B.D. Lawrence's Blog, page 3

Book Review of Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. Hunt

Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. Hunt

 

This book is all about redemption. God’s redemption. The best kind. It’s a Christian, historical romance. Yes, that’s right. A romance. And I loved it! If I’m going to read a romance, this is the kind I want to read. Sure, there was some ooey gooey stuff, but it was clean, romantic, heart-wrenching and heartwarming at the same time.

Set in the early 1920’s, the history is also well presented and fascinating. It’s the early time of cars and planes. It’s just after WW I, so there is a lot about the tragedy and the horrible impact that war had on those who returned. Several of the characters are war veterans. Ms. Hunt works in scientific discoveries, famous people, and notable events.

The main setting is Wisteria House. This is the first book in a series about Wisteria House, set outside of Atlanta, Georgia. 1920 wasn’t that far removed from the civil war, so there’s reference to the Klan and the issues they could cause.

Then there’s the Rutledge family. A family with both literal and figurative skeletons in their closet. A dysfunctional family that’s endured an overwhelming amount of tragedy. The two main characters are Arilee (pronounced R E Lee) Rutledge and Adam Harrison. Harrison was a student of Arilee’s in high school, though only four years younger than her. He’s hired by Arilee’s brother to fix up their decaying house and of course, Adam and Arilee are the love interest of the book. There were times when I wanted to jump into the page and shake both of them by their shoulders and yell at them, “What is the matter with you?” But that’s a good thing. That kept me reading the book.

Being a Christian novel, it’s clean. No profanity. No violence. And no on page sex. For you romance fans, yes, there’s hand holding, kissing, and plenty of sweet nothings said to each other.

This is currently the best book I’ve read this year. A year that has started well with four great books. Even if you’re not a romance fan, as I’m not, I highly recommend this book. For those of you who are not Christians, I also recommend this to see what a life of following Christ can be like. And just try to read it without tears welling up in your eyes. I dare you.

Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. HuntThe Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron RossJustice by Jeff HillThe Shocking Truth by Steve Rush

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Book Review of The Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron Ross

The Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron Ross

 

This book is not crime fiction. Difficult to classify, I’d call it a spiritual family drama. It features redemption in a spiritual sense. For some people who have had difficult relationships with one or both of their parents you could say it also features vengeance. Regardless, it’s a fascinating, entertaining, and moving story.

Len Holder’s mother comes back to life after being dead for seven years. Don’t worry, not a spoiler, because this happens on the first page. Per the title, the story spans a one-week period. During the week, we learn about Len’s childhood, young adulthood and his adulthood, particularly his life with his mother. This is a character-driven story. The mystery behind Len’s mother re-appearing drives the narrative forward and kept me intrigued. I thought I’d figured out what was going on around page seventy-five. And I was very close. Just off by some details. Still, the excellent writing and revelations of Len’s life kept me at it. Knowing the situation didn’t spoil the rest of the story for me.

If you’ve had to take care of aging parents or if you’ve had a less than perfect relationship with your parents, I believe you’ll find this book fascinating, enlightening, and as mentioned earlier, entertaining. Well-crafted and well-paced the book is an easy and fun read.

The book is clean. No violence, no profanity and no sexual situations. It’s the second book of Mr. Ross’s I’ve read, and they have both been excellent. I’ll rank this one on top so far this year. Last year, The Samaritan’s Patient by Mr. Ross finished number two out of the twenty-three books I read. We’ll see how this one fares.

 

The Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron RossJustice by Jeff HillThe Shocking Truth by Steve Rush

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Book review of The Shocking Truth by Steve Rush

The Shocking Truth by Steve Rush

 

This book is about justice. It’s thriller number one featuring Avoca, Oklahoma detective Mike Canyon. It has an element of vengeance as well that I won’t go into so as not to ruin the story. There is not a lot of mystery in this story, as it’s a thriller. The reader knows who the bad guy is from the very start. A few twists and turns, but the book mainly rides on a ticking clock and the suspense of what the bad guy will do.

It’s a complex story, so reader pay attention to who is who. I did have to go back and re-read a couple chapters to make sure I was tracking. The suspense builds as the stakes increase, which kept me reading wanting to know what would happen.

I like the black and white, good versus evil of this story. The villain is pure evil. I also like the tough-guy protagonist. We need more of them. Mike Canyon is a high-moral, get it done, police detective that puts the safety of his family and the community first, then the police force rules second. Like any good detective story, Canyon walks the line of legal / not-legal, but he gets results.

My personal preference is to not know who the killer is. There was an opportunity in this story to heighten the mystery by keeping the identity of a couple of the characters unknown until Canyon knew who they were. Again, as a personal preference, I prefer to learn who is who and who did what, as the protagonist learns this.

The only other negative is that the location is unique, but setting doesn’t play as much of a role as it could have. Not a big deal. Just an observation.

The book is a clean read. I would not classify it as a Christian novel based on Christian market parameters. But Mike Canyon and family are Christians, and the author does a great job bringing God into the story and showing those that truly live a life of faith versus those that pretend.

I’ll rank this one number 2, but it’s only the second read of this year, and only because of the message of number 1 being so important and well-presented. The Shocking Truth is a good start to what I believe could become a great series.

Justice by Jeff HillThe Shocking Truth by Steve Rush

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Book Review of Justice by Jeff Hill

Justice by Jeff Hill

 

This book is heavy in justice rooted in vengeance. No redemption. And depending on your beliefs, it may be hard to swallow the justice aspect. Warning, if you’re a liberal, left-wing abortion supporter, this book may be difficult for you to read. I hope you do, though. What’s scary about it is wondering how much of the evil portrayed really happens. It goes way beyond abortion. The book exposes a culture of death, which I believe runs rampant in our country. At its core, the novel portrays a very real spiritual battle.

The book starts as a mystery. There are three high-profile murders / assassinations by seemingly three different people. Are they linked? What links them together is a single Scrabble tile left at the scene. I struggled with the first part because of the number of players introduced. Lots of characters, but no real characterization. It was hard to keep track who was who and I never got to know any of them other than who they are and what they do.

Once we hit part II, it turned into Without Remorse, the Tom Clancy novel. That’s not a bad thing, as Without Remorse is a fantastic novel. I would have preferred starting there, from the point of view of the main character. From part two on, the book moved quickly and drew me in. I thoroughly enjoyed the subsequent parts. There are some diatribes by the main character, but they did not pull me out of the story, especially since I agree with much of what Coleman had to say.

The character of Derek Coleman is fascinating. A product of the US military and other law enforcement groups, the reader is left to judge whether what he’s doing is justified or not. The reader will also be left with evaluating government and their role in making a person like Coleman. What should happen to a person like this when he’s no longer working for the government?

The book is fairly clean, but there is profanity, though not too much. Some light sex, more suggestive than graphic. There is some extreme violence, though not gore. I’ll leave it to the reader to determine if the violence is necessary. I don’t feel it’s gratuitous.

It’s the first book of the year, and the year starts off with a bang. I enjoyed this book, and I believe its message is important. We will see how long it retains the top spot on my list this year.

 

Justice by Jeff Hill

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Book Review of Pretend You Don’t See Her by Mary Higgins Clark

Pretend You Don’t See Her by Mary Higgins Clark

 

This book features justice. I didn’t see any redemption and it’s not about vengeance. It’s a good old fashioned crime mystery. The second book of Ms. Clark’s I read in the last couple years. Not as good as the other one, but still well worth the read.

Lacy Farrell is a young, single professional woman who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnesses a murder. She is the only one that can identify a wanted mob hitman who law enforcement has been after for a long time. Lacy is put into the witness protection program.

The mystery in this is compelling, complex, and well-concealed, with a couple obligatory red herrings. I didn’t guess the culprit behind it all until about thirty pages from the end. It’s a fascinating look at someone within the witness protection program. How that person’s entire life is put on hold or even stopped. Much of the book is Lacy coping with being away from her family, in a new, unfamiliar city, with a killer closing in on her. The suspense is subtle but always there in the background. As the noose tightens around Lacy, the suspense ratchets up to an exciting conclusion.

I find Ms. Clark’s writing style interesting in that she breaks several commonly held fiction author rules. Of course, when she sells millions of books, she doesn’t need to worry about artificial writing rules. The only reason I even noticed these methods is because I write fiction myself and have had these rules drilled into me from other writers.

Like the other one of her novels I’ve read, this one is clean. No profanity. No on page sex. And the violence is muted and essential to the story. I applaud Ms. Clark for giving us a thrilling, complex mystery involving the police and the FBI without resorting to foul language. The lack of the “true” way cops speak did not take away from the story at all.

I’m going to put this book at number 8 for this year. But the margins between number one through eighteen are narrow. All great books and highly recommended.

 

The Record Keeper by Charles MartinThe Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron RossDays Coming by Pat SimmonsThe Runaway Jury by John GrishamThe Maid by Nita ProseThe Blue Cloak by Shannon McNearWhere is My Sister by Jane DalyPretend You Don’t See Her by Mary Higgins ClarkBraving Strange Waters by Sarah HanksAnother Ending by Sara WhitelyBlood Red Deceit by Steve RushWithout Fail by Lee ChildThe Dark Wind by Tony HillermanThe Sacred Bridge by Anne HillermanBlack Cherry Blues by James Lee BurkeA Vanishing Act by Edwina KiernanAwakening by Diane DresbackHarlot’s Moon by Ed GormanThe Hidden Saboteur by Charles BesondyCali’s Hope by John Matthew WalkerField Training by Patrick O’DonnellDeadly Pursuit by Elle GrayAmerican Prophet by Jeff Fullmer

 

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Book Review of Awakenings by Diane M. Dresback

Awakening by Diane M. Dresback

 

This is a hard to classify book. There are the seeds of redemption. Possibly some justice coming. And much of it could be vengeance. But what makes this book so challenging is that it’s book one of the trilogy Awake as a Stranger. And this book does not stand alone. It leaves many unanswered questions. The three books need to be read to get the full story.

It’s also hard to classify as to what genre or subgenre it belongs to. It’s a mystery. It has elements of science fiction. Could even be called a thriller.

The book follows the lives to two women, Treaz (pronounced like trees) and Omani. Throughout book one they don’t know each other and never come in contact with each other. Treaz is a transitioner. She jumps bodies and inhabits other people for a certain period. Omani is trapped in a compound run by her uncle. The compound is in Switzerland. That’s all the plot I’ll give away.

This is a fascinating book. It’s told completely from the point of view of those two women. Therefore, the reader learns about why they are in the situations they are in as the two characters learn. They are both grown women and yet they seem to be childlike, naïve, immature. Neither have experienced that much life due to how they were raised, which makes the strange predicaments they find themselves in that much more interesting.

The book is well written. I have no complaints other than the structure. So much is left open that reading the next book is a requirement. And I assume reading the third will be as well. The book isn’t overly long. Just 260 pages.

There is limited profanity. No on page sex. And no violence.

If you’re looking for something different, this is definitely it. I read the prequel novella first and that was enough to make me read the first four chapters included with the novella, which was fascinating enough to compel me to read the entire first book. And I will read the second and third eventually.

I’ll rank this one sixteenth. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good book, but the fifteen books before it are better. And because it’s not complete it was hard to rank above those fifteen excellent reads.

 

The Record Keeper by Charles MartinThe Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron RossDays Coming by Pat SimmonsThe Runaway Jury by John GrishamThe Maid by Nita ProseThe Blue Cloak by Shannon McNearWhere is My Sister by Jane DalyBraving Strange Waters by Sarah HanksAnother Ending by Sara WhitelyBlood Red Deceit by Steve RushWithout Fail by Lee ChildThe Dark Wind by Tony HillermanThe Sacred Bridge by Anne HillermanBlack Cherry Blues by James Lee BurkeA Vanishing Act by Edwina KiernanAwakening by Diane DresbackHarlot’s Moon by Ed GormanThe Hidden Saboteur by Charles BesondyCali’s Hope by John Matthew WalkerField Training by Patrick O’DonnellDeadly Pursuit by Elle GrayAmerican Prophet by Jeff Fullmer

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Book Review of Hans Waldemar Remembers Normandy by Aubrey Taylor

Hans Waldemar Remembers Normandy by Aubrey Taylor

 

This is a short novelette about a former Nazi soldier now living in the US with his family. It ends leaving the hope of redemption not yet fulfilled. It’s modern times, so he’s in his nineties. His great granddaughter asks him to come to her school and share his experiences in the war. The story starts with Waldi, as he’s known, dreaming of his time in Germany, but most of the story is the interaction between Waldi and his family and the classroom presentation.

This novelette tells a short tale of World War II from a different perspective. As Waldi says, we in the United States are used to hearing about WWII from a certain perspective. We assume all Nazi’s were evil and willingly doing what Hitler wanted. We assume they all had something to do with the Holocaust. This story breaks that glass house and shows us a soldier who was conscripted into the army at age sixteen. He was raised to completely and unquestioningly respect authority. While he doesn’t excuse what he did, he does explain why.

The presentation of the story is interesting. Instead of war scenes, we see two other battles. The internal battle of Waldi trying to determine what to tell a classroom of students about his experiences. And the battle of a family trying to come to grips with Waldi’s former profession.

The story is clean. Much of Waldi’s family is Christian, but Waldi is not yet a believer. The eBook version of this is free on Book Funnel at this link. The paperback version is available on Amazon. For the same reasons, genre and length, this story will not be ranked with the other books I’ve reviewed this year. I recommend you pick it up. It’s only 37 pages long, a short, illuminating read.

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Book Review of The Hidden Saboteur by Charles Besondy

The Hidden Saboteur by Charles Besondy

 

This is a story of redemption. One man coming to Christ and one man returning to God. There are some powerful Christian messages in this book. Overall, it’s a good read.

The book focuses on two main characters. However, that’s not apparent until two-thirds through. For the first third, the main character is Clay Austin, a successful advertising executive. He suffers a series of strange and frightening dreams and even some waking visions that force him into seeing a psychiatrist. His assistant, Sheryl Landing, is the lead supporting character. She becomes an important part of Clay’s life outside of work. And it’s through her we meet the second main character, Thomas Benton, the pastor of Seattle Beacon Bible Church. We don’t meet him until page 287 of the 472 page book. Because of his wife’s recent death, he’s cast adrift unable to determine God’s will for his life.

As I opened with, this book is a good read. But there are four major issues. First, the subtitle of the book is “A Christian Psychological Thriller.” This is why I wanted to read it. However, the subtitle should be “A Christian Psychological Drama.” In no way does this book fit into the subgenre of thriller. There are some thrilling and some suspenseful moments, but they are way too few and too far between. Second, this book is way too long. It’s 472 pages. It could have easily been cut by at least a hundred pages. There is too much filler, too much day-to-day routine stuff that doesn’t add to the story.

The third issue with this book is the plethora of typos. It suffers from a severe lack of copy editing. I’m fine with a few typos here or there, but there were pages where there were three or four. Enough typos to pull me from the story several times.

The last issue is the structure. This is probably more personal opinion than technical fault. However, if I had been writing this story, I would have introduced Thomas Benton much earlier. And I would have interwoven parts two and three. I’m not a fan of restarting the timeline with another character. I hated it when George R.R. Martin did it with Game of Thrones (his was two entire novels), and I didn’t like it in this book. This was especially jarring because Besondy ended part one on a cliff hanger. I don’t mind  leaving the main character hanging for a couple chapters, but Clay was left hanging for twenty-four chapters and over eighty pages. It didn’t help that part two was way too long and dragged on for me. Sailing enthusiasts may like that part, but me being a thriller / suspense fan was none too pleased.

The book is a Christian book. There is no profanity and no on page sex. I was a dismayed at the amount of alcohol many of the Christian characters consumed. No violence.

Again, the book is a good read. But too long and doesn’t live up to its subtitle billing. I’ll rank this one seventeenth for this year.

The Record Keeper by Charles MartinThe Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron RossDays Coming by Pat SimmonsThe Runaway Jury by John GrishamThe Maid by Nita ProseThe Blue Cloak by Shannon McNearWhere is My Sister by Jane DalyBraving Strange Waters by Sarah HanksAnother Ending by Sara WhitelyBlood Red Deceit by Steve RushWithout Fail by Lee ChildThe Dark Wind by Tony HillermanThe Sacred Bridge by Anne HillermanBlack Cherry Blues by James Lee BurkeA Vanishing Act by Edwina KiernanHarlot’s Moon by Ed GormanThe Hidden Saboteur by Charles BesondyCali’s Hope by John Matthew WalkerField Training by Patrick O’DonnellDeadly Pursuit by Elle GrayAmerican Prophet by Jeff Fullmer

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Do Readers Care about Point of View?

Do Readers Care about Point of View?

Note: This article is for writers, but I’m also interested in hearing from readers. Do you notice point of view? Do you have preferences around point of view? Does it matter? Please read the article and leave a comment. 

Lately, I’ve read a lot of books with different variations of point of view. There are the traditional private eye novels that are always first person. I’ve read third-person point of view. No surprise. There are novels with multiple first-person points of view – by chapter. Multiple third-person points of view, usually by chapter, but not always. And those with the protagonist as first person and the antagonist as third person.

Read the entire blog here on the ACFW Website

 

Book Review of His To Love by Z. Peabody

His to Love by Z. Peabody

 

There is redemption in this long novella, but I feel the redemption has already happened to the two main characters as they are both Christians. The story is a romance. I’m not sure the sub-genre, (and there are no categories listed on Amazon) but those of you more familiar may recognize it. Anyway, we might vaguely say both Sophia and Griffin are redeemed when they finally come together.

As stated, this is a romance, so not really the type of story I usually read, but since the author is part of our Brave Author’s group, and this is coming out in January, it’s the one I was given to read. As such, I’m not overly familiar with the tropes of this genre.

It’s a continuation of a series called Masters of the Cavern, which are faith-based novellas. As far as I can tell, The Cavern is a group of wealthy Christians operating a ministry. The traditions of this certain group are along the lines of aristocracy. They call each other Lord and Lady. And at least one pair, Sophia and her brother Forrest, are royalty as their father is a Scottish Duke. Griffin is a cop. I’ll leave it to the reader to discover how he fits in with this ministry.

I believe the story line is typical romance, so I won’t summarize any of the plot. The story is written in first-person from two points of view: Sophia’s and Griffin’s. And it’s present tense. I’m not sure if this is common these days in Romance, but rarely do I come across this in other genres. The present tense was done well enough not to be distracting, but it also added nothing to the story. In general, I only see present tense as adding to a story in high-intensity thrillers. And once I got into the story the two first person points of view also did not distract.

The opening situations are interesting and perplexing. But they become clearer later one. Peabody has put together a fascinating set of characters. Not ones I relate to but still fun watching from the outside. Some of the Scottish setting and traditions were intriguing. I did find the Scottish brogue distracting. Not sure what advice I’d give, but maybe establish the brogue for Sophia and Forrest early, and then drop it.

I appreciated the strong Christian messages given in this story. I found it fascinating that Sophia at her age (late twenties to early thirties, I’d guess) was a virgin and completely unfamiliar with dating. I also found it refreshing. The struggle to stay pure is well-portrayed in both characters. And being a Christian novel, it’s clean. No profanity and no sex. And since it’s a romance, there’s no violence either. Just a mild car crash.

If you’re a romance fan, check this out and the other novellas in the series.

Like the previous novella I read, I’m going to leave this out of my rankings due to the genre.

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