The Real Enemy

This is a real soap opera and all the drama that goes with it. I want to say one good thing about this book... It is interesting for the most part, and it did keep me reading.

However, I would just LOVE it if authors would realize that their readers are NOT dumb idiots who have to be reminded every 20 pages what the plot is and why we should keep reading. This one goes to the extreme on that. Perhaps, there are lots of readers out there who read v-e-r-y, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y and must be reminded why they are reading this book. However, those who I pal around with who always have a book in their hand or their tote bag, who pick up the current book while waiting on anything or even sitting on the toilet do not need to be reminded what the plot is.

This book would have been so much better without the Prologue. I have read several books lately that spoil the plot by giving such broad clues in the prologue, that I really do not need to read the book. Having a prologue is supposed to bring intrigue and whet the appetite, not spill the beans. For the first half of this novel, the protagonist--one Brilliant Jessup, Police Chief of a small town in Tennessee. Of course, she's called Brill and it is a nickname--is faced with two crimes which the prologue actually reveals as one large crime.

Then we have the subplot that Brill's husband had a one-night stand and we deal with her anger and his remorse throughout the book. To have several subplots is what makes this a soap opera. If you like that kind of thing, then this book is for you.

Kathy Herman has written 14 books. I'm thinking that is where my critique is coming from. I expected so much more from a veteran like this, which is why I'm being so harsh. I really don't mean to be so harsh, but I was disappointed.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Real Enemy
David C. Cook (March 2009)
by
Kathy Herman


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Suspense novelist Kathy Herman is very much at home in the Christian book industry, having worked five years on staff at the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and eleven years at Better Books Christian Center in Tyler, Texas, as product buyer/manager for the children’s department, and eventually as director of human resources.

She has conducted numerous educational seminars on children’s books at CBA Conventions in the U.S. and Canada, served a preliminary judge for the Gold Medallion Book Awards of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association , and worked as an independent product/marketing consultant to the CBA market.

Since her first novel, Tested by Fire, debuted in 2001 as a CBA national bestseller, she's added thirteen more titles to her credit, including another bestseller, All Things Hidden.

Kathy's husband Paul is her best friend and most ardent supporter and manages the LifeWay Christian Store in Tyler, Texas. They have three grown children, five adorable grandkids, a cat named Samantha—and an ongoing fascination with hummingbirds. They also enjoy world travel, deep sea fishing, stargazing, and bird watching and sometimes incorporate all these hobbies into one big adventure.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Brill Jessup just became the first female police chief in Sophie Trace, Tennessee, and is riding on the credentials of a stellar eighteen-year career on the Memphis police force. She may be a pro at finding clues, but she tends to ignore the obvious in her personal life. And she would rather work than deal with the bitterness she feels about her husband Kurt's infidelity. Kurt, is weighed down by her unrelenting anger as he struggles to let God redeem the stupidest mistake he ever made. He is genuinely contrite and making every effort to show his commitment to Brill. But she hides behind her badge and her bitterness, deciding that moving her family away from Memphis is the only change she needs to make. So why can't Brill get over this anger?

Before she ever has time to unpack her boxes, people start disappearing. Lots of them. Seven people in seven days To complicate matters, a local legend has many residents believing that the cause is unearthly─tied to the “red shadows,” or spirits of the departed Cherokee who once inhabited the land.

While Brill draws on all of her experience and instinct to solve the case, she must confront an enemy that threatens everything she holds dear─one that cannot be stopped with a badge and a gun. She is forced to confront the real enemy.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Real Enemy, go HERE

Turning the Paige

I did not know that Blogger was going down today at 5PM... I hope this makes it!

I found Turning the Paige a very enjoyable read. At first I was terribly afraid that it was written ALL in the present tense which makes me go kookoo and breathless, like I can't get enough oxygen.

However, there is enough beyond present tense to make it a breathable book for me. I also found the caregiver side of Paige, quite endearing. I could so much identify with her troubles and her fears on that. Also, I could so much identify with her being laid off, let go, terminated... Why do compaines have all these different terms for the sheer fact that they don't want you anymore?

Quite enjoyable. Make sure you have some time on a Sunday afternoon or some early evening to read... you won't want to stop.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Turning The Paige
Zondervan (March 1, 2009)
by
Laura Jensen Walker


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Laura Jensen Walker is an award-winning writer, popular speaker, and breast-cancer survivor who loves to touch readers and audiences with the healing power of laughter.

Born in Racine, Wisconsin (home of Western Printing and Johnson’s Wax—maker of your favorite floor care products) Laura moved to Phoenix, Arizona when she was in high school. But not being a fan of blazing heat and knowing that Uncle Sam was looking for a few good women, she enlisted in the United States Air Force shortly after graduation and spent the next five years flying a typewriter through Europe.

By the time she was 23, Laura had climbed the Eiffel Tower, trod the steps of the Parthenon, skied (okay, snowplowed) in the Alps, rode in a gondola in Venice, and wept at the ovens of Dachau. She’d also learned how to fold her underwear into equal thirds, make a proper cup of English tea, and repel the amorous advances of a blind date by donning combat gear and a gas mask.

Laura is a former newspaper reporter and columnist with a degree in journalism who has written hundreds of articles on many subjects ranging from emu ranching and pigeon racing to goat-roping and cemetery board meetings. However, realizing that livestock and local government weren’t her passion, she switched to writing humor, which she calls a “total God-thing.”

Her lifelong dream of writing fiction came true in Spring 2005 with the release of her first chick lit novel, Dreaming in Black & White which won the Contemporary Fiction Book of the Year from American Christian Fiction Writers. Her sophomore novel, Dreaming in Technicolor was published in Fall 2005.

Laura’s third novel, Reconstructing Natalie, chosen as the Women of Faith Novel of the Year for 2006, is the funny and poignant story of a young, single woman who gets breast cancer and how her life is reconstructed as a result. This book was born out of Laura’s cancer speaking engagements where she started meeting younger and younger women stricken with this disease—some whose husbands had left them, and others who wondered what breast cancer would do to their dating life. She wanted to write a novel that would give voice to those women. Something real. And honest. And funny.

Because although cancer isn’t funny, humor is healing.

A popular speaker and teacher at writing conferences, Laura has also been a guest on hundreds of radio and TV shows around the country including the ABC Weekend News, The 700 Club, and The Jay Thomas Morning Show.

Another book in this series is Daring Chloe

She lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband Michael, and Gracie, their piano playing dog


ABOUT THE BOOK

At 35, Paige Kelley is feeling very "in between." She's still working her temp job after two years, still not dating three years after her divorce, and still melting at every chubby-cheeked toddler she sees while her biological clock ticks ever louder. Paige even moves back home to help her ailing, high-maintenance mother.It's not exactly the life she'd dreamed of!

When her Getaway Girls book club members urge Paige to break free and get on with her life, she's afraid. How will her mother react? How can Paige honor her widowed mother and still pursue her own life? The answers come from a surprising source.
A trip to Scotland and a potential new love interest help launch an exciting new chapter in her life, and lead Paige to discover that God's plan for her promises to be more than she ever imagined.

This latest release in the Getaway Girls collection delivers a smart, funny, and warm account of one woman's challenge to reconcile who she is - a dutiful Christian daughter - with the woman she longs to be.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Turning The Paige, go HERE

Breach of Trust

Let me say first that I have an extreme prejudice when an otherwise well-written book has short chapter flashes into the mind of the antagonist. I know the guy is evil because the protag is fighting against him/her. Why use that kind of crutch, or trick? It does not make the book more interesting, nor does it add to the suspense. All it does is bring the story flow to a screeching halt and the reader is jerked from a delicious contemplation of exactly who the protag is: 1. afraid of; or 2. holds in contempt.

From one who has read thousands of books, both tremendously excellent and exciting, or yawningly boring, I have found this one both. We get caught up with Paige and her "problem" which is never explained fully in the first half of the book. We just find out that this person she held in bitter contempt was some official in the high ups of the state who was running for a high up office (I think it was President). She was having a lovely tension-filled relationship with the local high school football coach. That's all in the first three or four chapters.

Then the thing becomes all convoluted with the coach (madly in love with her) becomes suspicious and starts digging into her secret; the antagonist isn't satisfied with her head-in-the-sand place in the far reaches of rural America but has to send a lackey to ferret out her whereabouts then send a taunting "present" to help the library where she works.

So good so far... but, we have these grinding halts when we are suddenly jerked from the story line into the "evil mind". And that part does not work with the story. It is a gimmick which is not needed to make the story more interesting or tension-filled.

There hasn't been a true genius that can make Suspense meld satisfyingly with Romance, unless you count "American Dreamer" which was a movie, not a book. That kind of Meld must either start out with the couple already in love and the Suspense revolves around what's happening to them, or the Suspense/Mystery is well-developed first then the Romance is developed as in Robert Ludlem's Bourne series which were quite satisfyingly thick and took several novels to completely bear fruit. The movie was horrendous which bears proof once again that the books are always better than the movies. If the Romance starts out first, then it must be well-developed before the Suspense begins. Otherwise, you have a convoluted myriad of facts and happenings that get confusing to the reader. DiAnn Mills does an okay job with the Romance and Suspense mix, but not as satisfying as one would wish.

If you read this book and skip over those short chapter storyline breakstops in which you do not find anything of value to the story, or for that matter anything clever about the character development of the antagonist, you will find this an enjoyable read.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Breach Of Trust
Tyndale House Publishers (February 5, 2009)

by
DiAnn Mills


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Award-winning author, DiAnn Mills, launched her career in 1998 with the publication of her first book. Currently she has over forty books in print and has sold more than a million copies.

DiAnn believes her readers should “Expect an Adventure.” DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed novels.

Six of her anthologies have appeared on the CBA Best Seller List. Three of her books have won the distinction of Best Historical of the Year by Heartsong Presents. Five of her books have won placements through American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Awards 2003 – 2007, and she is the recipient of the Inspirational Reader’s Choice award for 2005 and 2007. She was a Christy Awards finalist in 2008.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope and Love, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also a mentor for Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer’s Guild.

She lives in sunny Houston, Texas. DiAnn and her husband have four adult sons and are active members of Metropolitan Baptist Church.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Paige Rogers survived every CIA operative’s worst nightmare.

A covert mission gone terribly wrong.

A betrayal by the one man she thought she could trust.

Forced to disappear to protect the lives of her loved ones, Paige has spent the last several years building a quiet life as a small-town librarian. But the day a stranger comes to town and starts asking questions, Paige knows her careful existence has been shattered.

He is coming after her again. And this time, he intends to silence her for good...

Paige Rogers is a former CIA agent who lost all she treasured seven years ago when her entire team was killed in a covert mission. She blames their leader—Daniel Keary—whom Paige believes betrayed them. Disillusioned and afraid for her life, she disappeared and started a new life as a librarian in small town Split Creek, Oklahoma.

But her growing relationship with high school football coach Miles Laird and the political ambitions of her former boss threaten to unmask her. When Keary announces his candidacy for governor of her state, he comes after Paige to ensure that she won't ruin his bid for office by revealing his past misdeeds. He threatens everything she holds dear, and Paige must choose between the life of hiding that has become her refuge . . . or risking everything in one last, desperate attempt to right old wrongs.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Breach Of Trust, go HERE

Here you will find an excellent slice of what it was like to live in Samaria during Jesus' time. However, I'm not exactly sure it is a most accurate slice. However, Jewish women had a lot more freedom of choice than depicted in this novel, and Samaritans were more influenced by the Assyrians since they intermarried so I seriously doubt the Samaritans followed the Jewish practices. After all, they were despised by the Jews and this fact, in it self, made the story of Jesus talking with her so incredible to His disciples. All in all, though, this was a pretty good story. I'd like to think that it happened that way. I seriously doubt it, though, because something about the story just doesn't "feel" right, and I can't put my finger on it. If you figure it out, let me know, okay?

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Journey To The Well
Revell (March 1, 2009)
by
Diana Wallis Taylor

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Diana Wallis Taylor, San Diego resident, is an award-winning Christian author and speaker who shares her personal testimony to women’s groups. The Lord gave Diana a desire to write a book about the woman of Samaria who encountered Jesus at Jacob’s Well. It was at the edge of the well where the woman of Samaria found the living water of Jesus.

A native Californian, Diana Wallis Taylor graduated from San Diego State University. She has had many occupations; elementary and junior high school teacher, bookshop owner, and conference director for a Christian college. A poet since the age of 12, she published a book of poems, Wings Of The Wind, in 1994, now republished with watercolor illustrations in 2006. She has received awards in songwriting and poetry and her writing contributions appear in various books and magazines. The author speaks on the woman at the well in conjunction with her own testimony. She also speaks on A Walk in the Darkness, on her family involvement in the occult and how it affected her life.

Diana lives with her husband Frank in San Diego, California and between them they have six grown children and ten grandchildren. In addition to her speaking and writing, she serves on the board of the San Diego Christian Writer’s Guild and is active in Christian Women’s Fellowship.



ABOUT THE BOOK

She went to the well for water. What she found there would change her life forever.

Marah is a young girl in love with her childhood friend, Jesse. When she is forced to marry an older man, she must abandon her dreams of happiness. At the mercy of men who are often only interested in using her, Marah must fight for survival. Will she ever meet a man who can save her?

The story of the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well is one of hope, redemption, and a life changed in an instant through a remarkable encounter. Jesus told her "everything she'd ever done," but we are left to wonder at the circumstances that led her life on such a tragic path to begin with. Now from the creative mind of Diana Wallis Taylor comes the full story of the woman at the well.

This well-researched portrayal of a woman's life in the time of Jesus opens a window into a fascinating world. Taylor's rich descriptions of the landscapes, lifestyles, and rituals mesh easily with the emotional and very personal story of one woman who desperately seeks to rise above the difficult circumstances of her life.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Journey To The Well, click HERE