This novel is by the same author who wrote Elisha's Bones which I loved. So I settled into this one fully expecting something, if not like it, at least as well defined. It is not.
I had to let this one sit for a couple of days before I could write this review. This is a psychological thriller and frankly, it is not a light read. In some ways that is a good thing, in other's not so good because it gets deeply reflective so that you are not sure what the story is about or where it is going.
There are a lot of readers who like that kind of suspense in a novel. I prefer storyline suspense. Keeping the reader in suspense while all the characters know what's going on is not a tactic that I have a lot of patience with. Once I found out what CJ Baxter's brother was capable of, I could finally settle into the read because I knew where it was going. You may not have that problem at all.
We get a clue when brother Graham sucker punches CJ during a little basketball one-on-one at Grandfather Sal's funeral. The little blurb that shares a CJ memory of a so-called hunting accident happens many pages later. This is when the story should take off like a rocket blast, but it doesn't. We must meander around reminiscing about the younger years of CJ, meet his mom and find out how rotten his dad was to her and her revenge. Which all ties together when we find out what really happened long ago and why CJ just can't seem to connect with Dad and Brother Graham.
The climax is the best part of the story (isn't that the way it is supposed to be?) but it isn't just one eye-popping moment. We've got several in a row which keeps the pages turning and the midnight oil burning. It's a keeper.
Don Hoesel is a Web site designer for a Medicare carrier in Nashville, TN. He has a BA in Mass Communication from Taylor University and has published short fiction inRelief Journal. He lives in Spring Hill, Tennessee, with his wife and two children.Elisha's Bones is his first novel.
I was watching Antiques Road Show and to my amazement they showcased some carousels in Spokane, Washington. Did you know that the carousel horses from circa 1910 are worth at the least $30,000? And the more rare ones, more ornate are worth $40,000 to $50,000 as long as they are in good condition. Then the exotic animals are worth upwards of $100,000.
Judith Miller, in her novel The Carousel Painter does go into the history of carousel wood working and painting, she also tells us that the exotic animals are very rare because of the costs involved.
But, what I found most interesting was how she explored the prejudice against women in the work place… especially the man’s work place. How hard it was for women back a century ago or even longer ago than that. History talks a lot about women who had plenty of money before they married but their husbands took over and left them destitute because once a woman married, all the money landed in the husband’s hands. That doesn't happen to Carrington Brouwer in this novel by Judith Miller. Nonetheless, the history in this effort is accurate.
This was a very well developed story. It got a little Soap Opera-like in the middle when the reader begins to thing “What else bad can happen?” Then the story coalesces into a rather neat mystery and is very enjoyable thereafter. It is written in the first person and very well done. There are lots of excellent observations that are very believable. Delicious villains, a cranky hero, a very warm hearted boarding house keeper who is a very bad cook, a most level-headed and quite charming protagonist all mix together in a happy recipe for fun reading.
Carrington Brouwer’s father is a fabulous painter in France, but passes away before becoming really famous. She has two of his paintings and off she goes to America to live with one of her father’s students until she can find work. Little did she know that her friend’s mother is extremely social conscious with little regard for a starving friend of her daughter’s. Fortunately, her friend’s father owns a carousel factory and, since she has all of her father’s talent and then some, she asks him for a job. An unlikely ally, her friend’s mother, pushes the issue and Carrington settles in to paint carousel horses. Then a very expensive necklace of the mother goes missing. Carrington must find the culprit, help save her friend from the clutches of a scoundrel, win, if not the affections, the respect of her co-workers, and fall in love with the very cranky carousel factory manager—all while trying to survive on terrible food.
This is a great, fast-paced story. I’ll be looking for more from Judith Miller!
I guess the last read as great as this one was Robert Lipulo's Deadfall.
Kiss has all the elements of great suspense. A most excellent confusion at the very beginning and wonder at how it would eventually tie in, then it did tie in and in the very next chapter. The investigating, the agony of delibert cruelty, the debilitating effect of memory loss, the intriguing exploration of a new seventh sense and the chilling reminder that researchers can be so caught up in science humans become dehumanized for the sake of the result.
This is a keeper, I highly recommend it.
The characters are very well done, the protag is charming and fiesty with an excellent dose of a fiery temper. An excellent combination when a person wants to excavate the truth from deception. This is well worth the money.
Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.
After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.
Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), Obsessed, Renegade, and Chaos.
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Erin Healy is an award-winning fiction editor who has worked with talented novelists such as James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins, L. B. Graham, Rene Gutteridge, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Robin Lee Hatcher, Denise Hildreth, Denise Hunter, Randy Ingermanson, Jane Kirkpatrick, Gilbert Morris, Frank Peretti, Lisa Samson, Randy Singer, Robert Whitlow, and many others.
She began working with Ted Dekker in 2002 and edited twelve of his heart-pounding storiesbefore their collaboration on Kiss, the first novel to seat her on "the other side of the desk."
Erin is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services, a Colorado-based consulting firm specializing in fiction book development. She and her husband, Tim, are the proud parents of two children
ABOUT THE BOOK
Let me tell you all I know for sure. My name. Shauna. I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend-how could I have forgotten him?-my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true-can it?
I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy.
And even worse, I think they want to kill me.
But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie?
Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie.
After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her childhood home to recover, but her arrival is fraught with confusion.
Her estranged father, a senator bidding on the White House, and her abusive stepmother blame Shauna for the tragedy, which has left her beloved brother severely brain damaged. Leaning on Wayne Spade, a forgotten but hopeful lover who stays by her side, Shauna tries to sort out what happened that night by jarring her memory to life. Instead, she acquires a mysterious mental ability that will either lead her to truth or get her killed by the people trying to hide it.
In this blind game of cat and mouse that stares even the darkest memories in the face, Shauna is sure of only one thing: if she remembers, she dies.
If you would like to read the first chapter of KISS, go HERE
Watch the Video Trailer
What people are saying about KISS:
“The human brain could actually be the real final frontier—we know so little about it and yet it drives the world as we know it. So when authors like Erin and Ted bravely explore these mysterious regions, going into complex places like memory and soul and relationships, I become hooked. The creativity of this suspenseful story is sure to hook other readers as well. Very memorable!” ~Melody Carlson, author of Finding Alice and The Other Side of Darkness
“Dekker and Healy prove a winning team in this intriguing, imaginative thriller.” ~James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Try Darkness
“Kiss by Erin Healy and Ted Dekker is a superb thriller that hooked me from the first sentence. The original plot kept me guessing, and I may never look at a kiss the same way again. I’ll be watching for the next book!” ~Colleen Coble, author of Cry in the Night
“The writing team of Erin Healy and Ted Dekker has taken me through a page-turner with Kiss. It’s one of those books that you think about when you’re not reading it. I highly recommend it, especially if you don’t mind staying up late because you can’t put the book down!” ~Rene Gutteridge, author of Skid and My Life As a Doormat
Let me just say that I've had about enough of authors, sitcoms, movies and all other forms of communications making men look like fools. If a woman loves her man come hell or high water, then she should act like it and never, ever, ever talk bad about him unless it is silently, and directly to God.
I was into this book along about the 4th chapter and I just got so tired of the protag's cutsey old southern drawl and her cut 'em down and "bless his heart". That is getting so VERY old! I did't finish it. I found that I really didn't care about the characters, and if I'm going to finish a novel, I must care about the characters. There's plenty of soul food in this book, but not much ole South Charm. I give it 1 star... mildly interesting.
SAndra has been writing for years with historicals being her main focus. By the time she had a polished manuscript in hand, historicals were unpopular. She didn't give up though and decided to try her hand at writing a mystery. A cozy mystery.
Her first book, Murder on The Ol' Bunions , released in April of 2008. Book two of the LaTisha Barnhart Mystery series, Polly Dent Loses Grip, and book three, Eat, Drink and Be Buried will follow in April 2009 and 2010, respectively.
She's almost always running a contest, so drop by her Website, you just might win a free gift!
ABOUT THE BOOK
LaTisha Barnhart’s bunions tell her something’s afoot as she delves deeper into the murder of her former employee, Marion Peters. When LaTisha becomes a suspect, the ante is upped, and she is determined to clear her name and find the culprit.
She’s burping Mark Hamm’s bad cooking to investigate his beef with Marion. . .getting her hair styled at a high falutin’ beauty parlor to see what has Regina Rogane in a snarl. . .playing self-appointed matchmaker between the local chief and a prime suspect. . .and thinking Payton O’Mahney’s music store lease might be the reason he’s singing out of tune when discussion of Marion’s murder arises. LaTisha’s thinking she just might use the reward money to get her bunions surgically removed. But she’s got to catch the crook first.
Small town intrigue, a delightful, vivid cast, and a well-crafted mystery make S. Dionne Moore’s debut novel a must-read! I loved it!~Susan May Warren~Award-winning author of Reclaiming Nick
“S. Dionne Moore has the rare quality of pulling together great characters and compelling plots.” ~Kelly Klepfer~ www.novelreviews.blogspot.com
If you would like to HEAR the first chapter, go HERE and click on the bookcover trailer box!
Melanie Wells has a huge amount of experience under her belt with counseling degrees up the wazoo. But, what I'm most impressed about is her ability to build a story. My Soul To KeepAlthough, I got really tired of this Peter fellow. I felt like I'd missed out on the real story and stepped into the middle of one. That is not a pleasant feeling when you are reading a book. And, big duh! It is the third in the Dylan Foster series.
It is very humorous in places and gave me a feeling of getting to know someone that I truly would have loved to sit down and drink a cup of coffee with (or iced tea). What I'd like to do even more is to teach Dylan what it means to be a Christian. There is nothing miraculous about quoting Scripture, there is a lot for her to learn about reverence and awe and what it actually means to pray. I do have a problem with this author's cavalier usage of Christianity and then selling this as a Christian book.
For an author to make a reader care about a character takes considerable talent and an understanding of the craft. To draw the reader in and keep her reading in spite of the missing parts of the story (ie: coming into the middle instead of beginning at the beginning) takes considerable talent as well.
I give it 2 stars. It's a good story, characters seem believable, but it is not a stand alone and should never be sold as one. There isn't enough about what happened earlier to be able to feel comfortable in the read.
Zeffie is an adorable little girl who wanted to help her grandmother. She sells a jewelry box and suddenly a cold case murder is reopened and Christy Castleman dives into asking questions and putting pieces together.
Cool and breezy summer read. Take it to the beach or the pool.
I goofed up. I was supposed to review this book by Sue Dent on Friday. I did not. I was packing and I just flat forgot! I'm so sorry, Sue!
First let me say... this book is truly not for me because of the subject matter. It is about a werewolf (Ceese) and a vampire. Now I want to say that this book is very well written. It has also been nominated for an award, Bram Stoker Award. I think that is truly grand that in a genre which is full of the occult that a book which points to Jesus is nominated for an award.
This book is beautifully bound and is very well written. Sue did the cover art herself! I pray that if you really like this genre, that you'll pick up this book for your library.
I became friends with Sue because of a remark I made on another blog. She couldn't understand why I'd say something without having read the whole thing. Well... I read enough to get a good feel for it and it is a lesson for me to be careful of what I say and how I say it... there are people behind these computers and they have feelings... big duh, right?
With Sue's permission, here's part of our exchange...
Dear Sue, I truly appreciate your email. I especially appreciate you wanting to understand what I wrote and meant. I said that the book was very well written. The comment to that was that it was the editor's fault for the "yawn spots". I have a lot of admiration for Lynn Scallon and I'm quite sure she is correct. I have read a little less than half the book. I read enough to know beyond doubt that it is well written. I also read enough to know that I just can't finish it. I literally get ill reading about someone drinking blood. I can't help that. I read enough to very much enjoy turning those beautiful pages and the great, easily read typeface. Since that is not why people buy books, I didn't say anything about it, but I promise you on Dec 6th or perhaps the 8th I will say something about the presentation because it is beautiful. I seriously have a problem with stories of this nature dealing with vampires and werewolves since I consider that as the next of kin to sorcery and witchcraft. It is my firm foundation of faith that gives me this. When I agreed to review books, I wasn't asked, "What kind of books will you not read?" Therefore, since I was committed to reviewing books, I read as much as I could, and then I was convicted by my bodily reaction and, I firmly believe, by the Holy Spirit, to put it down and not finish it. I truly do not know how it comes out… I expect that the two finally have a meeting of the minds and meeting of faith, but that is pure speculation. Sue, you must expect a lot of people to not like this book. You will probably find a lot of nonChristians who will scoff at it and a lot of Christians who will shun it because of the subject matter. It does satisfy a niche of fantasy lovers, though, and may even touch some stony hearts. I am quite sure that God will use it to His good purposes. I pray that is so. Please forgive me, for the cavalier way I lumped your book in with several others… but, look at it this way, it is publicizing and a lot of Book Store owners go to Lynn's blog. Please do not take it personally! I love Southern girls, for I am your next-state neighbor in Louisiana. Please forgive me for not liking the subject matter of your book. I do recognize the incredible hard work you put into it and all the research. However, I hope you appreciate honesty and that is what I have given you. Sue Dent:I will now put you up there with the other two who couldn't finish Never Ceese mainly because of the subject matter. And they too were kind enough to confess that this was basically all there was to it. I sincerely don't expect everyone to love this book and I'm sure I'll find my toughest critics in the Christian market. Oddly enough I've been blessed so far and found some of my most gracious reviews from those in the Christian market, allbeit readers who didn't shun the genre to begin with. I so want to touch the secular market with this, using the subject matter to show that God is everywhere and can be taught about in every aspect of literature. I find many Christian youths curious enough to want to explore this genre. I want to give them something that won't lead them astray. So many of these books point to things of a very dark nature. It is definitely a book for a certain genre.
How have the things you’ve learned impacted your life today?
I’m still learning, I have to admit; my skull’s kind of thick. I find myself getting amped up about the book--wanting to do anything and everything I can to help make sure it’s a success--and then my wife reminds me: “You’re not in control of all that. God is.” She’s a smart one, that wife of mine. So the short answer is, I still struggle with wanting to control everything myself. But God, and my wife, keep reminding me that’s just not the case. And when I sit down to think about it, and really accept it, that’s very freeing. It can be terrifying, wanting to have total control yourself, and realizing there’s no possible way you can do it all.
What was the best advice ever given to you... The Worst?
Best advice: just write, and let the rest of the stuff fall into place. That always has been, and always will be, true.
The worst advice, to tell the truth, is just about anything that tells me “how” to write. How I write will naturally be different from how you write, and how everyone else writes. Part of our responsibility, as writers, is to discover what works best for us. Sure, it’s great to read books on craft and such; the danger comes, though, when those books begin to get quoted as authoritative sources on “the way” to write. There is no one way.
Is there a life lesson you would like people who read your book to know before they read your book?
After? Oooh, before and after life lessons. I have my thoughts on what the book really means, but I hate to say, “this is what I was trying to tell you.” I think a book can mean something slightly different to each and every person, so I’ll leave the “after” part alone. Before anyone reads the book, though, I’d offer the simple thought that a ray of light shines brightest in the darkest spots. That, to me, is the power and wonder of redemption.
Tony, thank you so much for the sheer pleasure of reading your book and thank you for taking the time to answer these questions!
And thank YOU, Gina, for such thoughtful comments about the book--and questions that are just as thoughtful.
Look for Waking Lazarus in your favorite Christian bookstore or go to Amazon.com and order it today. You will be delighted!
Tony is offering you a chance to be a part of his next book. Be a Volunteer Book Publicist, win a share of royalties or a role in my next novel:www.tlhines.com/otherside.html
A truly amazing and unique story, filled with twists and switchbacks and real people. If you like Inspirational stories that are hard hitting and that are written extremely well and that keep you guessing... you'll love Waking Lazarus.
The villian is truly wicked and you get a glimpse into this wicked mind which is deeply chilling. The hero is just an ordinary janitor... well, not so ordinary. He's got a gift for coming back from the dead. What Satan means for evil, God means for Good. This is a story a little like The Wrong Way Prophet, Jonah. Jude runs away until he meets God face to face. Well done suspense fiction with the crimson thread of redemption running through it.
Yesterday I gave you a teaser. The book just gets better and better as each page you turn, and turn them you will... faster and faster. You can't relax with this book; and yet, it will be a fabulous one to curl up with one night or one afternoon because I seriously doubt you'll be able to put it down until the last page is finished. Truly, it is that good.
I have read thousands of books. Enjoyed lots of them. I have not enjoyed a book so much since I read Alistair McClean's Ice Station Zebra. It is that suspenseful. I have also enjoyed lots of books from lots of different publishers, but I have never in my life sent a letter or emailed a publisher to tell them how much I enjoyed a book. I did that with Waking Lazarus. Bethany House has a real winner with this one.
I met Tony Hines in a writer's forum at Faith*in*Fiction (the blog link is on the side bar at the left). He has a truly wonderful love for the Lord and a sweet personality. But, that isn't why I liked the book so much. Dog gone it, it is the best written Christian book I've read in months. I want more like this!
So... on to the interview...
Tony, I enjoy your BLOG very much and walking with you through this publishing process. I’ve known you for several months and have grown to love you as a person… warts and all. I have also learned that when I know the author, I’m even more intrigued by the book. You tell us a lot about yourself on your website (interesting stuff!) But, would you tell me and my readers a little more about you personally… something that isn’t on your website and gives us a glimpse into Tony Hines the man?
Thanks, Gina. Blogs really can be like personal journals--the only difference being they’re personal journals the whole world can see. I try to be as real and as honest as I can on my blog; I do more than my share of promotion on the rest of the site, and on the web in general. The blog is where I try to keep myself brutally honest.One of the first questions I get asked about the book is, “How did you come up with your main character of Jude Allman?” I tell people he comes from my own experience, with bits and pieces thrown in from other people. And that’s true. But there really is a lot more of me in Jude Allman than even I probably want to admit: he’s simply a magnified version of some of my own foibles. I have certain obsessive compulsive tendencies--I count letters of words and phrases frequently, for instance--and I’ve struggled with depression. With Jude, I just took a few of those things and exaggerated them to extremes. This isn’t to say I’m just a bundled mess on neuroses, of course. I have a wonderful, supportive family, and I really don’t know where I’d be without a faith in God. But there you go: the character of Jude hits close to home, in many ways.
You give a great insight into the reasons for this story and how it developed on your site. I’m wondering what did you learn about God while writing this book and during the process of getting it published?
That’s a great part of the story, for me. Jude’s journey mirrors my own journey to faith. I was an atheist until age 27, and when I became a Christian, one of the most startling realizations was that God had been working in my life all along. I could go back to key points of my life, seeing how God had been at work in the choices I made, and it fascinated me. So, Jude is a man who is used by God, even though Jude does his best to thwart those efforts for much of the book. Writing the story illuminated the wonder of that to me in so many ways. I also think my personal path to publication is something that can encourage other writers. I wrote WAKING LAZARUS a few years ago, and began querying literary agents--ABA and CBA--about representation. After being turned down by 80+ agents, I chalked up the book to experience and wrote another. Then, I queried more agents, and hit up agents who were “near misses” the first time. Same result: dozens of rejections. By this time, I was frustrated, and even though I’d started another book, I stalled. I finally sat down with God and had what I consider an Abraham moment: I had to hold up my desire to be published as a sacrifice. I said to God, “I don’t know why I’m getting so frustrated about being published. What I love to do is write, and I’m going to keep writing even if I never get published.” Two weeks later--seriously--I received an email from Dave Long at Bethany House, who had downloaded a sample chapter of WAKING LAZARUS at my web site and was interested in seeing more. I still remember how he began that email: “Don’t know if you’d consider publication with a Christian publisher, but...” I still find that amazing. After a couple years of trying to find an agent as a door into a publisher, the back door had been opened to me--by a man I’d never met or spoken to. That reinforced the message of the book for me yet again: God is at work in all our lives. And I truly believe God honored what I call my Abraham moment, when I offered up that desire to be published as a sacrifice. [This last statement encouraged me so much in my own crises right now. It is probably the best advice I've ever been given.]
This novel is by the same author who wrote Elisha's Bones which I loved. So I settled into this one fully expecting something, if not like it, at least as well defined. It is not.
