Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig

In Venezuela, Danielle Roark and her Army Corps of Engineers team is captured. After six months of captivity, Dani escapes, only to end up charged with espionage and forced to return to the jungle to prove that a nuclear facility exists. On the mission, she is abandoned by God and country. Will she live long enough to make those responsible pay?



Haunted by memories of a mission gone bad, former Green Beret Canyon Metcalfe wrestles with his developing feelings for the feisty senator’s daughter. Setting aside his misgivings, he and Nightshade take the mission to help Dani unravel her lethal secrets. Separated from the team leaves Dani and Canyon vulnerable—and captured. After he is rescued, Canyon discovers Dani has been left behind. Livid, he sacrifices everything to save Dani—including his role with Nightshade.

My review:
Ronie Kendig is fairly new to the Christian fiction scene. Her first book, Dead Reckoning came out in March of last year, and in the year and four months since then, has written three more books, all in the Discarded Heroes series: Nightshade, Digitalis, and now Wolfsbane.

In my humble opinion, this lady just gets better with each book she writes. Wolfsbane is no exception. It centers on yet another member of the Nightshade team, Canyon, who though is a Christian, is flawed, imperfect and seems to do more than his share of messing up.

The plot was fantastic. I was literally sucked into the story and stayed in my recliner from page one to the end of the book. This book has suspense, international intrigue,  special ops, romance, faith elements, betrayal, and failure. There is a moral failure, but I feel Ronie handled it well with no graphic details. Kudos to her on that point.

I really enjoy a series like this, where the same characters are in each novel, yet you learn more about different ones of the team in each book. Though written by a woman, this is the type of book men will enjoy, yet it is also a book/series that women will enjoy.

There is a lesson in the pages of this fiction book. As I stated, the main character is a Christian, but far from perfect. Through fiction and a great suspenseful story, Ronie shows that even Christians can fall and mess up in big ways, but God will forgive and help us through even messes that we make.

There is a "but." I love this author and hate to say anything negative, but anyone who reads my reviews knows that I take issue with cursing and the like in a Christian book. This one used hell - "something hurt like..." I know it is a military book, but I don't like to hear or read people using hell as an expletive or in cases like this. But, that is the only bad thing I can say about the book. Other than that - totally awesome, and I can't wait to read the fourth and final book in the series.

About the author:
n Army brat, Ronie Kendig grew up in the classic military family, with her father often TDY and her mother holding down the proverbial fort. Their family moved often, which left Ronie attending six schools by the time she’d entered fourth grade. Her only respite and “friends” during this time were the characters she created.


It was no surprise when she married a military veteran—her real-life hero—in June 1990. Married now more than twenty years, Ronie and her husband, Brian, homeschool their four children, the first of whom graduated in 2011. Despite the craziness of life, Ronie finds balance and peace with her faith, family and their two dogs in Dallas, TX.

Ronie has a deep love and passion for people, especially hurting people, which is why she pursued and obtained a B.S. in Psychology from Liberty University. Ronie is an active member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and has volunteered extensively, serving in a variety of capacities from coordinator of a national contest to appointment assistant at the national annual conference.

Since launching onto the publishing scene in 2010, Ronie and her books have been gained national attention, including:

■Finalist in Christian Retailing’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards (Nightshade)

■RWA’s Faith, Hope, & Love’s 2011 International Readers’ Choice Awards in Romantic Suspense (Nightshade)

■2011 FamilyFiction Readers’ Choice Awards – 8th place with Nightshade, 3rd place as New Favorite Author

■INSPY Award Shortlist final in Mystery/Thriller (Dead Reckoning)

■The Christian Manifesto’s 2010 Lime Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Nightshade)

Wolfsbane, and the first two books in the Discarded Heroes Series is available from Barbour Publishing.
Thanks to Barbour Publishing for the review copy.