THE KNIGHT by Steven James, the continued saga of Patrick Bowers, is a fast paced thriller that keeps you turning page after page.
FBI Agent Patrick Bowers is juggling more than his fair share. A serial murderer he put away thirteen years ago who might go free, a sadistic killer copying the deaths of those in Decameron a piece of Renaissance Literature and targeting Bowers for the grand finale, and his personal life-both romantic and with his step-daughter, Tessa - continue to be hit both highs and lows. From courtroom drama to a tense cat and mouse chase, THE KNIGHT had me riveted until the very last page. Though I was a bit frustrated by the stops and starts in his personal life, I continued to enjoy the evolution between Patrick and Tessa. Twists, dead ends, and shocking reveals are the name of the game. A must read for those who love suspense novels. I can’t wait to read THE BISHOP.
THE ROOK, book two in the Parker Bowers Thriller, did not disappoint.
Picking up pretty much where THE PAWN left off, FBI Agent Patrick Bowers finds himself in San Diego investigating a string of arsons. Not wanting to strain his relationship with his step-daughter, by being gone on another case, Patrick decides to bring Tessa along. When Patrick and Tessa witness the apparent suicide of a homeless man, things begin to escalate and somehow become strangely linked together. Reunited with fellow agents, Ralph and Lien-hua, this case involves everything from the government to the behaviors of sharks.
THE ROOK was a great fast-paced thriller that has so many twists and turns, you feel your head spinning while trying to keep up with Bowers. I loved watching the fragile relationship between Patrick and Tessa develop, amidst Tessa’s rebellion, and the budding relationship between Patrick and Lien-hua most definitely added to the story for me. Of course, I guessed who Shade was and now know who the villain will be going into book three. But that in no way lessons the thrill. It just makes we want to read THE KNIGHT even more.
War Widow Fights The Past, American Pilot Fights For The Future
Award-Winning Author Delivers an Emotion-Packed,
Gripping Tale of War, Intrigue and Love
The country is still at war in Blue Skies Tomorrow (ISBN: 978-0-8007-3423-7, $14.99, 448 pages, August 2011) by award-winning author Sarah Sundin. It is 1944 and America longs for the war to be over so their boys can come home. This war has taken too many lives and made too many widows, orphans, and broken hearts. However, the homeland continues to pull together and buy bonds to support the troops, and Helen Carlisle has become the town’s war widow heroine. Doing her part with her son, she faithfully appears at community events asking people to support the troops. But deep down she is troubled. How much longer can she do this? Is she living a lie? Was her dead husband a hero? How can she live with the past?
Lt. Ray Novak prefers to follow his calling into ministry rather than the cockpit. But his current position offers him the luxury of a personal life since he is stateside training B-17 pilots. His interest in Helen, the young war widow, grows, but he knows she is hiding a painful past under a frenzy of volunteer work. Ray is called to fly a European combat mission at the peak of the air war. Their romance is tense because Helen is afraid, but Ray cannot help because he is in Europe. As Helen tries to make ends meet and confronts the past, Ray encounters a deadly enemy of his own. Will they find the courage to face their challenges? Will the truth come out? Will hope and redemption ring true for Helen?
The great era of World War II in Blue Skies Tomorrow is brought to life by Sundin in this emotion-packed novel.
Sarah Sundin received the 2011 Writer of the Year Award from the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, and her second novel, A Memory Between Us, is a finalist for an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award.She is the author of A Distant Melody and A Memory Between Us. Her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force in England during WWII. Sarah lives in California with her husband and three children. For more interesting information about Sarah visit: sarahsundin.com
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.
BLUE SKIES TOMORROW is the first book I’ve read from Sarah Sundin.And I am saddened I didn’t read the first two installments in the Wings of Glory series first.
Helen Carlisle is the perfect grieving widow, or so it seems.She lives a life of lies to hide the awful truth and to protect her son.But, when Lt. Ray Novak shows her some attention, she realizes what she is missing out on because of the fear of others finding out her horrible secret.
Lt. Ray Novak trains B-17 pilots but desires to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a pastor.But with two war heroes for brothers, he feels he is letting other’s down if he doesn’t join in the fight of WWII.When he runs into Helen Carlisle, a childhood friend, his interests change to his desire for a personal life more than a career.When he learns what Helen has tried so hard to hide, he wants nothing more than to help her through her pain.But she won’t let him in.
When Helen decides she can’t have a relationship with Ray, he in turn decides he will never know what he’s made of if he doesn’t go into combat.While apart, Helen is able to open up to Ray about her struggles, and as any good pastor, Ray gives her advice that will encourage her soul more than her affections.Neither are ready to tell the other their true feelings, that is, until it is too late.
BLUE SKIES TOMORROW was a very enjoyable read.Though I’m not a huge fan of war-themed novels, Sundin did a great job of incorporating wartime details without detracting from the romance thread.The character development was very rich.The back story Sundin added was handled artfully and lead to the reader’s better understanding of the characters.Like I previously said, I wish I had been able to read the first two books in the Wings of Glory series, to read them now might be anticlimactic, but BLUE SKIES TOMORROW read as a standalone novel and I don’t feel like a missed a thing.
Book provided for review purposes.
“Available August 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
Wow! THE PAWN by Steven James started off like a walk in the park, progressed to a race against time, and climaxed with an all out sprint to the end.
I am a little bit late in reading this suspense/thriller that was released in 2007. But, as I prepare to read his latest, THE QUEEN, I am back peddling to read the previous installments in the Patrick Bowers Thrillers to make sure I am in the right frame of mind when THE QUEEN is released next month.
Dr. Patrick Bowers, has a PhD in Environmental Criminology and a unique approach to dissecting a crime scene. When he is called in to help catch a serial killer he has no idea how personal it will get. On the home front, he struggle with the loss of his wife, and exerts great effort trying to break through the wall his step-daughter, Tessa has put up around her, but work continues to get in the way, and the Illusionist is proving to be quite a calculating foe.
Unique clues, ties to politicians, corrupt cops, cults, and mass suicides all add up to an intriguing read that will keep you thinking and wondering. This is definitely not your run-of-the-mill whodunit. Even if you think you know who all the players are, and some subplots might be predictable, you never know exactly how everything is going to play out.
I found Dr. Patrick Bowers unassuming, and not swayed by his own press. Though others in law enforcement are quite familiar with his extensive reputation, as a character, he was easy to like, even with his flaws, failures, and self-admitted explosive temper. I felt for Patrick as he struggled in his relationship with Tessa, and I inwardly grinned each time he had an interaction with Special Agent Lien-hua Jiang. I look forward to reading THE ROOK.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
RANSOME’S QUEST, the third installment in the Ransome Trilogy, was a great ending to the characters Kaye Dacus brought to life in RANSOME’S HONOR and RANSOME’S CROSSING.
Commodore William Ransome’s life is once again in turmoil. Both his sister, Charlotte, and his wife, Julia have been kidnapped by pirates with vendettas against him. Captain Ned Cochrane’s love for Charlotte is all that is needed for him to sail off to find her, freeing William up to search for Julia in the hands of the horrific pirate, Shaw. Family secrets are uncovered and mysteries revealed as the adventure of the Witheringtons and the Ransomes come to a close
I’ve loved this series. I am a real fan of pirate adventures. Not thinking anyone could compare with M.L. Tyndall’s pirate series, I was pleasantly surprised that Kaye Dacus rose to the challenge. Though I knew from the start the mystery surrounding the pirate Captain El Salvador, it did not detract from my joy in reading this book. I true series of romance, adventure, and strong female characters that refuse to fit the stereotype of their day.
SURRENDER THE DAWN, book three in the Surrender to Destiny series from M.L. Tyndall, once again takes you on a sea-faring adventure of action and romance.
Cassandra Channing is determined to provide for her family after the loss of her father and brothers to the War of 1812. She takes the family coffers and tries to invest in a privateer, but no one welcomes a woman as a business partner. That is, except Luke Heaton. Cassandra struggles with her decision to invest in the town rogue. His reputation precedes him and it is far from upstanding or gentlemanly. But, Cassandra has no choice. Her family is in debt and she is looking for a miracle. So, deciding to risk it all, she becomes partners with Luke. She soon realizes her heart will never be the same.
Luke Heaton looks at a business arrangement with the beautiful Cassandra Channing as just the thing he needs to turn his life around. Wanting nothing more than a chance to start over, he welcomes Ms. Channing’s wiliness to invest in him and his ship. Of course, his heart too quickly becomes attached to the woman he knows he will ultimately disappoint.
Highs and lows, losses and struggles, Luke’s bad luck continues to assault him, while Cassandra finds herself falling even further in love with the man that has broken her heart.
M.L. Tyndall does not disappoint. Her novels always captive the reader with adventure, drama, love gained and love lost. I have enjoyed all of her books immensely. The only tiniest bit of regret I had was that the hero and heroine did not have as much interaction as I would’ve liked. Most of the book is spent with them apart, longing for each other. Other than that, I was once again charmed by the rich characters and colorful setting that make up a Tyndall book. Good job, Marylu. You’ve done it again.
Imminent Danger Surrounds Fort Endeavor; Spy Leaks Secrets To Enemy
Bestselling Author Laura Frantz Delivers Emotion-Packed Historical Romance
To the trail-weary and frightened women, Fort Endeavor seemed unwelcoming at first, but Roxanna Rowan knew they needed to get to safety as quickly as possible in The Colonel’s Lady (ISBN: 978-0-8007-3341-4, $14.99, 416 pages, August 2011) by bestselling author Laura Frantz. Deep within the Kentucky Territory, Fort Endeavor could provide a new life for genteel spinster Roxanna as long as she was with her father. She had to find him in the mass of all these soldiers. But where was he?
Shortly after arriving at the Kentucky fort commanded by Colonel Cassius McLinn, the Colonel tells Roxanna that her officer father has died. Penniless and destitute, Roxanna accepts the Scrivener position once held by her father. Before long, Roxanna discovers secrets that her father uncovered shortly before his death. Who could she trust with this discovery that she found in her father’s Scrivener desk? Could she trust the Colonel? Was his attraction to her real or was he hiding his own secrets including her father’s death? Roxanna needed answers that only the Colonel could provide.
Set in 1779 The Colonel’s Lady is a powerful and emotion-packed story full of love, suspense, intrigue, faith, and forgiveness from reader favorite Laura Frantz. Her solid research and skillful writing immerse readers in the world of the early frontier while her realistic characters become intimate friends.
Laura Frantz credits her grandmother as being the catalyst for her fascination with Kentucky history. Frantz's family followed Daniel Boone into Kentucky in the late eighteenth century and settled in Madison County, where her family still resides. Frantz is the author of The Frontiersman's Daughter and Courting Morrow Little and currently lives in the misty woods of Washington with her husband and two sons. More information about Laura at: www.laurafrantz.net
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.
Endorsements
“Portrays the wild beauty of frontier life, along with its dangers and hardships, in vivid detail.” – Ann H. Gabhart, bestselling author of The Blessed, Angel Sister, and The Seeker
“Vivid and Poetic…you’ll disappear into another place and time.” – Jane Kirkpatrick, bestelling author of All Together in One Place and Flickering Light
I thoroughly enjoyed THECOLONEL’S LADY by Laura Frantz.
Roxanna Rowan a refined Virginian woman is heading to Kentucky to reunite with her father who is under the command of Colonel Cassius McLinn.Upon her arrival she finds her father has been killed in a recent campaign.Without funds or family, she has no choice but to stay at Fort Endeavor until it is safe to travel home.Knowing her father thought the world of Colonel McLinn, Roxanna tries to see the good in the stoic, terse, and intimidating man.When she finds herself drawn to the puzzling Colonel, she tries to deny her feelings if only to protect herself from further disappointment.
Colonel Cassius McLinn, is dumb-founded when he returns from his recent campaign to find Roxanna Rowan at Fort Endeavor looking for her father.Though he breaks the heart-rendering news of her father’s death, he withholds the details that even he is having a hard time dealing with.Though Cassius promised Roxanna’s father he would provide for her, he never expected his heart to get so involved with the spirited, yet gentle woman.Knowing he will not be able to make a future with her, he does his best to keep her at arms-length.
THE COLONEL’S LADY is vividly descriptive and laden with rich characters.As with any good romance, you know Roxanna and the Colonel will end up together, but with some very difficult obstacles to overcome, you can’t help but read on to see how these two will ever be able to reconcile their feelings for each other.I usually don’t like it when books have rabbit trails storylines just to add time and weight to a book.But, Ms. Frantz inserted such interesting characters, I didn’t mind at all from time to time when the story switched from Cassius and Roxanna to some of the other minor characters.I was completely caught off guard with one of the surprising discoveries and please to know another obstacle was resolved in a satisfying way.I really enjoyable book.I own THE FRONSTIERSMAN’S DAUGHTER by Laura Frantz but haven’t had time to read it.I will be making time in the weeks to come.
Book provided for review purposes.
“Available August 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
Friday, August 12, 2011
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Karri James, Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lori Copeland is the author of more than 90 titles, both historical and contemporary fiction. With more than 3 million copies of her books in print, she has developed a loyal following among her rapidly growing fans in the inspirational market. She has been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books' Best Seller award. In 2000, Lori was inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame. She lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband, Lance, and their three children and five grandchildren.
This new series from bestselling author Lori Copeland, set in North Carolina three months after the Civil War ends, illuminates the gift of hope even in chaos, as the lives of six engaging characters intersect and unfold with the possibility of faith, love, and God’s promise of a future.
Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736930183
ISBN-13: 978-0736930185
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Joanie?”
Beth’s sister stirred, coughing.
Beth gently shook Joanie’s shoulder again, and the young woman opened her eyes, confusion shining in their depths.
“Pa?”
“He passed a few minutes ago. Trella will be waiting for us.”
Joanie lifted her wrist to her mouth and smothered sudden sobbing. “I’m scared, Beth.”
“So am I. Dress quickly.”
The young woman slid out of bed, her bare feet touching the dirt-packed floor. Outside, the familiar sound of pond frogs nearly drowned out soft movements, though there was no need to be silent any more. Ma had preceded Pa in death two days ago. Beth and Joanie had been waiting, praying for the hour of Pa’s death to come swiftly. Together, they lifted their father’s silent form and gently carried him out the front door. He was a slight man, easy to carry. Beth’s heart broke as they took him to the shallow grave they had dug the day before. Ma’s fever had taken her swiftly. Pa had held on for as long as he could. Beth could still hear his voice in her ear: “Take care of your sister, little Beth.” He didn’t have to remind her that there was no protection at all now to save either of them from Uncle Walt and his son, Bear. Beth had known all of her life that one day she and Joanie would have to escape this place—a place of misery.
It was her father’s stubborn act that started the situation Beth and Joanie were immersed in. Pa had hid the plantation deed from his brother and refused to tell him where it was. Their land had belonged to a Jornigan for two hundred years, but Walt claimed that because he was the older brother and allowed Pa to live on his land the deed belonged to him. Pa was a proud man and had no respect for his brother, though his family depended on Walt for a roof over their heads and food on their table. For meager wages they worked Walt’s fields, picked his cotton, and suffered his tyranny along with the other workers. Pa took the location of the hidden deed to his grave—almost. Walt probably figured Beth knew where it was because Pa always favored her. And she did, but she would die before she shared the location with her vile uncle.
By the light of the waning moon the women made short work of placing the corpse in the grave and then filling the hole with dirt. Finished, they stood back and Joanie bowed her head in prayer. “Dear Father, thank You for taking Ma and Pa away from this world. I know they’re with You now, and I promise we won’t cry.” Hot tears streaming down both women’s cheeks belied her words.
Returning to the shanty, Joanie removed her nightshirt and put on boy’s clothes. Dressed in similar denim trousers and a dark shirt, Beth turned and picked up the oil lamp and poured the liquid carefully around the one-room shanty. Yesterday she had packed Ma’s best dishes and quilts and dragged them to the root cellar. It was useless effort. She would never be back here, but she couldn’t bear the thought of fire consuming Ma’s few pretty things. She glanced over her shoulder when the stench of fuel heightened Joanie’s cough. The struggle to breathe had been a constant companion since her younger sister’s birth.
Many nights Beth lay tense and fearful, certain that come light Joanie would be gone. Now that Ma and Pa were dead, Joanie was the one thing left on this earth that held meaning for Beth. She put down the lamp on the table. Walking over to Joanie, she buttoned the last button on her sister’s shirt and tugged her hat brim lower.
“Do you have everything?”
“Yes.”
“Then go outside and wait.”
Nodding, Joanie paused briefly beside the bed where Pa’s tall frame had been earlier. She hesitantly reached out and touched the empty spot. “May you rest in peace, Pa.”
Moonlight shone through the one glass pane facing the south. Beth shook her head. “He was a good man. It’s hard to believe Uncle Walt had the same mother and father.”
Joanie’s breath caught. “Pa was so good and Walt is so…evil.”
“If it were up to me, he would be lying in that grave outside the window, not Pa.”
Beth tried to recall one single time in her life when Walt Jornigan had ever shown an ounce of mercy to anyone. Certainly not to his wife when she was alive. Certainly not to Beth or Joanie. If Joanie was right and there was a God, what would Walt say when he faced Him? She shook the thought aside. She had no compassion for the man or reverence for the God her sister believed in and worshipped.
“We have to go now, Joanie.”
“Yes.” She picked up her Bible from the little table beside the rocking chair and then followed Beth outside the shanty, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Pausing, Joanie bent and succumbed to a coughing spasm. Beth helplessly waited, hoping her sister could make the anticipated trip through the cotton fields. The women had planned for days now to escape if Ma and Pa both passed.
Beth asked gently, “Can you do this?”
Joanie held up a restraining hand. “Just need…a minute.”
Beth wasn’t certain that they could wait long; time was short. Dawn would be breaking soon, and then Walt would discover that Pa had died and the sisters were missing. But they had to leave. Joanie’s asthma was getting worse. Each gasping breath left her drained and hopeless, and Walt refused to let her see a doctor.
When Joanie had mentioned the notice in a discarded Savannah newspaper advertising a piece of land, Beth knew she had to buy the property and provide a home for Joanie. Pa had allowed her and Joanie to keep the wage Uncle Walt paid monthly. Over the years they had saved enough to survive, and the owner was practically giving the small acreage away. They wouldn’t be able to build a permanent structure on their land until she found work, but she and Joanie would own their own place where no one could control them. Beth planned to eventually buy a cow and a few setting hens. At first they could live in a tent—Beth’s eyes roamed the small shanty. It would be better than how they lived now.
Joanie’s spasm passed and she glanced up. “Okay. You…can do it now.”
Beth struck a match.
She glanced at Joanie. The young woman nodded and clutched her Bible to her chest. Beth had found it in one of the cotton picker’s beds after he had moved on and given it to Joanie. Her sister had kept the Bible hidden from sight for fear that Walt would spot it on one of his weekly visits. Beth had known, as Joanie had, that if their uncle had found it he’d have had extra reason to hand out his daily lashing. Joanie kept the deed to their new land between its pages.
After pitching the lighted match into the cabin, Beth quickly closed the heavy door. Stepping to the window, she watched the puddles of kerosene ignite one by one. In just minutes flames were licking the walls and gobbling up the dry tinder. A peculiar sense of relief came over her when she saw tendrils of fire racing through the room, latching onto the front curtain and encompassing the bed.
“Don’t watch.” Joanie slipped her hand into Beth’s. “We have to hurry before Uncle Walt spots the flames.”
Hand in hand, the sisters stepped off the porch, and Beth turned to the mounds of fresh dirt heaped not far from the shanty. Pausing before the fresh graves, she whispered. “I love you both. Rest in peace.”
Joanie had her own goodbyes for their mother. “We don’t want to leave you and Pa here alone, but I know you understand—”
As the flames licked higher, Beth said, “We have to go, Joanie. Don’t look back.”
“I won’t.” Her small hand quivered inside Beth’s. “God has something better for us.”
Beth didn’t answer. She didn’t know whether Ma and Pa were in a good place or not. She didn’t know anything about such things. She just knew they had to run.
The two women dressed in men’s clothing struck off across the cotton fields carrying everything they owned in a small bag. It wasn’t much. A dress for each, clean underclothes, and their nightshirts. Beth had a hairbrush one of the pickers had left behind. She’d kept the treasure well hidden so Walt wouldn’t see it. He’d have taken it from her. He didn’t hold with primping—said combing tangles from one’s hair was a vain act. Finger-picking river-washed hair was all a woman needed.
Fire now raced inside the cabin. By the time Uncle Walt noticed the smoke from the plantation house across the fields, the two sisters would be long gone. No longer would they be under the tyrannical thumb of Walt or Bear Jornigan.
Freedom.
Beth sniffed the night air, thinking she could smell the precious state. Never again would she or Joanie answer to any man. She would run hard and far and find help for Joanie so that she could finally breathe free. In her pocket she fingered the remaining bills she’d taken from the fruit jar in the cabinet. It was all the ready cash Pa and Ma had. They wouldn’t be needing money where they were.
Suddenly there was a sound of a large explosion. Heavy black smoke blanketed the night air. Then another blast.
Kerosene! She’d forgotten the small barrel sitting just outside the back porch.
THE ONE WHO WAITS FOR ME is classic Lori Copland.Full of rich characters, obstacles to overcome, and a spark of romance, this latest release from Copeland is sure to please anyone interested in love and the great outdoors.
Beth Jornigan is literally running for her life.Fleeing from a violent uncle and cousin, Beth, along with her sickly sister Joanie, and a pregnant Trella, one of her uncle’s servants, take flight from the plantation that has done nothing but brought them pain and fear.Without much of a plan, the trio of women find themselves at the mercy of three soldiers, war weary and on their way home.Beth has lived her entire life in fear of men, and though these men quickly come to their defense against her uncle and cousin, she still does not trust them and looks for the first opportunity to escape their care.
Pierce, Gray Eagle, and Preach can think of nothing but getting home.Though Pierce fought for the North, and Grey Eagle and Preach fought for the South, their friendship transcends territorial lines.When they come upon three women running from a tyrannical plantation owner, they promise to get them safely to the next town.This turns out to be harder than expected.
What transpires is a unique story of three women with distinctive wounds and the men that want nothing more than to see them safe and loved.As their time together grows, Beth begins to have feelings for Pierce.But, with Joanie so ill, she can only think of getting her sister the medical care she needs.Joanie is her priority.Joanie knows that her illness most likely will claim her life, but with the healing touch Gray Eagle offers her, she begins to have hope for not only her health but her heart.Trella will do anything for her infant daughter, and though she has feelings for Preach, she convinces herself he deserve a woman that is clean and untainted.These women are strong and willful and refuse to listen to their hearts.
I enjoyed THE ONE WHO WAITS FOR ME. While I usually don’t appreciate a slow romance where the characters are self-depreciating and continually keeping their distance, I was able to overlook Beth’s constant need to flee because I knew her heart would win out.A quick and enjoyable read.Exactly what I expect from Lori Copeland.
The Knight by Steven James
