When his mother dies, sixteen-year-old Colin is consumed with hate for his harsh, demanding father. Looking for a true relationship with Christ and purification for his hateful heart, he journeys to the historic monastery at Glastonbury, within whose walls lies the Holy Grail. In this captivating novel centered around Glastonbury Tor (Hill), a young man seeks salvation as the Catholic Church finds itself in turmoil during the reign of Henry VIII.
My review:
This was one of those books that after I got it, I wasn't sure I would like it - but I did. Though this was different from what I normally read, in setting, time period, and plot, I really enjoyed the book.
The story is pretty much a coming into manhood story. The main character, Colin, flees to a monastery after attempting to kill his father. He lives with the monks as he tries to find salvation through his work there.
The author did a great job of telling the story and of describing life in a monastery. The book is historical fiction with activities of King Henry VIII playing a big part in the events of the book.
Once I started reading the book, I read it until I finished and found it a very enjoyable read.
And by the way, "Tor" is a hill or mountain.
About the author:
LeAnne Hardy has traveled the world responding to God's call to be a missionary, a call that has taken her to Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe. The diverse settings and plots in her books have been inspired by her real-life encounters there. Many of the stories and scenes from her books come from her family's experiences on the mission field or are based on true stories of others.
Jamil renounced a life of jihad when he encountered the life-changing message of Jesus Christ, but villagers and authorities in the hills of Afghanistan respond with skepticism . . . and even violence.
Relief worker Amy Mallory is shocked by the changes in her organization—changes with dire implications for the women and children under her care. And concern for her former assistant, Jamil, weighs heavily on her heart.
Former Special Forces veteran Steve Wilson faces off against the riots and corruption of Kabul’s upcoming election. He's looking for something that will give his life purpose but is confident that he won’t find it in Afghanistan.
All three are searching for love and freedom in a country where political and religious injustice runs rampant. But when religious freedom becomes a matter of life and death, they discover that the cost of following Jesus may require the ultimate sacrifice.
My review:I loved the book that this is a sequel to, Veiled Freedom, and hoped that there would be a sequel, and was happy to see there was going to be.
It took me a while to get through this book. Granted, the book didn't go quite the way I was hoping it would, so I stalled out after a certain point. Veiled Freedom was a faster read for me, and I did enjoy it more. This book was harder for me to get through, but still had a great plot and ending, and it was great to read more of Jamil and Amy's story and again visit Afghanistan through the pages of a fiction book.
The book was still an enjoyable read, just not as much as the first.
About the author:
As the child of missionary parents, award-winning author and journalist Jeanette Windle grew up in the rural villages, jungles, and mountains of Colombia, now guerrilla hot zones. Her detailed research and writing is so realistic that it has prompted government agencies to question her to determine if she has received classified information. Curently based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jeanette has lived in six countries and traveled in more than twenty. She has more than a dozen books in print, including the political/suspense best seller CrossFire and the Parker Twins juvenile mystery series.
Freedom's Stand is available from Tyndale House Publishing.
Gayle is the award winning author of more than forty books. She has been a Christy finalist three times for her novels Spring Rain, Summer Shadows, and Winter Winds. Her novel Autumn Dreams won the prestigious Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance. Summer Shadows was voted the Inspirational Readers Choice Contest Book of the Year (tied with fellow author Brandilyn Collins).
Gayle has won the Holt Medallion three times for The Decision, Caught in a Bind, and Autumn Dreams. The Decision won the Reviewers Choice Award, and Gayle has also won the Award of Excellence for Spring Rain and the Golden Quill for Summer Shadows and Winter Winds. Romantic Times Book Report gave Gayle the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Her Amhearst mystery series, Caught in the Middle, Caught in the Act, and Caught in a Bind, originally published by Zondervan, was reprinted in 2007 by Love Inspired Suspense with a fourth original title added, Caught Redhanded. Another original single title, See No Evil, was also released. Caught in the Middle has been optioned for film.
For her work in training Christian writers Gayle has won special recognition from Mount Hermon CWC, St. Davids CWC, Florida CWC, and Greater Philadelphia CWC. She directed St. Davids for five years and Sandy Cove CWC for six. She has taught with Christian Leaders, Authors and Speakers Services (CLASS), serving for several years as their writer in residence. She enjoys speaking at women's events across the nation and loves sharing the powerful truths of Scripture with humor and practicality.
Gayle lives in southeastern Pennsylvania where she enjoys her family of two great sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, and the world's five most wonderful grandchildren. When she's not writing, or teaching at conferences, Gayle enjoys reading, gardening, and eating out. ABOUT THE BOOK
Carrie Carter’s small café in Seaside, New Jersey, is populated with a motley crew of locals although Carrie only has eyes for Greg Barnes. He’s recovering from a vicious crime that three years ago took the lives of his wife and children—and from the year he tried to drink his reality away. While her heart does a happy Snoopy dance at the sight of him, he never seems to notice her, to Carrie’s chagrin.
When Carrie’s dishwasher is killed and her young waitress disappears, Greg finds himself drawn into helping Carrie solve the mysteries … and into her life. But Carrie has a painful past, too, and when the reason she once ran away shows up in town, the fragile relationship she’s built with Greg threatens to implode from the weight of the baggage they both carry. Two wounded hearts struggle to find a way to make one romance work. Failure seems guaranteed when Carrie locates her waitress but is taken hostage...
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.
Shawn Grady signed with Bethany House Publishers in 2008. He was named “Most Promising New Writer” at the 39th Annual Mount Hermon Writers Conference. He is the author of the novels Through the Fire, Tomorrow We Die & Falls Like Lightning.
Shawn has served for over a decade as a firefighter and paramedic in northern Nevada. From fire engines and ambulances to tillered ladder trucks and helicopters, Shawn’s work environment has always been dynamic. The line of duty has carried him to a variety of locale, from high-rise fires in the city to the burning heavy timber of the eastern Sierras.
After graduating from James Logan High School in Union City, California, Shawn attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego as a Theology undergrad. There he found clarity of direction and proceeded on to acquire an Associate of Science degree in Fire Science Technology as well as Paramedic licensure through Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.
Shawn currently lives in Reno, just outside of Lake Tahoe. He enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife, three children and yellow Labrador.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When hotshot smoke jumper Silas Kent gets his own fire crew, he thinks he's achieved what he's always wanted. But a lightning-sparked fire in the Desolation Wilderness of the Sierra Nevadas has his team in a plane before they can even train together.
Pilot Elle Westmore has been called up to drop the crew into the heart of the forest infernos. A single mother of a mysteriously ill six-year-old, she can't imagine her life getting any more complicated.
It doesn't take long for things to go very wrong, very quickly. A suspicious engine explosion forces Elle to make an emergency landing. Silas is able to parachute to safety but soon discovers his crew can't be trusted. They're hiding something, and now Silas is on a race to save himself and Elle from the flames--and from a more dangerous threat: his own team.
My review:
I really enjoyed this book. It had its share of suspense and romance, but it also gave a fascinating look into the lives and activities of a smoke jumper. I was hooked at the first page and kept reading until I was done with the book.
The author is a fireman and paramedic, which makes his stories more realistic since he knows what he is talking about. I recommend this one.
J. Mark Bertrand lived in Houston, where the series is set, for fifteen years, earning an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But after one hurricane too many he relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota. Mark has been arrested for a crime he didn't commit, was the foreman of one hung jury and served on another that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead.
ABOUT THE BOOK
It's Christmas in Houston, and homicide detective Roland March is on the hunt for a killer. A young woman's brutal stabbing in an affluent neighborhood bears all the hallmarks of a serial murder. The only problem is that March sent the murderer to prison ten years ago. Is it a copycat -- or did March convict the wrong man?
Alienated from his colleagues and with a growing rift in his marriage, March receives messages from the killer. The bodies pile up, the pressure builds, and the violence reaches too close to home. Up against an unfathomable evil, March struggles against the clock to understand the hidden message in the pattern of wounds.
My review:
Books written in the first person have never been my first choice to read, but I enjoyed Bertrand's first book, so I grabbed this one. In my humble opinion, it is even better than the first. I started reading it and did not put it down until I finished.
Does an original scroll written by Joseph—the earthly father of Jesus—reveal evidence that Christ's birth was not divine? An unlikely hero, history professor Jefferson Burke is tapped by circumstance to find the lost Biblical text that could alter the course of the world. This action-adventure story will have believers and doubters alike hanging on every twist and turn as two men race across the globe, with the foundation of Christianity hanging in the balance.
Jefferson Burke and the Secret of the Lost Scroll is a mystery as old as the Christian church wrapped in a modern-day thriller.
Though an unwilling hero, professor Jefferson Burke's intellectual curiosity pits him against the powerful Bruno Krueger in a race to find a 2000-year-old scroll that calls into question the divinity of Christ and could shake the foundation of Christian faith, upsetting the balance of power in the modern world. Their deadly quest spans the globe, involving officials from the Vatican, CIA and FBI agents, British royalty, a Hollywood actress, and modern terrorists.
This classic battle of good vs. evil will hook believers and doubters alike. The uncertainties raised by the very existence of the elusive scroll will have every reader questioning the basis of their faith and wondering what would happen if certain fundamental truths suddenly were proven untrue.
Artfully and thoughtfully told, this is the kind of action-packed adventure story that will keep loyal Ace Collins readers—and increasing legions of new fans—coming back for more.
My review:
Ace Collins has written books in all sorts of categories, and in the last couple of years has tried his hand at fiction, with great results. His first fiction attempt, Farraday Road and the sequel, Swope's Ridge were great and enjoyable reads in the Christian suspense genre'. This book falls under suspense/mystery/intrigue, but reads like an Indiana Jones adventure. The end result is a terrific read.
My one disappointment: I felt more could have been done with the faith of the two main characters. It is obvious that Burke holds no Christian profession, and his female counterpart most likely does not. I know everything can't be tied up with a neat conversion at the end of the book, but I am hoping if there are more books, the faith element will be explored more.
All in all, a great book, and I recommend it.
About the author:
Ace Collins is the writer of more than sixty books, including several bestsellers: Stories behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Stories behind the Great Traditions of Christmas, The Cathedrals, and Lassie: A Dog’s Life. Based in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, He continues to publish several new titles each year, including a series of novels, the first of which is Farraday Road. Ace has appeared on scores of television shows, including CBS This Morning, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and Entertainment Tonight.
Note to authors: I do review for some publishers, but if you are interested in getting a book reviewed, doing a email review, or even a guest blog, contact me. I am primarily interested in Christian fiction. I do prefer physical copies over e-books.
Email: marcus802001(at)yahoo(dot)com
I live in East Palestine, Ohio. I am single, and am uncle to the six greatest kids in the world. I enjoy blogging about Christian fiction, my family, Christianity, and the events of my life
If you are an author, particularly Christian fiction, and need someone to review your book, give me a holler.
About the author:
