpoints (all third person) – giving us a rich experience of the workings of three very different personalities. The dialogue rings true. Deaf-and-dumb Matthew’s notepad contributions, rendered within the book in a hand-printed-type font, deliver an unexpected but effective layer of realism.

The book takes on some heavy issues. Parrish weighs in on things like love, marriage, family, the church, forgiveness, and redemption. Though the story has many bleak moments, it left me feeling hopeful about my very flawed self and the ability of God to redeem the most unlikely situation.

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More goodies:

Read an excerpt.
Watch Over Me Q&A (pdf)

(I received this book as a gift from the publisher for the purpose of writing a review.)

book review: Leaving Yesterday by Kathryn Cushman

Title: Leaving Yesterday
Author: Kathryn Cushman
Publisher: Bethany House, October 1, 2009, paperback, 320 pages. 
ISBN-10: 0764203827 
ISBN-13: 978-0764203824



What business could a police officer have with her except to bear the bad news that her son Kurt has been found dead, Alisa Stewart wonders as Detective Thompson’s car turns into her driveway. But a few minutes later she is saddled with an even greater burden as she discovers her 21-year-old drug addicted son is wanted for questioning about a murder. When he calls home a few days later with the news that he’s been in rehab – and for a while – she reasons it couldn’t be him, could it?

In Leaving Home Kathryn Cushman combines what Alisa finds in a box of Kurt’s things with old frictions between Alisa and her estranged husband, the need to keep up appearances at her church and, above all, the determination that her son will have the new start he deserves to give us the tug-of-war tale of a mother’s love.

The story, told in first person by Alisa, has a rapidly thickening plot. Pressure on her to look good in her position of women’s ministry leader mounts even as her relationship with her husband Rick deteriorates and questions about Kurt multiply. She finds she can be most herself with her neighbor Lacey, a retired lawyer who is canny, pragmatic and a mistress of rationalization. Cushman takes Alisa and the whole family through some tough situations and decisions in a book that is hard to put down.

Character-wise I found myself with mixed feelings about Alisa. Though I sympathized with her as a mom and understood her mother bear impulses, there was something Barbie-dollish and plastic about her too. She came off as shallow in her role as wife and women’s pastor, and smug as a public speaker. My favorite character was her 10-year-old daughter Caroline who was completely believable with her bouncy ways and excitable, dramatic clinginess. Alisa’s husband Rick rang true as well – even though he was a bit of a downer. Jodi and Monte were recognizable and fun as aging hippies. I wasn’t sure what to make of Kurt. He was sweet and genuine on the surface but showed just enough deviousness to keep me wondering, through most of the book, just how genuine his reformation really was.

Cushman does a good job of bringing up some weighty themes even as she weaves this entertaining story. No mother will be able to read this book without asking herself if she would she go to the lengths Alisa did if she were in the same shoes. The story touches on other issues of parenting as well, like permissiveness, tough love and the possibility that parents drive their kids to self-destructive behaviors with dysfunctional parenting. Cushman introduces God the Father as the greatest example of a parent. The story also makes us think a lot about guilt.

For a hard-to-put-down read that will prompt you to take a thoughtful look at your role as a parent and as a child, Leaving Yesterday is a good choice. 

Read the first chapter.

Reading Group Guide for this book.

(I received this book from Bethany House for the purpose of writing a review.)

book review: Things Worth Remembering by Jackina Stark

Title: Things Worth Remembering
Author: Jackina Stark
Publisher: Bethany House, October 2009, paperback, 320 pages. 
ISBN-10: 0764207113 
ISBN-13: 978-0764207112


Kendy Laswell can’t wait for her daughter Maisey and fiancé Marcus to get home this third Monday in July. It’s a mere six days till Maisey’s wedding, and there must be a thousand things to do – though Maisey hasn’t told her much.

But when the kids arrive, Maisey says she’s tired and goes straight to bed. Kendy hides her disappointment but inside asks, for the thousandth time, what is at the root of her daughter’s avoidance? The only thing she can think of is the months-long depression she suffered when Maisey was 13. Things have never been right between them since that dreadful summer nine years ago. Now, though, they still have the rest of the week to patch things up.

In Things Worth Remembering, Jackina Stark takes us through the week before Maisey’s wedding. Through the first-person voices of Kendy and Maisey we live the memorable six days, but much more, as incidents trigger memories. These, plus Maisey’s surprising outburst on Wednesday and a health crisis on Thursday, work together to create a heart-wrenching story about mothers and daughters, marriage and marital unfaithfulness, family, love, and forgiveness.

In Kendy and Maisey, Stark has created two flawed but sympathetic main characters. The supporting cast of Luke (Kendy’s husband), Marcus, Jackie and others also feel real and convincing. Stark’s style of writing current happenings in present tense with the back story in past tense helps dispel any confusion about now and then. Her contemporary American setting feels absolutely believable and authentic.

The story is seen through the lens of a Christian worldview. Stark works the faith of her characters into the story seamlessly and in a way that feels organic to its plot and characters. To underline how integral faith is to the story, we find that even the title hearkens back to a discussion of it:

Luke (to Maisey): “’Children of dust, Maisey, children of dust. That’s not an insult to the human race; it’s just a fact. Making mistakes is unavoidable; we are the created not the Creator. But it is also a fact that God loves us despite our frailty. And it’s a fact that life is good when we choose love and forgiveness.’

I close my eyes against his words.

Dad puts his hands over mine and I dare to look at him.

‘These things are worth remembering, Maisey – they really are.’” 248-9

Being a daughter myself and the mother of a daughter (with whom I planned a wedding a few years ago) I related to Kendy at a gut level. Maisey’s rudeness and the way she shut her mother out of all her wedding plans and activities made me wish I could take Kendy aside and tell her she’d better stop acting so passive and make an effort to get to the bottom of their rift. Yet Kendy downplays her hurt to the extent that at times she seems almost stoic when one would expect her to be falling apart. However, this downplaying is probably safer than over-emotionalizing, as Stark has created a minefield of a situation, and the tone of Kendy’s telling could easily have degenerated into sentimentality and self-pity.

Altogether, the book flew by far too fast for me. The way it explores the mother-daughter relationship, marriage and forgiveness make it an excellent choice for individuals or reading groups.

Discussion questions are here.

Read an excerpt here.

(I received this book from Bethany House for the purpose of writing a review.)

book review: Mohamed's Moon by Keith Clemons

Title: Mohamed's Moon
Author: Keith Clemons
Publisher: Realms, May 2009, Paperback, 302 pages.
ISBN-10: 1599795256
ISBN-13: 978-1599795256

Beautiful medical student Layla thinks she loves Matthew Mulberry enough to accept his ring. Yet she senses there is something he’s not telling her. One day she comes face to face with Mohamed El Taher. He’s Matthew’s double but also a ghost from her past. After that, hers and Matthew’s relationship gets even more tangled. However, in Mohamed’s Moon Keith Clemons doesn’t create only a love triangle but brings the world of these Egyptian expatriates into collision with a cell of calculating killers that has infiltrated America’s highest office.

Clemons’ deft storytelling captivates as he whisks us between the present and the past, Egypt and California, and the viewpoints of Matthew, Mohamed and Layla. Through Mohamed we come to appreciate how a belief system intent on murder can make sense and have a steely grip on mind and heart. Somehow using his writer’s sleight of hand Clemons makes us sympathetic toward all three of the main characters, even though two are bitter rivals.

I especially enjoyed the parts where Clemons portrayed life in Egypt. Passages like the following have earned Clemons the label “atmospheric” storyteller:

“The wind blew incessantly, painting the sky a dirty brown. It had come up suddenly, a desert storm, whipping the sand into a froth, tearing at clothes, twisting hair, and scouring lungs. The man hid behind his camel with his head buried in the animal’s thick fur, using it as a wall against the assault. Smelly matted hair, like old rugs, soiled and musty and full of ticks, but the insulation kept him alive. The beast knelt with its eyes closed its legs folded underneath, hunkered down to ride out the storm.” p. 1

Clemons deals with some significant themes – inequality between rich and poor (including the amusing irony of the Lexus-driving Mohamed pontificating against America’s wealth to his rival, who drives a beat-up VW), forgiveness, and the clash between Christianity and Islam. Mohamed is thoroughly versed in the Qur’an and he and the cavernous-eyed professor Omar quote it often. When Mohamed obtains a Bible, its message of love and forgiveness shocks him. Could this be true?

Mohamed's Moon is full of surprises and suspense – a book with a taut beginning, middle, and end that’s hard to put down. This is the first of Clemons’ five books that I’ve read, but I’d definitely read more. It’s not every day you find a writer who tackles (with literary finesse) a timely and controversial issue in such a riveting a story.

book review: Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove

Title: Talking to the Dead
Author: Bonnie Grove
Publisher: David C. Cook Publishing (May 2009), Paperback, 384 pages.
ISBN-10: 1434766411
ISBN-13: 978-1434766410

Talking to the Dead, a debut novel by Bonnie Grove, begins on the day of Kevin’s funeral, the husband of Kate whose memory now has big holes in it and who is so devastated and shattered that in the days following she doesn’t eat, shower, change her clothes and for sure doesn’t go into the bedroom they shared.

That’s because from the night after the funeral, Kevin talks to her. His disembodied voice comes at any old time. It’s frightening. It’s wonderful. Until one day Kevin’s tone changes and the whole thing becomes just plain terrifying. Is she psychic, or crazy? She’d better go for help.

Help presents itself in a variety of guises – a spiritual counselor, a psychiatrist, a miracle advertising evangelist, a therapy group with a mix of people as colorful, zany and troubled as Kate herself, and a very human pastor whose flock is a ragtag bunch of youth who meet for pickup basketball.

The characters and plot were sparked, by Groves’ work in the field of psychology: “In part, the story came out of my experiences as a counselor, sitting with people who were attempting to articulate their pain and distress,” she writes on her Fiction Matters blog. “It occurred to me that many of the things these people were doing (the behaviors I saw) were often an attempt to accomplish something very different than what they were doing – in other words, behavior didn’t match intentions. It caused me to truly see why Jesus commanded us not to judge others. We simply don’t know what’s going on under the surface.”

The intriguing plot is served well by Grove’s story telling style – a slow titillation of revelations as Kate gradually remembers more and more. Groves’ writing is also just plain pleasurable to read as it is by turns descriptive, funny, attentive to details, and always ringing true:

“It was as if my desolation had multiplied the power of gravity. I was stuck….p. 24.

“My mind, luminously awake, sewed blindfolds of anger and forged a strong rope of despair” p. 24.

“Maggie spoke in a loud and careful manner one would use if addressing the UN. Every word evenly parceled out” p. 37.

Besides Kate and the ghostly Kevin, the book is peopled by a multitude – Kate’s mom and her sister Heather, the decisive and colorful Maggie, Dr. Alexander the toupeed psychiatrist, high school friend Blair, the support group members, Jack the gym pastor and more. All come to life – many with comedic features – under Groves’ skillful hands.

While on the surface the book is about grieving the death of a spouse, it’s also about betrayal, disappointment, loyalty, friendship, the fragility and resilience of the human psyche, and essentially about choosing the right foundation for one’s hopes. The story illustrates in Three-D God’s way of invading even the most hurtful situations with the warmth and sweetness of grace. “That is the story I wanted to tell,” says Grove. “God in the midst of our messy lives."

This summer you, your beach bag and this chubby book need each other. But don’t forget the sunscreen – for under Groves’ spell, you may well forget to turn!

Sample chapter of Talking to the Dead

book review: Exposure by Brandilyn Collins

Title: Exposure
Author: Brandilyn Collins
Publisher: Zondervan, June 2009, Paperback - 272 pages.
ISBN-10: 0310276438
ISBN-13: 978-0310276432

Kaycee Raye thinks she has forever rid herself of the paralyzing fear that someone is watching her. But then, after spinning out dozens of therapeutic and fear-conquering “Who’s There” columns, her best friend’s biggest nightmare comes true. That’s all it takes to bring her own anxieties back to malevolent life. Now it seems that even the walls of her once-snug home have sprouted eyes. It doesn’t help that other creepy things are happening too - cameras flashing pictures of her when no one is around, mysterious images appearing on her computer…

But before this heroine of Brandilyn Collins’ latest suspense thriller Exposure can enlist the help of the police, Hannah, her dead friend’s nine-year-old daughter, goes missing. Could the danger she feels be linked with Hannah’s disappearance? Or maybe, as everyone seems to think, her mind is just playing tricks on her.

Interspersed between the chapters about stalker-obsessed Kaycee and the search for Hannah is the tale of Martin Giordano, his wife Lorraine and their daughter Tammy. The eventual weaving together of these two story threads is a feat of plotting that does Collins proud in the clever department.

Though plot is the story’s strength, Kaycee is a nicely developed character with whom it is easy to identify and sympathize. Martin and Lorraine are also interesting. I especially enjoyed the bit characters Nico and Bear for their pure villainy.

The book is written with true suspense finesse, has lots of nasty surprises, and contains an abundance of pounding heartbeat, sweaty palm and adrenaline-producing passages. (Poor Kaycee - what she has to endure to give us these vicarious thrills and shivers!) I found Collins’ writing style so suited this genre, I lost all awareness of it as I was swept along by the story.

The theme of fear dominates this tale, fleshing out how its presence tricks, debilitates, paralyzes, poisons and spreads. Kaycee’s faith in God often helps to calm her inner frenzy, but it doesn’t provide any kind of miraculous cure – something that would have felt like a cheating kind of solution anyway. Instead, her “Who’s There” column at the end of the book speaks of the long-range project that conquering deep-rooted fears is for most people, and the part that God plays in it:

“So Here I am. What truth did I learn? Fear is everywhere. But that is only half the story. The other half?

God is bigger than fear.

Once upon a time I longed for a magic wand to make me all better. There isn’t one. Day to day I still struggle ... But a few nights ago I was gazing at the full moon, and an amazing thought occurred to me. God hung it. That’s a lot of power. If he could do that, why in the world did I fail to believe he could help me overcome my little problems?” (page 260).

For a swift read of seatbelt suspense, air-bagged by comforting and eternal truths, Brandilyn Collins’ Exposure is a good choice.

Read a sample.

book review: Face of Betrayal - A Triple Threat Novel by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

Title: Face of Betrayal
Author: Lis Wiehl with April Henry
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers-Fiction (April 7 2009), Hardcover, 320 p.
ISBN-10: 1595547053
ISBN-13: 978-1595547057

When Katie Converse, a 17-year-old Washington page home for a Portland Christmas, goes out on December 13th to walk the dog and never returns, the three members of the Triple Threat Club are naturals to get involved. Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor earns her bread and butter prosecuting family law cases. Nicole (Nic) Hedges’ FBI experience investigating cyber crime against kids gets her posted to the Converse house to work with the distraught parents. Cassidy Shaw, Channel Four journalist, quickly discovers that the position next to her two sleuthing buddies is perfect for breaking new Converse case details nightly.

Katie’s MySpace blog, the philandering ways of her sponsor, Senator Fairview, anonymous threats from a sexual stalker, and a severed hand make for lots of intrigue, tension and red herrings in Face of Betrayal, a detective mystery by Lis Wiehl and April Henry.

Wiehl and Henry’s easy-to-read writing style is perfect for this fast-paced and intricate tale. The chapters, each of which is written from the point of view of one of the Triple Threat club members, are short with many a cliffhanger ending to keep the reader turning pages. Katie’s blog, a voice from where – maybe the grave? – gives the book a touch of modern realism and provides the reader with one more set of clues with which to try to solve the crime on his/her own. Of course the misty cold setting of Portland in the winter doesn’t hurt the story’s ambiance either.

The three strong women who reconnect at their 10-year high school reunion find they have a common interest in crime. Now they meet frequently for coffee or eats and we get to know them on many levels as they discuss life, love, faith and, of course the Converse case. Of the three, the authors give us the closest view of Allison, whose Christian worldview comes across clearly, although Nic and Cassidy are also satisfyingly complex and portrayed sympathetically. In this department, the characterization feels realistic when Nic doesn’t veer from her agnostic belief system, nor does Cassidy stray from her flavor-of-the-month spirituality.

On top of spinning a captivating story, peopled by interesting characters, Wiehl and Henry have managed to weave a variety of themes into their whodunit. Within the story we experience the lives of women making their way in male-dominated careers. Allison is concerned about coming across as seasoned and knowledgeable. Nic has to prove herself doubly – as a female and black FBI agent – while juggling her professional responsibilities with mothering Makayla. Cassidy’s concerns are more with how the HD cameras will accentuate her laugh lines and being big-footed out of the Converse story by superior Madeline McCormick should her sources dry up. Allison’s involvement with a safe house brings up the subject of abuse, especially as it occurs within families. Friendship is also a main theme as the three women are there for each other despite differences of personality and belief.

When asked why she turned to fiction writing after successfully authoring non-fiction, Wiehl said, “… I had an increasingly hard time finding stories I could relate to. And I wanted to read about strong women solving crimes. So, I thought, why not create my own mysteries… fiction stories with a slice of reality about how law and journalism really work.” Wiehl is knowledgeable on both counts, judging from her experience as a trial lawyer and legal analyst and reporter on the Fox News Channel. She has graduated from both the Harvard Law school and University of Queensland. Learn more about her and her books at Lis Wiehl.

April Henry has published seven young-adult mysteries. She blogs at So many books, so little time , and has her own MySpace blog as well.

Bill O’Reilly of Fox News blurbs Face of Betrayal “A blast to read.” I agree – and so do many others. The book sits at #34 on the New York Times bestseller list for May 10th. The hardback edition concludes with a short Reading Group Guide, the transcript of Wiehl’s interview with Bill O’Reilly, and (oh yummy!) the first two chapters of The Hand of Fate, the next Triple Threat novel, available April 2010.

book review: The Noticer by Andy Andrews

Title: The Noticer
Author: Andy Andrews
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, hardcover, 176 pages
ISBN-10: 0785229213
ISBN-13: 978-0785229216

“I had been crying, and he heard me, I guess. My cries were not the muffled sobs of loneliness or the whimpering of discomfort – though certainly I was lonely and uncomfortable – but the anguished wail that a guy will let loose only when he is sure there is no one around to hear him. And I was sure. Wrong, obviously, but sure. At least as sure as one spending another night under a pier can be ….

Honestly I didn’t think anyone knew I slept there – which is why I was so surprised when I looked up and saw Jones.

“Come here, son,” he said, with his hand outstretched. “Move into the light” (p. 2-3).

Jones (or Garcia or Chen, depending on your nationality) is an ageless old man who shows up for 23-year-old Andy under the pier. But instead of allowing Andy to grovel in the self-pity his situation warrants, Jones challenges him to “get started…start noticing a few things. We need to check your heart. We need to gather a little perspective” (p. 5). Then he gives Andy a few biographies to read and leaves but keeps reappearing until Andy is on his feet.

This first incident in The Noticer by Andy Andrews is typical of what happens in this parable-type story of meaningful encounters that Jones engineers with people who are at crisis crossroads. To each, from the man intent on committing suicide to the unscrupulous land developer, Jones appears at just the right moment and with the right combination of honesty, wisdom and hope to change the course of a life.

Jones’ main message to each desperate soul is to seek perspective:

“In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective. For perspective brings calm, calm leads to clear thinking. Clear thinking yields new ideas. And ideas produce the bloom…of an answer” (p. 154).

The book is a quick and easy read, peopled as it is with troubled characters mired in relatable situations. Jones-to-the-rescue conversations are full of proverbial wisdom dispensed in pithy aphorisms. I was glad it wasn’t a library copy but my own I was reading as I found myself reaching for my pen again and again to highlight Jonesisms like:

“…life is like a game of Monopoly. You may own hotels on Boardwalk, or you may be renting on Baltic Avenue. But in the end, it all goes back in the box” (p. 102).

and

“I believe you should ask yourself every day, ‘What is it about me that other people would change if they could?’” (p. 135).

The Jones character is interesting to contemplate. At times he seemed like one of the humanoid angels in Touched by an Angel. At others, I wondered if he wasn’t meant to symbolize Jesus himself.

I have two small quibbles with the book. The first is with its shifting point of view. The story began with Andy telling the story in first person. Thus I thought the story would be about Jones as seen through Andy’s eyes. But in the next section Andrews shifted to third person point of view with Andy completely out of the picture. After that he went back and forth with Andy telling some parts and not others. I found it a little disorienting.

(As a side note, it’s interesting that Andrews uses his own name, “Andy,” in the first-person sections. It left me with the question – did this or some facsimile of it really happen? Or did he use his name as a literary device to make the story feel believable?)

The second quibble is with the book’s message. Though it’s excellent and provides lots of food for thought and discussion, I felt it left out one of the main aspects of perspective. There is little mention of the possibility of a relationship with God and how that impacts one’s perspective. Perhaps the omission was intentional in hopes that a book which didn’t take a theological position would appeal to a wider range of readers. However, that oversight made the book seem incomplete to me.

The sturdy hardcover edition comes complete with a Reader’s Guide at the back, making The Noticer an excellent book club choice.

All in all, this little volume packs a big punch. Its wisdom-filled pages will ensure that you’ll not only read it but find yourself referring to and quoting it from it later. Hopefully it will make a permanent impact on your perspective – as I believe it has mine.

book review Wind River by Tom Morrisey

Title: Wind River
Author: Tom Morrisey
Publisher: Bethany House, July 2008, paperback, 352 pages
Genre: Christian fiction, Adventure, Outdoors
ISBN-10: 0764203479
ISBN-13: 978-0764203473



Tyler Perkins returns from the war in Iraq weighed down by what has happened to him. To his wife Angie he seems like a different man. So when Ty’s 86-year-old friend Soren Andeman drops strong hints that he’d like Ty to take him on one last hike to Clear Lake in their beloved Wyoming mountains, Angie urges him to go.

Right from the start this sentimental fishing trip — the story author Tom Morrisey tells in Wind River — has its complications. Why does Ty remove his wedding band before entering the lodge where his old flame still works? How will Soren hike all the way up to Clear Lake with his gimpy hip and fragile heart? The men do eventually get there but a few days later even tinder dry conditions and word of a roaming bear don’t deter Soren from setting out on the even more challenging hike to Cirque Lake. Why is it so important to him? Ty discovers there are lessons for him too in the events that haunt the place.

The Wyoming mountain setting is one of the things that makes this story special. Morrisey has obviously hiked and fished in these places. His respect for nature and love of spending time in it is contagious. Throughout we feel as if we’re part of the action – fly-fishing, cooking on open fires, eating fresh-caught trout, sleeping under the lightning-washed sky, and hiking the high ridges.

The two main characters Ty and Soren come alive in Morrisey’s hands. Ty, seen first in his Stafford Virginia home then later in the mountains, seems authentic in both places. We can’t help but admire his loyalty and like him for the way he respects and takes care of his old friend. From our first meeting with Soren we are struck by his determination and stoicism in the face of pain. Later, when he tells a large chunk of his story in first person, his salt-of-the-earth personality becomes even more lifelike.

Morrisey’s writing style brings to mind realist paintings. His descriptions of nature are detailed and lyrical. His way of recounting the minutiae of the most mundane tasks puts the reader in the middle of the action. Note, for example, with how much particularity he describes the simple and familiar action of lighting a camp stove:

Soren put his thumb over the air hold and began pumping up the stove, building pressure in the fuel reservoir. He opened the gas orifice and turned the little striker in the burner bowl. Yellow flames danced up and Soren adjusted the burner, bringing it down to a ring of small blue flames. In seconds the stove began to hiss as the heat of the burner warmed the generator tube.

But the story turns out to be about more than nature’s grandeur and the joys and challenges men face when they interact with it. As Ty and Soren spend time together they confide secrets and learn about each other, themselves, friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, facing the past and the importance of truth. Thus Wind River becomes the story of a double exploit. Not only is it an outdoor adventure of a young man and his old friend revisiting their favorite Wyoming mountain fishing spot (fly fishers will find Morrisey an especially kindred spirit), but it’s also a spiritual adventure about finding the courage to face the past and live truthfully and responsibly in the present. Whichever side of the story you’re after, Wind River won’t disappoint.