Gathering Shadows by Nancy Mehl

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Gathering Shadows Bethany House Publishers (May 6, 2014) by Nancy Mehl

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nancy Mehl lives in Wichita, Kansas with her husband Norman and their dog, Watson. She’s authored thirteen books and is currently at work on her newest series for Bethany House Publishing.

All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch – something for your spirit as well as your soul. “I welcome the opportunity to share my faith through my writing,” Nancy says. “It’s a part of me and of everything I think or do. God is number one in my life. I wouldn’t be writing at all if I didn’t believe that this is what He’s called me to do. I hope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important message I can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. He has a good plan especially for your life, and there is nothing you can’t overcome with His help.”

She and her husband attend Believer’s Tabernacle in Wichita.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Wynter Evans is a promising young reporter for a television station in St. Louis, but even a bright future doesn't take away her pain over the disappearance of her brother nine years ago. So when she stumbles across a photograph of a boy with an eerie resemblance to him, she can't pass up the chance to track him down. With research for work as her cover, she sets out with one of the station's photogs for the place where the picture was taken: the town of Sanctuary. Almost as soon as she arrives, she meets the town's handsome young mayor, Rueben King, and together they begin to uncover long held secrets that could tear the small town apart and change everything Wynter thought she knew about her life. As the truth of her family's past hides in the shadows, it's clear someone will stop at nothing to keep the answers she's searching for hidden forever--even if the cost is Wynter's very life. If you'd like to read the first chapter of Gathering Shadows, go HERE.

My review:
  The first books I read by Nancy were her Road to Kingdom Series and enjoyed the series a lot. I liked it enough to request this book when it came up for review. As good as the book sounded, I thought it was one I could read some of and then finish it another day, but that was not to happen. I got caught up in the story right away and found myself reading it til the very end.

 This series, like her last series, centers around strict Mennonites, instead of the ever so popular Amish stories of the day, and I like these far better. It does help that the books are suspense, which is my favorite genre', but I still like the Mennonite angle and feel their portrayal is pretty close to being right.

  There's a lot to like about this book. It has a great setting: a quiet town made up of a lot of conservative Mennonites and other people wanting to live in a simpler and quieter town. It has some great and likable characters, main and secondary, and has a great plot and suspense. The suspense is not so much as to scare off readers who don't go for the average suspense/mystery novels on the market, but has enough suspense that it held my interest and kept me guessing as to how the book would end.

  I really liked the book, and am looking forward to reading more in this series.