Is Liam Berne a loving son—or a murderer? The second book in the Ozark Mountain Trilogy, Only by Death is a thought-provoking suspense story of a man who loses everything and learns he must die to find life.
After much agonizing, Liam Berne takes his mother, who has Alzheimer’s, to the Sure Foot River and drowns her. A mercy killing, he tells himself, to spare her years in a nursing home. And getting his inheritance early isn’t a bad thing either.
Dixie Berne’s body is recovered and the coroner cannot find any sign of foul play, though Liam’s sister isn’t convinced. Then Liam hears rumors that a twelve-year-old boy has witnessed the drowning. Terrified that he will be discovered, Liam sets out to intimidate the boy into silence. Little does Liam know that someone else suspects him—someone who intends to make him pay.
My review:
Kathy Herman has been one of my favorite authors since I read her first novel, Tested by Fire, 17 years ago. It has been 5 years since I read a new book by Kathy Herman, which was Not by Sight, #1 in this series. The author had a lot going on, so it was 5 years between the release of the two books. I have been looking forward to this book for 5 years, so I bought it and read it as soon as I could........after re-reading book one.
I have enjoyed all of Kathy's books, and the characters in those books.... but I really like the people in this series. Part of that is the first two books center on kids....a 16 year old girl in book 1, and a 12 year old boy in book 2. For some reason, kids in books really draw me in and tug at my heart strings....if a guy can admit such a thing.
Book two takes up two years after the first book, and centers on the youngest boy in the Cummings family.....Jesse. Book one was really good, but this one was even better. It was an emotional book, and the issue of faith was at the center of the story. Although the story and Jesse were fictional, I was convicted by the faith and willingness to die of a 12 year old. Including myself, too many of us don't live the way this fictional 12 year old lived......yet it is exactly how we are supposed to live. Kathy has never been afraid to put Christian content in her books, and a theme or message that goes beyond just entertaining.
I did read the book in one evening, and could not put it down. It was suspenseful, encouraging, and convicting. The book definitely gets 5 stars from me, and I was sorry to see it end, though I loved the ending.
Thankfully, book 3 is not 5 years away, but is slated to release in August of this year..... and I can't wait to read the final book in this trilogy, the story of the oldest boy in this great fictional family...... Hawk.
About the author:
Best-selling suspense novelist Kathy Herman has written twenty novels—including the Secrets or Roux River Bayou Series, Sophie Trace Series, the Seaport Suspense Series, and the Phantom Hollow Series—since retiring from her family’s Christian bookstore business. She and her late husband Paul have a blended family of three grown children. Kathy lives in the Northwest.
Only by Death and Not by Sight are available from David C Cook Publishing.
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