Relentless Pursuit by Kathy Herman

Sax Henry left home at seventeen to escape his father’s abuse, leaving his mother and younger sister, Shelby, to fend for themselves. Now, twenty-eight years later, both parents are dead, and guilt compels him to find his sister and make peace. His quest takes him to the south Louisiana town of Les Barbes where he hopes to find Adele Woodmore, the wealthy woman Shelby once worked for.

Les Barbes is in crisis as a number of people have collapsed and have been taken to the emergency room. Health officials determine that someone has put cyanide in the food bar and bottled water at Marcotte’s Market. Ten victims are expected to recover. Six others are dead. Sax wonders if he made a mistake coming here, but his fear of dying isn’t nearly as strong as his desire to find peace. Mrs. Woodmore turns out to be his most formidable obstacle. Or is she? Little does he know that he has a divine appointment awaiting him that will propel him toward the God he bitterly resents. A God who has also been in relentless pursuit—of him.

Based on Psalm 34:14, “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it,” this final book in the series is rich with the Cajun flavors of south Louisiana and illustrates what it means to find true peace in an uncertain world.

My review:

I got a pleasant surprise one day when I got the mail: a copy of this book from the author as thanks for my support for her books. No review was requested, but a review for Kathy's books is always easy to do, and I am doing one as a thank-you for the book.

Relentless Pursuit is the third and final book in the Secrets of Roux River Bayou Series. I noticed a common theme throughout this series of forgiveness. In all three books, someone had to deal with forgiving another person of a great offence. There was also the issue of people needing forgiveness from God also, but it was a great message to weave into a suspense series of the need to forgive others.

Kathy Herman continues to put out top notch books. She never gets very graphic or gory in her writing, yet writes excellent suspense/mystery novels. This one was no exception. I held onto the book to read while I was on vacation, and once I started it, I did not want to put it down, and stayed up rather late to finish it the evening that I read it. The book was a terrific read. It was suspenseful and showed that no one is beyond hope and redemption, even a killer.

There was even more character development in this book of characters that have appeared in other books of Kathy's, which is something I really enjoy about her writing. She does great character development and shows the depth, or lack of in some cases, of her characters.

There is a lot of discussion about Christian fiction, of what it is or is not. Too many authors are dropping curse words into the books and defending their use. Many try to write a book with a Christian worldview that doesn't necessarily mention God, but has a battle between good and evil with good winning. Kathy Herman is an author who I can never see putting curse words in her books, and who unashamedly puts God in her books and shows through a fictional suspense story that He changes lives and is the answer to anything we face.

This book deserves 5 out of 5 stars. I am looking forward to the next book and series bt this great author.

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 sixteen more titles to her credit, including four bestsellers: All Things Hidden, The Real Enemy, The Last Word, and The Right Call.

Kathy's husband Paul is her manager and most ardent supporter, and the former manager of the LifeWay Christian Store in Tyler, Texas. They have three grown children, five almost-perfect grandchildren, a cat named Samantha. They enjoy cruising, deep sea fishing, and birdwatching—sometimes incorporating these hobbies into one big adventure.
Relentless Pursuit is available from David C. Cook Publishing.

Thanks to Kathy for the copy of Relentless Pursuit.

Check out my blog post about the author.