Category Archives: Fiction

Review: Captured by Moonlight, by Christine Lindsay

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Captured by Moonlight, by Christine LindsayCaptured by Moonlight, by Christine Lindsay (WhiteFire Publishing, 2013)

Captured by Moonlight is the second book in Christine Lindsay’s India-based Twilight of the British Raj series. Readers who enjoyed book one, Shadowed in Silk, will be glad to get hold of book two, and if you missed the first one you can jump in here.

Shadowed in Silk was predominantly Abby’s story although it did introduce Laine Harkness and Eshana, the heroines of Captured by Moonlight. Abby doesn’t play a significant part in this novel, but readers who count her a friend will appreciate seeing what’s going on in her life now.

The series is set in the early 1920s as the British rule in India is faltering and as Gandhi’s teachings are gaining hold. Historical figures are occasionally mentioned, but the central characters are fictional. Captured by Moonlight opens with Laine and Eshana rescuing (the authorities call it stealing) a pregnant Hindu temple prostitute who’s only 14. They’ve done this once before, but this time they’re seen.

Laine, a military nurse, could face disciplinary action. Eshana, a Christian who was once Hindu, could face much worse, especially if her family gets hold of her. To them she’s an offense: according to tradition, as a widow she should be hidden away, garbed in white and with a shaved head, not running a Christian mission.

Laine and Eshana leave the city of Amritsar in a hurry, Laine to work with two missionaries doing cholera research in Madras and Eshana to deliver the recovering temple prostitute to another mission where the girl will have a chance to gain an education and a happier life.

Both women encounter people they would have avoided at all costs: Laine meets her former fiancé, Adam, who broke off their relationship during the war. Eshana meets her uncle, who imprisons her. When Eshana’s friends realize she’s missing, Doctor Jai Kaur leaves Amritsar to search for her. He’s a devout Sikh, and she’s a Christian, each seeking God as they understand Him and each wishing the other could see God their way so they could be together.

Eshana is physically a prisoner, and her struggles to encourage herself in her faith are authentic and inspiring. I love how she dances her praises in her tiny room. Adam is a self-imposed prisoner on his estate with his former army troop, trying to keep his ongoing feelings for Laine at bay. Eshana longs for release, but Adam clings to his “cage”. Both will need help to walk into freedom.

The romances of Laine and Adam, Eshana and Jai, play out against a lush and dramatic setting involving tigers, cholera, monsoons, poisonous snakes and the after-effects of war. Captured by Moonlight is a richly detailed and evocative read, and I look forward to the third installment in the series, Veiled at Midnight, releasing in 2014.

You can read an excerpt from Captured by Moonlight or learn more about award-winning Christian author Christine Lindsay by clicking the links in this sentence. You can also find Christine Lindsay at her Facebook page.

[Review copy from my personal library.]
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Review: Mask, by Kerry Nietz

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cover art: Mask, by Kerry NietzMask, by Kerry Nietz (Marcher Lord Press, 2013)

In an unspecified year in Earth’s future, after natural disasters and the breakup of the United States, the country of PacNorth includes at least part of Washington State. Overpopulation is a global problem, and in PacNorth it’s controlled by popular vote. Rack up enough negative votes against you, and you’re tagged “incon” (inconvenient) and you disappear.

Radial Crane may be the one who “collects” you, but you won’t know it’s him behind the mask.

He’s good at what he does, and we see that in the opening pages. He obeys orders and asks no questions. Until it becomes personal. Until he does the unforgivable and rescues an incon he’s supposed to collect. And until he begins to find out what’s really happening behind the scenes.

The novel is written in the present tense, with a stream of consciousness feel as Radial tells us what he sees as he moves through this disturbing future world. I enjoyed the immediacy of it, and the puzzle of trying to figure out what was going on. Some of the technology sounds fantastic, and some is better left un-invented.

From the cues Radial gives as he moves through what used to be Seattle, I think readers who know the present-day city will be able to recognize key landmarks. If I ever get to visit, I’ll want to go through the book again first.

The three novels in Kerry Nietz’s DarkTrench Saga have each been finalists for EPIC awards, with book 3, Freeheads, winning an EPIC 2013 eBook Award in the Science Fiction category.

Mask looks destined to follow that pattern. The ending hints at a possible sequel, but the final pages offer a sample chapter of his next novel, which looks like a step away from the dystopian Earth theme: Amish Vampires in Space. I kid you not. The author’s note says “because someone had to do it.” And because Kerry Neitz is that someone and I like his writing style, I expect I’ll give it a shot.

You can learn more about the author at nietz.com and read interviews with him at The Barn Door Book Loft and at Trish Perry’s blog.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: The Good Girl, by Christy Barritt

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cover art: The Good GirlThe Good Girl, by Christy Barritt (WhiteFire Publishing, 2013)

I wouldn’t have picked this one up based on the title, but as a fan of Christy Barritt’s Squeaky Clean Mystery Series, I know her non-Love-Inspired novels include some off-the-wall-but-lovable characters and more than a splash of humour. The Good Girl does not disappoint.

Tara Lancaster is a 20-something woman who essentially runs away from her Florida home to dog-sit for her sister in Minnesota. Their father is a high-profile preacher, and while her sister inspired his book The Wayward Daughter, Tara has spent her life learning—and living by—”the rules.” She’s not legalistic in a judgmental way, but she’s had this idea that living the “perfect” Christian life will keep her safe, earn approval and blessing, and be the right thing to do. And that if her thoughts don’t always line up with the externals, that’s okay.

Tara had the textbook Christian life and was a role model for her generation, until false allegations stripped away her job and her marriage. Now she’s ashamed, disgraced, and not sure what she thinks about this God who may not even exist.

Hiding out at her sister’s sounds ideal until she arrives to find a menacing note—pinned by a knife—in the kitchen. The house may be haunted, but good Christians don’t believe in ghosts, do they? Or there may be a more human explanation, but that’s still pretty scary. On the plus side, she meets a helpful and charming neighbour, Cooper. And her sister’s friend Candy adopts her for the duration. Candy is the main quirky character in the book, and she’s genuine despite her look-at-me exterior.

Tara’s an over-thinker, wounded and perhaps a bit neurotic, but she makes a good narrator for the story. With all that’s going on in the house to scare her, and with her rebounding from “Good Girl rules” to redefine her life, she doesn’t always make the right choices. But she’s on the way to finding herself and maybe even finding another chance at life, faith and love. If whoever’s trying to scare her to death doesn’t succeed.

Here’s a link to an excerpt from The Good Girl—check out the snappy, first-person writing style. Or visit award-winning suspense and mystery author Christy Barritt’s website to learn more about her series and stand-alone novels. Her newest novel, Home Before Dark, released in April 2013.

[Review copy from my personal library.]
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Review: Stress Test, by Richard Mabry

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Stress Test cover artStress Test, by Richard Mabry (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

On his final night of hospital duty before taking up a less stressful medical teaching position that might allow him to marry and settle down, Dr. Matt Newman is kidnapped and barely escapes with his life. Waking up as a patient with a head injury is bad enough, but as he’s trying to piece together what happened to him, his car is found… with a dead body lying on top of Matt’s own wallet.

Suddenly the police think he’s a villain instead of a victim, his prospective fiancée cuts him off, and his new boss can’t finish the hiring process. And there’s still someone out there who wants him dead.

Matt is a likeable man doing his best to figure out what’s going on and to stay alive. His lawyer, Sandra Murray, just broke off a relationship with another doctor because he didn’t share her faith. Matt’s faith has been on hold for quite a while, but there’s something about the attack and false accusations that get him praying again. Sandra and Matt sense a growing attraction that they need to resist until he’s cleared of charges—or arrested.

Most scenes are from Matt’s or Sandra’s point of view, but we also see what’s going on with Matt’s enemies, even though we’re not really sure who’s calling the shots. And there are shots being called, sometimes literally. Matt’s the victim of a complex conspiracy that isn’t fully clear until the story ends.

Stress Test reads like a medical tv drama, with enough facts to flavour the atmosphere but not to bog down the story. I found the opening abduction scene intense enough to not read at bedtime, but the rest of the book carries more of a “mystery” suspense level than that of a thriller.

Award-winning author Richard Mabry is a retired M.D. and his knowledge adds a layer of realism to the hospital scenes—whether Matt is working or being a patient. You can learn more about Richard Mabry and his novels at his website, and you can read a preview of Stress Test at the Thomas Nelson site (scroll down the page). To read an interview with Richard Mabry, visit A Christian Writer’s World.

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[Review copy provided free from the publisher through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze® book review bloggers program in exchange for an unbiased review.]

Review: Star Wars: Scoundrels, by Timothy Zahn

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cover art: Star Wars Scoundrels, by Timothy ZahnStar Wars Scoundrels, by Timothy Zahn (LucasBooks 2013)

Remember the reward Han Solo earned in the original Star Wars movie (A New Hope) for his part in the Death Star’s destruction? The money that would have let him pay off Jabba the Hutt? Well, he lost it to pirates, and now he’ll take just about any crazy chance to make some cash.

So when a stranger offers a fortune to recover an even larger fortune in stolen credits, Han and Chewie are in. They’re smugglers, not thieves, but they have connections. Counting their employer, Eanjer, Solo’s team numbers 11.

The challenge: infiltrate the estate of a major crime boss, recover the credits with equal shares for each. Why is Eanjer so generous with his money? He claims it’s as much about revenge as about cash. But Lando is quick to point out Han’s history of not always trusting the right people.

The complication: Imperial Intelligence wants access to the same estate, and if they can manipulate Solo’s 11 into taking all the risks, so much the better.

Risks? It may be impossible.

Because it’s a heist novel, the first quarter is setup—interesting rather than action-heavy. Once the team begins to act, there are chases, explosions and plenty of danger in true, over-the-top caper style. And there’s a bit near the end that takes on extra significance when you remember that in the films, Han Solo was played by Harrison Ford, who also played Indiana Jones.

Scoundrels is a satisfying puzzle novel with plenty of adrenaline, and you don’t need to know more than the basics about the original Star Wars trilogy. I was expecting Han, Chewie and Lando, and was pleased to see Winter as another team member. Apparently Kell will also be familiar to those who’ve read more of the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels than I have. The other characters are new for this novel, and they’re worth meeting.

It’s a plot-driven novel, but the characters are well-developed, with their own struggles, tensions and interactions. It’s interesting to see Han in a planning role here… shades of General Solo in days to come. And the setting is impressive: the heist is to go down during the planet’s annual Festival of Four Honorings, amid the crowds and lavish displays. Characters, technology and setting never upstage the plot, but support it and enhance the experience.

Timothy Zahn is an award-winning, bestselling author known for both his original science fiction and his work in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

[Review copy from my personal library. Amazon link is an affiliate link for The Word Guild.]

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Review: Shaded Light, by J.A. Menzies

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Shaded Light, by JA MenziesShaded Light, by J.A. Menzies (MurderWillOut Mysteries, ebook version 2013)

It’s the July long weekend, and there’s a house party at George and Ellen Brodie’s new mansion in an exclusive Toronto community. Expected guests: their son, his close friend, Ellen’s country cousin, both of George’s lawyer business partners and their wives.

But there are also unexpected guests, three to be exact: a black sheep nephew, an ex-wife, and a wallflower sister.

Add in two household staff to complete the picture.

At least one of the fourteen will die before the party’s over. Because at least one other among them a murderer.

Shaded Light reads like a contemporary Agatha Christie novel. Instead of Hercule Poirot, readers meet Detective-Inspector Paul Manziuk (man’s-hook) and rookie detective Jacqueline Ryan. He’s experienced, old-school and white, she’s young, female and black.

Manziuk’s under pressure to catch a serial killer who leaves no clues, and now he’s handed the Brodie case too. He doesn’t have time to find out if Ryan can do the job… or if she’s just a political appointment.

To solve the case, Manziuk and Ryan must pierce the suspects’ outer facades and untangle the secrets within. It’s fun to watch them learn to work together along the way.

Shaded Light is book one in the Manziuk and Ryan mystery series, originally published by St. Kitts Press in 2000. The newly-issued ebook includes the author’s original prologue, omitted from the print book. The prologue works well to set the tone, and I think it’s an improvement.

I read the print version years ago and was curious to read it again. The story holds up well to a second reading. As it happens, I only remembered a few details and none of them spoiled the ending. Even if I’d remembered whodunnit, it would have still been a good read to watch the case set up and the unfold.

J.A. Menzies is the pen name of N.J. Lindquist, a Canadian author, speaker and teacher who writes fiction and non-fiction for adults and young adults. She’s a founding director of The Word Guild, co-editor of the Hot Apple Cider anthologies, and she’s usually juggling two or three projects at a time. With such a diverse list of activities, you can see why she chose to use a pen name to minimize reader confusion. To learn more about the author, visit Canadian Mystery Author J.A. Menzies.

Shaded Light and its sequel, Glitter of Diamonds, are both available as ebooks, and J.A. Menzies is working on a third in the series. I look forward to spending more time with these two detectives.

Purchase links for Shaded Light: Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Kobo, Ganxy.

[Review copy provided by the author. Amazon links are affiliate links for The Word Guild.]

Review: Though Mountains Fall, by Dale Cramer

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Though Mountains Fall cover artThough Mountains Fall, by Dale Cramer (Bethany House, 2013)

Caleb Bender has done what he believed God wanted: transplanted his family to Paradise Valley, Mexico, to establish an Amish community free from governmental interference. Other families have followed him, and after three years, the population is over 100, including many children.

They’ve survived illness and bandits, and their farms are thriving, but they live in the shadow of violence. And unless they can convince a Bishop to join them, Caleb knows the community will fold.

Caleb’s own world is folding. He’s already buried a son in Mexico, and now he’s losing a daughter. When she marries outside the Amish community, he’ll have to count her as dead to his family. Grief, and doubt that he heard God right in the first place about pioneering this settlement, threaten his peace.

Against this backdrop, Though Mountains Fall shares the story of two of Caleb’s daughters, Miriam and Rachel, and the men they love. And their sisterly bond that will stand “though mountains fall”.

Dale Cramer is an excellent writer, and this novel is no exception. The fact that I enjoyed it less than the previous two in the series has to do with there being less adventure and more relationship dynamics. Plus, the story itself required a darker tone or Caleb would never have faced his personal crisis. The ending warmed my heart, though.

This is the third and final book in the Daughters of Caleb Bender series, but readers who want to follow the family into the next generation can pick up Dale Cramer’s earlier novel, Levi’s Will. For more about Christy Award winner Dale Cramer and his books, visit DaleCramer.com. You can also read an excerpt of Though Mountains Fall.

[Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.]

Review: The Halcyon Dislocation, by Peter Kazmaier

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The Halcyon Dislocation The Halcyon Dislocation, by Peter Kazmaier (Word Alive Press, Second Edition, 2012)

Dave Schuster is an engineering student at Halcyon University, located off the coast of North Carolina. His uncle is the University Chancellor but they don’t cross paths often—until a physics experiment gone wrong rips the entire island out of our current space-time and plants it on another planet.

The theory is that the experiment shifted them—dislocated them—within time to a parallel Earth. The immediate goal: survival until the equipment can be rebuilt for an attempt to reverse the process. Well, survival and exploration. After all, there’s a whole new world out there, and Halcyon’s resources won’t last the months it may take to get home.

The Halcyon Dislocation follows the classic science fiction storyline of humans on a strange, new world. I appreciated Dave’s mention of my favourite Jules Verne novel, The Mysterious Island, and although there are similarities (they’re stranded, the land seems uninhabited but full of potential, they survive by adapting and inventing) this is a far different plot.

Without giving too much away, I can say that the explorers encounter remnants of a past civilization which developed differently from that of our own Earth. This alternate Earth has enough in common with ours to make it easy for readers to imagine, with key differences in plant and animal life that provide the richness of a foreign planet.

The novel also explores how human society might look if controlled solely by an intellectual, rationalist approach. Dave’s friend Al is perhaps the only spiritually-healthy Christian influence we meet, and he comes under extra attack from the leaders, who label him mentally ill because he claims to communicate with God.

The Halcyon Dislocation delivers a mix of action, danger, intrigue, philosophical and religious discussion, and even a bit of romance. It’s a long book, which is often a plus in the science fiction genre, and Dave and his friends certainly experience enough variety in the course of the story that there’s no risk of the reader asking “Are we done yet?”

Building on his background in scientific research and as a university professor, Peter Kazmaier writes “fiction at the intersection of adventure, science, faith and philosophy.” The Halcyon Dislocation is Book 1 of The Halcyon Cycle, and it sets up nicely for a sequel. Dr. Kazmaier’s most recent book is Questioning Your Way to Faith, which takes place on the  Halcyon campus before the Dislocation. You can learn more about the author and his books at PeterKazmaier.com.

[Review copy provided by the author.]
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Review: Freeheads, by Kerry Nietz

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Freeheads by Kerry NietzFreeheads, by Kerry Nietz (Marcher Lord Press, 2011)

Freeheads is the final book in the Dark Trench Saga. (Links to my previous reviews: A Star Curiously Singing and The Superlative Stream)

The novel opens with Sandfly and HardCandy en route back to Earth, where Sandfly knows he must somehow share what he’s learned about the true God with the people they left behind. But there are—surprise!—complications. Will he make it home, or will he get diverted again from his path? How can he speak, and who will listen?

I enjoy the characters, especially Sandfly, HardCandy and DarkTrench, and it’s good to reconnect with some people from their past. This story is all in Sandfly’s point of view except for an opening recap where Trench has a turn at narration. (I know Trench is “only” a ship, but there’s enough AI and personality in him to make him likeable.)

Freeheads is a fun read and a good end to the series, perhaps my favourite book of the three. As the situation got more and more complicated, I kept wondering how the author would write his way out of it, but of course he did, in a way that surprised and satisfied me.

The Dark Trench Saga books have been well-received with nominations and awards, and Freeheads won an EPIC 2013 eBook Award in the Science Fiction category. Kerry Nietz has a new novel out now, Mask, which I’ll be reviewing shortly. You can learn more about the author at nietz.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: The Knitting Fairy, by Jaime Marsman

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The Knitting FairyThe Knitting Fairy, by Jaime Marsman (Shade Tree Publishing, 2012)

Librarian’s Assistant Molly Stevenson has her life planned out. In fact, The Plan is stuck to her fridge where she can review it regularly. She loves her job, and if she can survive until her abrasive boss retires, she’ll inherit the position.

Until a woman who looks just like Mother Goose comes into the library with a long-overdue book. And then Molly gets fired. And then Mother Goose (whose real name is Carolyn) finds her and offers her a  job in a knitting store.

A knitting store? Molly had no idea such things existed or could turn a profit. As Carolyn would say, she’s been “denying her inner knitter.”

On impulse, Molly turns her back on The Plan and takes the job. And discovers she loves to knit. (Learning is an understandable condition of employment.)

The Knitting Fairy is a light-hearted mystery that knitters are sure to love. It’s not a murder mystery, but Carolyn’s store, Crabapple Yarns, has been receiving threatening calls. And shortly after Molly starts work there, people’s knitting projects begin getting mysterious “help”. Customers joke about a knitting fairy, but who’s behind this? When the “help” changes to sabotage, it has to be stopped. But how?

The story is told in first person, and Molly makes a cheerful and funny narrator. Suspects abound, and I completely missed the clues about the Knitting Fairy’s identity. How the culprit gets access to the knitters’ projects doesn’t really work for me, but it’s a minor point. And the book has a few more copyediting errors than average. I read the Kindle version, but it’s also available in print.

The Knitting Fairy is book 1 in the Crabapple Yarns series, so I hope to see book 2 in the future. Jaime Marsman is a knitwear designer as well as a novelist. Visit her website to learn more about the book and author (scroll down the page to see the options) or stop by the Yarns From Crabapple Yarns blog to see what the novel’s characters have to say. You can also find Jaime Marsman on Facebook.

[Review copy from my personal library.]