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Miracle On Snowbird Lake
“Powerful and gripping. Bednarz keeps you turning pages...he shines a bright light on the best and worst the human spirit has to offer.” –NY Times bestselling author Tim Green, author of fourteen highly successful suspense novels, including soon-to-be-released False Convictions, national bestseller Above the Law and The Dark Side of the Game. Can Hope Penetrate the Darkest Night? Eleven-year-old Annie smiled at her dad as she pedaled past the pearly white church gazebo—a still frame etched in his mind forever. He could not have known it would be his last glimpse of her cherub face. In the shadow of the Adirondack Mountains, the town of Dutch Hollow briefly rallied together. Flyers were passed, meetings were held, and a substantial reward was offered. Some even volunteered to set up a toll-free call center for tips leading to the whereabouts of Annie Davis. After a fruitless community effort, Pastor Robert Davis finds himself alone in his search—not only for his daughter, but for a God from whom he demands answers. Can his faith, family, and ministry survive the darkest night of the soul? When tragedy strikes, is love the one gift that empowers courage to face the very gates of hell? Through menacing twists and turns, this tense read will take you to the far side of God's providence as you follow the relentless journey of a man who refuses to give up hope.
- GenresChristian Fiction
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2012
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10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 24, 2022
Rating: 5 Stars!!
Review:
Thank you to My Mom's Cousin Anne who gave me this book last year when my dad was in the hospital.
This was my first time reading a book by Stanley Bednarz so i wasnt sure what to expect but i have to say i really enjoyed this one and helped me learn more about trusting God and his timing when we feel like things are falling apart in our lives.
The Characters were so interesting and enjoyable to read about.
The Setting was so beautifully described which made me feel like i was actually in The Adirondack Mountains while reading.
Overall a good book about learning the meaning of faith, family and ministry!! Can't wait to read more by Stan in the future!!
Review:
Thank you to My Mom's Cousin Anne who gave me this book last year when my dad was in the hospital.
This was my first time reading a book by Stanley Bednarz so i wasnt sure what to expect but i have to say i really enjoyed this one and helped me learn more about trusting God and his timing when we feel like things are falling apart in our lives.
The Characters were so interesting and enjoyable to read about.
The Setting was so beautifully described which made me feel like i was actually in The Adirondack Mountains while reading.
Overall a good book about learning the meaning of faith, family and ministry!! Can't wait to read more by Stan in the future!!
October 5, 2020
A True Miracle!!!
Got me from the beginning and had me going the entire time!! Highly recommend!!! Excellent read, loved it’s awesome job!!! Great author!!
Got me from the beginning and had me going the entire time!! Highly recommend!!! Excellent read, loved it’s awesome job!!! Great author!!
March 8, 2013
Summary:
It is the end of summer and school will begin soon. Eleven year old Annie Davis, rode her bicycle to visit her dad who is the pastor of a church in small town Dutch Hollow, New York. Dutch Hollow, seems to be tucked-in safely, in the Adirondack Mountains. Annie and her dad hug, and she pedals off, turning briefly to smile at her dad. Neither knew that their lives would soon change forever.
Pastor Robert Davis, and his wife Mary, withdrawal into their own private hell. They blame themselves, each other, and feel that "death is around every corner". Memories of Annie, haunt them. They wonder what happened? Who took her? How long will their suffering last?
Caring for their young son Little Rob, and Robert's pastorate, keep them going. Robert's main thrust for getting up each day is traveling through the other small towns in the Adirondack mountains to leave flyers, and ask questions that will hopefully lead them to Annie, and what happened.
A strange woman visits Robert, telling him odd and unsettling information. She claims she's a psychic. This new twist is more than troubling to Robert, because he doesn't know if he believes this sort of thing, or maybe he's so desperate he should believe?
My Thoughts:
I gave Miracle on Snowbird Lake 5 Stars for the following 6 reasons.
1. Stan Bednarz is a wonderful story-teller. His words and phrases drew me in to the story. Even those un-noticeable things that many writers would not describe; Stan describes, which gives added humanity to the story. For example: peoples breath----like coffee breath, or a person tripping. I feel adding these descriptions gave a reality and a vividness to the story.
2. Child abduction and abuse is horrifying. Just saying those words pierce my heart. Yet, their are so many people that have been affected by this. To share a story, even in fiction, helps us to be vigilant and proactive. We do have empathy. Yet, what next? Once upon a time in generations prior, people did not speak of these things, and the abused suffered another form of abuse---silence.
3. Stan Bednarz does not tell us his characters are suffering under stress, or sadness, or anger, or bitterness----he shows us through the story. For example: Robert Davis always has a pack of Tums in his pocket, and throughout the story he pops them in his mouth like Tic-Tac's. We then understand he has stomach acid that is rumbling and grounding in his stomach which is caused from stress.
4. Stan uses symbolism in the story. For example:
"The closer he got, the more he could see that the paint had worn thin streaks like old dry tears, as if the house had cried out." page 129.
5. I saw how the characters wrestled with wanting revenge, what to do with their anger, with unanswered questions, and with God who had allowed this.
6. Miracle on Snowbird Lake is memorable, a deeply affecting story!
Thank you to Bring it on Communications! for my free review copy.
It is the end of summer and school will begin soon. Eleven year old Annie Davis, rode her bicycle to visit her dad who is the pastor of a church in small town Dutch Hollow, New York. Dutch Hollow, seems to be tucked-in safely, in the Adirondack Mountains. Annie and her dad hug, and she pedals off, turning briefly to smile at her dad. Neither knew that their lives would soon change forever.
Pastor Robert Davis, and his wife Mary, withdrawal into their own private hell. They blame themselves, each other, and feel that "death is around every corner". Memories of Annie, haunt them. They wonder what happened? Who took her? How long will their suffering last?
Caring for their young son Little Rob, and Robert's pastorate, keep them going. Robert's main thrust for getting up each day is traveling through the other small towns in the Adirondack mountains to leave flyers, and ask questions that will hopefully lead them to Annie, and what happened.
A strange woman visits Robert, telling him odd and unsettling information. She claims she's a psychic. This new twist is more than troubling to Robert, because he doesn't know if he believes this sort of thing, or maybe he's so desperate he should believe?
My Thoughts:
I gave Miracle on Snowbird Lake 5 Stars for the following 6 reasons.
1. Stan Bednarz is a wonderful story-teller. His words and phrases drew me in to the story. Even those un-noticeable things that many writers would not describe; Stan describes, which gives added humanity to the story. For example: peoples breath----like coffee breath, or a person tripping. I feel adding these descriptions gave a reality and a vividness to the story.
2. Child abduction and abuse is horrifying. Just saying those words pierce my heart. Yet, their are so many people that have been affected by this. To share a story, even in fiction, helps us to be vigilant and proactive. We do have empathy. Yet, what next? Once upon a time in generations prior, people did not speak of these things, and the abused suffered another form of abuse---silence.
3. Stan Bednarz does not tell us his characters are suffering under stress, or sadness, or anger, or bitterness----he shows us through the story. For example: Robert Davis always has a pack of Tums in his pocket, and throughout the story he pops them in his mouth like Tic-Tac's. We then understand he has stomach acid that is rumbling and grounding in his stomach which is caused from stress.
4. Stan uses symbolism in the story. For example:
"The closer he got, the more he could see that the paint had worn thin streaks like old dry tears, as if the house had cried out." page 129.
5. I saw how the characters wrestled with wanting revenge, what to do with their anger, with unanswered questions, and with God who had allowed this.
6. Miracle on Snowbird Lake is memorable, a deeply affecting story!
Thank you to Bring it on Communications! for my free review copy.
April 14, 2013
Pastor Robert Davis gives his 11 year old daughter a quick smile as she mounts her bike and pedals away from the church's yard on that summer morning in 1988 With his mind already on his daily obligations, he never even briefly thought that harm would find his precious daughter on her short ride home. In fact, she never arrives home, clearly the victim of an abduction.
The community rallies together, black and white photos and pleading posters pepper the nearby Adirondack Mountain towns and villages, but no clues emerge. Annie has simply disappeared, leaving her father, mother and younger brother to settle into some semblance of an altered life. Pastor Bob continues his duty in the pulpit, but his faith is severely tested as he sees his wife bury herself in a quiet grief. Although he still loves her and their young son, he doesn't have the strength to be the man he needs to be. He has really begun to question whether he should continue at the church; how can he shepherd others when daily they see how much he is hurting. Where is God in all this?
Truly each day is a "put one shoe in front of the other" type of day for Pastor Bob, months tick by, and eventually 18 months have passed. No one seems to be looking for Annie anymore, except for Robert, who looks for her in every voice and face he sees. Then on a wintery morning, young Skye Taylor ventures out to make a snow angel. Recently adopted by a loving family, the young girl is fascinated that school has been cancelled, giving her the entire day to play outside. When her mother discovers a short time later that Skye is not in the yard, she quickly calls the police. Suddenly Skye's plight and Annie's disappearance are linked; and Pastor Bob, his friend Sheriff Brower, and the people of the Adironacks are determined to bring the girls back.
I started reading Miracle on Snowbird Lake late in the evening, intending to read just one chapter before bed. Before I realized it, I was 90 pages into the book, wishing I could finish it before bedtime. Since I really can't handle those all night reading sessions anymore, I set the book aside, but finished it right away the next day. I was not disappointed. Sometimes I have trouble categorizing suspenseful novels as Christian fiction, especially with characters as dark as the villain in this book, but unfortunately terrible things do happen to loving families in real life, and like the book's Davis family, they must hold on to their faith or let pain destroy them.
The community rallies together, black and white photos and pleading posters pepper the nearby Adirondack Mountain towns and villages, but no clues emerge. Annie has simply disappeared, leaving her father, mother and younger brother to settle into some semblance of an altered life. Pastor Bob continues his duty in the pulpit, but his faith is severely tested as he sees his wife bury herself in a quiet grief. Although he still loves her and their young son, he doesn't have the strength to be the man he needs to be. He has really begun to question whether he should continue at the church; how can he shepherd others when daily they see how much he is hurting. Where is God in all this?
Truly each day is a "put one shoe in front of the other" type of day for Pastor Bob, months tick by, and eventually 18 months have passed. No one seems to be looking for Annie anymore, except for Robert, who looks for her in every voice and face he sees. Then on a wintery morning, young Skye Taylor ventures out to make a snow angel. Recently adopted by a loving family, the young girl is fascinated that school has been cancelled, giving her the entire day to play outside. When her mother discovers a short time later that Skye is not in the yard, she quickly calls the police. Suddenly Skye's plight and Annie's disappearance are linked; and Pastor Bob, his friend Sheriff Brower, and the people of the Adironacks are determined to bring the girls back.
I started reading Miracle on Snowbird Lake late in the evening, intending to read just one chapter before bed. Before I realized it, I was 90 pages into the book, wishing I could finish it before bedtime. Since I really can't handle those all night reading sessions anymore, I set the book aside, but finished it right away the next day. I was not disappointed. Sometimes I have trouble categorizing suspenseful novels as Christian fiction, especially with characters as dark as the villain in this book, but unfortunately terrible things do happen to loving families in real life, and like the book's Davis family, they must hold on to their faith or let pain destroy them.
March 30, 2013
This is not the book for everyone, especially those that have a hard time reading about child abductions. However in Miracle on Snowbird Lake by Stan Bednarz, the reader gets an inside look at what the family of the victim has to deal with in not knowing if their child is alive or dead, and those intense feelings of revenge that surface whenever a suspect is found.
Reverend Robert Davis is struggling with many different emotions since the disappearance of his eleven-year-old daughter Annie rode off on her bike one summer day and was never heard from again. Despite all the search efforts of the town and local authorities, no trace of Annie other than her abandoned bicycle were ever found. It has made the small town of Dutch Hollow especially diligent of watching over their own children more closely to ensure the same never happens to them.
For Robert and his wife, Mary they do what most surviving families do in cases like these, each chooses to deal with the tragedy in their own way. Mary dissolves into a state of deep depression while she blames Robert for Annie's disappearance. Robert tries to find solace in his job at the church, but even God appears silent on this issue and he contemplates suicide many times but never follows through. When an apparent psychic shows up with information about Annie, Robert isn't sure if this is simply another attempt for dealing with emotions from the past again or finding hope that Annie is still alive. In either case, he has to meet with Donna Brushton to find out if there is any hope at finding Annie alive after all this time.
I received Miracle on Snowbird Lake compliments of Bring It On Communications and Carmichael Publishing for my honest review. Dealing with crimes against innocent children makes any fiction or non fictional book hard to read, but within this one I found hope again. That despite whatever outcome, God can still bring about some good from whatever happens in time. This is the story of such a case. I would rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and have not received any monetary compensation for a favorable review.
Reverend Robert Davis is struggling with many different emotions since the disappearance of his eleven-year-old daughter Annie rode off on her bike one summer day and was never heard from again. Despite all the search efforts of the town and local authorities, no trace of Annie other than her abandoned bicycle were ever found. It has made the small town of Dutch Hollow especially diligent of watching over their own children more closely to ensure the same never happens to them.
For Robert and his wife, Mary they do what most surviving families do in cases like these, each chooses to deal with the tragedy in their own way. Mary dissolves into a state of deep depression while she blames Robert for Annie's disappearance. Robert tries to find solace in his job at the church, but even God appears silent on this issue and he contemplates suicide many times but never follows through. When an apparent psychic shows up with information about Annie, Robert isn't sure if this is simply another attempt for dealing with emotions from the past again or finding hope that Annie is still alive. In either case, he has to meet with Donna Brushton to find out if there is any hope at finding Annie alive after all this time.
I received Miracle on Snowbird Lake compliments of Bring It On Communications and Carmichael Publishing for my honest review. Dealing with crimes against innocent children makes any fiction or non fictional book hard to read, but within this one I found hope again. That despite whatever outcome, God can still bring about some good from whatever happens in time. This is the story of such a case. I would rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and have not received any monetary compensation for a favorable review.
August 29, 2014
Stan really put out a fine story with this one. Outstanding writing on a tender subject. The reader immediately feels connected to the characters and wants a good outcome. Excellent descriptions. I could imagine every scene as though I were right there. A few typos, but they didn't interrupt the flow of the story. A page turner that I couldn't put down. I'm proud to consider Stan to be a writing friend who has taught me a great deal about good writing. Looking forward to more good reads from this author!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews