Book Review – Portrait of Vengeance by Carrie Stuart Parks

By Ian Acheson - @achesonian

BLURB

Gwen Marcey has done a good job keeping the pain of her past boxed up. But as she investigates the case of a missing child in Lapwai, Idaho, details keep surfacing that are eerily similar to her childhood traumas. She doesn’t believe in coincidences. So what’s going on here?

No one knows more about the impact of the past than the Nez Perce people of Lapwai. Gwen finds herself an unwelcome visitor to some, making her investigation even more difficult. The questions keep piling up, but answers are slow in coming—and the clock is ticking for a missing little girl. Meanwhile, Gwen’s ex-husband is threatening to take sole custody of their daughter.

As Gwen’s past and present collide, she’s in a desperate race for the truth. Because only truth will ensure she still has a future.

MY REVIEW

This was a challenging story as there were many different plot points to it. The serial killer, the connection to Gwen’s upbringing, the separate issue of her parents (who were they, why’d they die, what they were investigating, what were their names), the dam incident and the possible romantic link between Gwen and Seth. The story sure kept me on my toes. And then there was the suspense that made sure I was never at ease when reading it.

I find Carrie’s 1st person style engrossing and Gwen Marcey is such a remarkable character that it’s very easy to cheer her on. Gwen is so real and vulnerable, she makes mistakes. I love that. So many authors (myself included) don’t allow our characters to make mistakes. And Beth – she is such a good sidekick. And their friendship is delightful to watch. Seth was very real too.

The pace was good. I always felt I had to be alert and on my toes to keep abreast of all that was going on and with all the plot twists I certainly was never bored and there were one or two plot twists that surprised me including one relating to a key character.

I also particularly appreciated the setting being The Nez Perce Indian Reservation that added a strong flavour to the story.

I didn’t want this story to end and I so hope Gwen, Beth and Winston make another appearance. I believe there’s plenty of legs left in the Gwen Marcey series. This is the second I’ve read after the “A Cry from the Dust” and I’ve loved both. Principally because of Gwen, she is simply such a great character. I’d like to see her on TV. Her vulnerability, her honesty about breast cancer, prosthetic breasts, divorce struggles, mothering struggles, her forensic skills and so on. Just brilliant.

You don't have to have read any of the preceding 3 stories (I've only read one) to be thoroughly captivated by Gwen Marcey and her best mate, Beth. Give one of them a try, you won't be disappointed.

BTW, “Portrait’ recently won the Carol for Best Mystery/Suspense/Thriller to add to its INSPY from earlier in the year.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard was recognised with the 2014 Selah Award for Speculative Fiction.You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook pageand Twitter

The Priority Unit by Susan Page Davis

By Jenny Blake

The Priority Unit

Maine Justice Book 1

by 

Susan Page Davis

Description:
A missing man. 
A mysterious computer program – 
Even the people constructing it don’t know what it will do.
On the worst night of Harvey Larson’s life, his partner is killed and his wife, Carrie, walks out on him. Ten years later, the Portland, Maine police detective has learned to cope with his grief and depression. When he and the Priority Unit investigate the disappearance of software designer Nick Dunham, he meets a young woman who will change his life. Jennifer Wainthrop was the last person to admit seeing Dunham alive.

Harvey and his partner, Eddie Thibodeau, stay a step ahead of a bomber and put together the clues that tell the truth: Dunham’s kidnapping and the bombings are one case, and Jennifer is caught in the middle. News that Carrie has committed suicide may plunge Harvey back into despair. Harvey turns to God for help untangling his complicated life. He finds strength in his faith as he attempts to save Jennifer from the same grim fate that claimed Nick. But Jennifer must depend on her own wits and God alone when the killer gets too close. 

My Review:
Thanks Susan Page Davis for my copy to review.

This is an interesting suspense story.  The book starts with Harvey having the worst night of his life. His partner is killed and his wife leaves him. The book then fast forwards 10 years to when he is investigating the disappearance of a software designer and this is where he meets Jennifer Wainthrop. Not long after he learns is ex wife has died and while at the funeral he spends time with her grandmother who challenges him. It is here he starts to wonder does God exist.  At the same time Jennifer has questions of her own and they both decide to do research together. In the meantime there is still a missing man and there is a car bombing. 

I enjoyed waiting to find out what would happen next. The suspense wasn't too heavy which I like but enough to keep you on your the edge of your seat. I wanted to know who the bomber was and why, and why did the designer disappear. I also have to mention Eddie, he is a scene stealer at times and a fun character. I was kept guessing which is a good sign of a good book. I am eagerly awaiting book two. 

If you like Police suspense I am sure you will enjoy this book

Book Review: Stranger Things by Erin Healy

Erin Healy's website blurb

Serena’s career as a high school biology teacher ends just as it’s beginning, when an angry student accuses her of unthinkable behavior. Stunned and suspended, Serena retreats to the forest where she usually finds privacy and beauty. But on this day she encounters something even more unexpected than the end of her dreams: a killer, his prisoner, and a stranger who dies to save Serena’s life.

Christopher has spent a decade rescuing girls from the underworld of sex trafficking—starting with his sister Amber. Their tiny nonprofit protects girls from seduction, but their hearts’ desire is to bring down John Roman, the powerful criminal who first took Amber and has ruined thousands of young women since.

When Christopher’s colleagues suspect Serena of being in league with Roman, her life spirals out of control. How will she clear her name? Why did a stranger protect her with his life? And what is the meaning of the visions she sees whenever she visits the gutted house where he died?

The answers lie with her enemies, and with all the imprisoned women whose names she doesn’t even know yet.

STRANGER THINGS is a novel that invites readers to reconsider their perception of the world and the people who populate it, loved ones and strangers alike.

My Review

This has all the hallmarks of what we’ve come to expect from Healy: gripping suspense, characters grappling with their external world but also with what’s in their heart, and an insider’s perspective of the “thin places” where the natural and supernatural intersect. However, added to this novel is an especially powerful story line drawing the reader into the dark sinister world of human trafficking.

The novel starts fast and doesn’t let up. Healy’s descriptive powers make this novel a highly visual experience. We get multiple points of view which I enjoyed as it enlightened the experience in my mind.

The story demonstrates how human trafficking is able to proliferate due to systematic abuse, deceit and corruption. For much of the novel we’re not exactly sure whether the heroes are actually villains and vice-versa. As the story unfolds the layers gradually peel away to reveal some very courageous people and sinister bad guys.

Serena Diaz and Amber Larsen are two very gutsy women, both survivors of this heinous industry, and marvelously crafted. They are drawn together, coincidentally, by Amber’s brother, Christopher. Embedded in both ladies is his passion and energy to rescue those in need and shine light in the darkness of the industry that has played such a role in their lives since their youth.

The bad guys are creepy in their arrogance, abuse of power and complete disregard for the lives of the many they destroy. Healy reveals the far-reaching tentacles of structured corruption that pervades the industry.

This is an effortless read that was hard to put down and I was sad it ended.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Genre: Mystery, Suspense and Thrillers

By Iola Goulton

Ronald Tobias distinguishes between plots of the body and plots of the mind, and action plots are plots of the body. They are focused on providing suspense, surprise and fulfilling expectation, and the main character doesn’t necessarily change and grow as an individual (think James Bond or Jack Reacher).

Mystery

The essence of a mystery novel is that there is a mystery to be solved, usually a murder. The reader is introduced to a small group of characters in the beginning of the novel, one of whom becomes the detective, one (or more) the victim, and one the murderer. Writing a good mystery requires a significant level of skill: the reader shouldn’t be able to easily identify the murderer, but there should be a logic to the plot so the reader says, ‘of course!’ when the culprit is revealed at the end (as they always are).

Cozy mysteries are popular, and generally feature a bloodless off-stage murder, little sex, violence or profanity, and a female amateur investigator (with Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple being a classic example). Other sub-genres include hard-boiled (featuring the classic male detective), and police procedural (which might investigate several related crimes, and where the reader may know who the criminal is, in which case part of the suspense comes from wanting the police to catch the criminal before another crime is committed).

Fans of classic detective fiction will want to read Rules of Murder by debut author Julianna Deering. Other authors writing Christian mysteries include Mindy Starns Clark (cozy), Stephen James and J Mark Bertrand (police procedural).

Thriller

If a thriller does not thrill, if it doesn’t give readers an adrenaline rush, it’s not a thriller. (Steven James)

A thriller is usually some kind of chase to find a criminal (such as a kidnapper or murderer), often before they commit another crime. These are the books that keep you awake at night—because you have to finish them before you can sleep, just in case the unthinkable happens and a major character is killed (it does happen. Not often, but it does happen). Prominent Christian thriller authors include Alton Gansky, Steven James, Creston Mapes, Robert Whitmore and Liz Wiehl.

Medical Thriller

Medical thrillers are usually centred in or around a hospital, and involve some kind of threat or crisis, whether medical or physical. Christian authors writing in this sub-genre include Hannah Alexander, Candace Calvert, Jordyn Redwood, and Richard Mabry.

Legal Thriller

The protagonist is usually a crusading lawyer out to prove a client innocent, or investigating a corrupt organisation or system. The legal system is a vital component, and the ring of authenticity is important to the reader—there is no room for factual errors in a legal thriller. Christian authors writing in this genre include James Scott Bell, Pamela Binnings Ewen, and Randy Singer.

Crime

Crime novels, in contrast, are usually from the point of view of the criminal. As such, there is little in the way of Christian crime fiction (although a thriller or romantic suspense novel may well include the criminal as a viewpoint character).

Horror

The objective of horror is to scare the reader. Personally, I don’t see the thrill in that, and it seems I’m not alone, because it’s not a common genre in Christian fiction. Authors in this area include James Rubart, Mike Duran and Ted Dekker.

Speculative

In Christian fiction, speculative or visionary fiction includes some aspect of the supernatural, and this may or may not be biblically accurate (which can cause problems). While the plot is a thriller, it also requires a degree of worldbuilding, which will be discussed in the next post.

Based on these examples, you’d be forgiven for assuming that almost all thriller authors are men (one of the female names listed above, Hannah Alexander, is actually the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team). I think that's true. Women make up more than 80% of the membership of writing organisations such as ACFW, and probably a similar proportion of fiction readers. Authors targeting the female reader are more likely to combine an action plot with a romance plot (romantic suspense), and are more likely to be women. Personally, I find many male authors emphasise action at the expense of the character relationships.

Do you write action or adventure? How do you describe what you write? What do you feel are the essential ingredients in an action novel?

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog.

ACRBA Tour An Unholy Communion by Donna Fletcher Crow with interview and giveaway.

2 - 6 September 2013

Australia Christian Readers Blog Alliance

Introducing

An Unholy Communion
Lion Hudson (1 April 2013)

by

Donna Fletcher Crow 

About the Author:

"Donna Fletcher Crow has created her own niche within the genre of clerical mysteries." - Kate Charles, author of Deep Waters

First light, Ascension morning. From the top of the tower at the College of Transfiguration, voices rise in song.
Felicity's delight turns to horror when a black-robed body hurtles over the precipice and lands at her feet.
Her fiancé Father Antony recognizes the corpse as Hwyl Pendry, a former student, who has been serving as Deliverance Minister in a Welsh diocese. The police ignore the strange emblem of a double-headed snake clutched in the dead man's hand, labelling the death a suicide. But Hwyl's widow is convinced otherwise, and pleads for Felicity and Antony to help her uncover the truth.
Matters grow murkier as Felicity and Antony, leading a youth pilgrimage through rural Wales, encounter the same sinister symbol as they travel. Lurking figures follow them. Then a body is found face-down in a well …
"Donna Fletcher Crow gives us, in three extremely persuasive dimensions, the world that Dan Brown merely sketches." - Timothy Hallinan, author of The Queen of Patpong

About the Book:

Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 40 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning Glastonbury, A Novel of the Holy Grail, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work. She is also the author of The Monastery Murders: A Very Private Grave, A Darkly Hidden Truth and An Unholy Communion as well as the Lord Danvers series of Victorian true-crime novels and the literary suspense series The Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho. They have 4 adult children and 11 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic gardener. 
To read more about all of Donna's books and see pictures from her garden and research trips go to: http://www.donnafletchercrow.com/ 
You can follow her on Facebook at: http://ning.it/OHi0MY

Interview with Donna.

1.    Can you tell us something interesting readers may not know about you?

I was an only child growing up on a farm in the years before television so that meant long days on my own to read and daydream. I put myself to sleep at nights telling myself stories and watching the pictures in my head. I had no idea then that would lead to writing novels but I don’t think I could have had a better start.

2.    Where did you get the inspiration for your novel An Unholy Communion?

Ever since I wrote Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England; Bannockburn, The Story of Scotland; and The Banks of the Boyne, a Search for Christian Ireland, I’ve wanted to write the Christian history of Wales. When I read about a youthwalk pilgrimage from London to Walsingham I knew I wanted to do that and translate the experience to Wales as the background for finally getting to tell the story I had waited so long to write.

The Monastery Murders are contemporary murder mysteries but my amateur sleuths have to delve into a lot of history in order to solve the mysteries they are faced with. A Very Private Grave tells the story of St. Cuthbert, A Darkly Hidden Truth had the English mystics Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe and An Unholy Communion tells the stories of St. David and the Welsh Revival.

3.    In your research did you find any interesting titbits that surprised you?

I was amazed and fascinated by my whole time in Wales. I had visited that charming land several times before but doing detailed research taught me so much about its rich history and the amazing variety in its landscape. And the weather. I had never before experienced rain with such strong wind that it rained sideways. My English hostess, who knows about rain, is still laughing at me.

4.    What would you like readers to take out of reading your novel?

An appreciation for our Christian history and an understanding of the importance of tradition. I fear we are in great danger of losing so much of our wonderful Christian heritage. I hope hearing the stories of the men and women who lived and died for the faith will have a renewed appreciation of our privileges today.

5.    A fun question to end, if you could visit Australia or New Zealand what would like most like to see?

Oh, when I began writing our church librarian introduced me to the works of Essie Summers. I thought visiting a New Zealand sheep station would be amazing. Then our son John did a student exchange program in New Zealand a number of years ago. One of his favorite things was blackwater rafting through the glowworm caves. I would love to see those.

6.    Where can we find you on the web?

I would be delighted to have you visit me at: www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com

And follow me on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Donna-Fletcher-Crow-Novelist-of-British-History/355123098656?ref=br_tf 

Donna has offered a copy of her book to one commenter hard copy for America or ebook the rest of the world. Please comment in the post by Friday Night to enter. Remember all comments will also go towards the launch giveaways. (If you haven't already entered just fill in the google form and leave comments all week for more entries.)