Category Archives: Fiction

Review: On Thin Ice, by Linda Hall

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On Thin Ice, by Linda Hall (Love Inspired, 2010)

Megan Brooks and Alec Black were in deeply love as teens, planning an early wedding because of a surprise pregnancy. Tragedy struck, they each made hard choices, and they haven’t seen one another since.

Until now.

As the 20th anniversary of their ill-fated wedding date approaches, members of the wedding party begin dying under suspicious circumstances.

Megan fears she’s next, so she tracks Alec to his home in Whisper Lake Crossing, Maine. As hard as it is to see him again, she knows they need to work together to save their lives. Dare she hope they can also rekindle their relationship, or will Alec still put his family first?

As always, Linda Hall delivers a novel with well-developed characters: individuals who have known pain and who, by the story’s end, may be surprised by hope. Also as always, she provides a villain who’s disturbingly real.

Because Love Inspired books are shorter than some, she doesn’t have room to delve as thoroughly into the secondary characters and plotlines as she otherwise would. It’s still a satisfying read, and short enough to finish in an evening. It’s set in snowy February, but for me it made the perfect antidote to a hot summer evening.

On Thin Ice is the second instalment in the Whisper Lake series, and I enjoyed recognizing characters from the first book, Storm Warning. Book three, Critical Impact, comes out in October 2010.

Linda Hall is a multi-published, award-winning Canadian suspense author. To learn more about her and her books, visit writerhall.com. 

[Book source: my personal library]
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Review: Back on Murder, by J. Mark Bertrand

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Back on Murder: A Roland March Mystery, by J. Mark Bertrand (Bethany House, 2010)

Roland March was a good detective, but now he’s on the way out. Something happened—a bad case, a personal tragedy, perhaps both—and he stopped trying.

His chief reluctantly assigns him to a gangland murder: one last chance, and one March discovers he desperately wants to take.

His superiors want him gone. He’s told to drop his brilliant hunch. Everything he tries only makes things worse. And it’s September, time for his wife’s annual depression.

Back on Murder is a fantastic read. Author J. Mark Bertrand nails the detective’s voice in this first-person novel. His descriptions are fresh, vivid, unique.

This is some of what March sees as he studies the first crime scene:

“The couch cushions blossom white with gunshots, exposed foam bursting from the wounds…. Evidence markers, chalk lines. imposing scientific regularity over the shell casings, the dropped firearms, the fallen bodies.” (page 12)

Here, March is arguing with his wife, Charlotte:

“We’re not yelling at each other. Not quite. But it’s a hissing little knife fight of a conversation, no dodging or parrying, just attack, attack, attack.” (page 42)

First person works for me as a mystery reader—whatever the sleuth or detective learns, I learn as well. Sometimes I can even piece a few clues together before he or she does, although not so much in this case.

But the novel is written in the present tense, a major turn-off for me. This is a fast-paced story, and once I was into it, my brain converted the action descriptions to past tense (that’s what it thinks is normal after 40+ years of reading). Then it would trip on a present-tense verb and throw me off the story’s rollercoaster. Not fun.

In the midst of assimilating the whole present-tense-fast-action thing, on page one I found a description of the murder victim: unique and well-written, but referring to his “wife-beater”. While I usually feel the political-correctness enforcers go overboard, this one should maybe have been stopped.

I was surprised a) that it was there, and b) that all readers would be expected to know the words mean a sleeveless, scooped-neck undershirt. If you didn’t know, I doubt you’d figure it out from context. You’d just be thinking about the dead guy having beaten his wife. This dead guy may not even have had a wife, so that’s a bad distraction from what he did have: enemies.

It’s hard for crime novels to have happy endings when they’re about death. March’s case resolves in a mostly satisfactory manner from his perspective. For readers, it a good ending. Our questions have been answered, some justice has been dealt, and there’s an open-ended issue that promises us future plots. Professionally, things are looking up for March. On a personal level, he and Charlotte are making progress.

March is a non-Christian protagonist for both Christian and general market police procedural lovers. Readers wanting a conversion scene for March need to look elsewhere. It wouldn’t be a realistic step for him at this point, but perhaps in a future novel. I found his non-faith gave him the opportunity to let Christians see how others may perceive us. He isn’t intentionally nasty, but he doesn’t get it. We all know people like that, and we need to understand them and to help them understand us.

J. Mark Bertrand is the co-author (with Deeanne Gist) of the romantic suspense, Beguiled. Back on Murder is so tightly-written that I can’t believe it’s his first solo novel.

Take a few minutes to read an excerpt from Back on Murder.  And there’s an interesting Q&A with J. Mark Bertrand that promises:

“With the fallout from Back on Murder, and some new secrets coming to light, March’s next case might be the most disturbing he’s ever faced. The next book in the Roland March series, Pattern of Wounds, is schedule for release in Summer 2011.” [Read the full Q&A here.]

J. Mark Bertrand’s website is Back on Murder. Why write the novel in first-person, present-tense, with a non-Christian protagonist who’s somewhat of an anti-hero? In a guest-blogging post at best-selling suspense novelist Brandilyn Collins’ Forensics and Faith blog, he claims, “The Story Made Me Do It”.

I like Roland March, and I’m glad he’s back on murder. Present-tense narrative or no, I’ll be waiting to read Pattern of Wounds.

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

Review: The God Cookie, by Geoffrey Wood

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The God Cookie, by Geoffrey Wood (WaterBrook Press, 2009)

“Perhaps none of this would have happened had they not been arguing about golf balls.”

I don’t know about you, but I figure any book that opens with a line like that has to be worth reading. Especially when it’s written by Geoffrey Wood, who had me laughing frequently in his previous novel, Leaper.

The ones doing the arguing are Parrish, Mason and Duncan, three guys in their early 20’s who work together in Parrish’s coffee shop. They do a lot of this friendly hassling of one another, and on the day in question the topic somehow gets around to whether God talks to people. (Parrish thinks He’s real, the other two aren’t sure, and none of them pay Him much mind.)

Circumstances unfold in such a way that when Parrish opens a fortune cookie after the argument, he believes the words inside are from God. A little bemused and regretting he asked God to speak, he isn’t quite sure what God wants him to do.

Parrish ends up at a bus stop, where he befriends Rose and Audra and encounters a host of other characters. He thinks he’s supposed to help someone, and as he bumbles along trying to find who that someone is and what to do for them, he draws Audra along with him.

Geoffrey Wood is a thinker, as well as having a delightfully quirky sense of humour. His slightly detached, omniscient style works well in this story (although I did have some trouble in the opening pages, trying to figure out who was who among the three guys). It also lets him pull readers in as observers, and behind the surface storyline we can think about the deeper questions he raises about how we relate to one another—and to God.

Although the narrative feels a bit distant, it offers glimpses into individuals’ daily struggles that let readers empathize. I hope it teaches us, as the events teach John Parrish, to listen. Really listen to the people around us.

WaterBrook is a Christian publisher, but The God Cookie is a novel that should cross over well to the mainstream market. It’s definitely not “formula Christian material” (whatever that is). None of the characters go to church or do all “the right things”.

Some Christian readers may look only at the surface and close the book as moderately irreverent. That would be a mistake. Read to the end, and while you won’t find fancy theology, you’ll find spiritual truth (suitable to Christianity, not just vague truth). And it’s not irreverent, it’s honest about where these three men are in their spiritual lives at the start of the story.

We all know people like that. They don’t mean to be offensive to God, they just don’t have Him on their radars. Everyone starts that way until He pings us with His.

I’d like to know where the novel is set. It’s somewhere in the United States I presume, northern enough to need hats and gloves in February but where snow that late in the season is not a given.

Canadian readers, be warned: the novel refers to people wearing toboggans. I puzzled a bit about why one would wear a toboggan that was meant for coasting on snow, and then I wondered if an intrepid Canadian had pulled the wool over the author’s and editors’ eyes. (Bad pun intended.)

We call them toques, (or tuques, depending on who you believe). For the uninitiated, that’s pronounced to rhyme with “Luke” and it’s a knitted hat. According to Wikipedia, “toboggan” is a short form of “toboggan hat”. But on the toboggan page it sends you to the tuque page to read about the hat. It also says a toque is a chef’s hat and a tuque is a knitted hat, but any knitting pattern I’ve seen has spelled it toque. Google search obligingly provides hats for both spellings.

A traditional book review shouldn’t rabbit-trail like this, but somehow I think Parrish and his buddies would approve. Nonetheless, back on track. Here are some snippets from the novel, to show the fresh delivery Geoffrey Wood gives his prose and his ideas:

“Duncan…leaned on the espresso bar, nervously patting the top of his head with his hand, as if gentle persistence might nudge his thoughts out of hiding.” (p. 162)

“My strangling a bus sign cannot, unfortunately, be blamed on my head wound.” (p. 188, and my personal favourite line in the novel.)

“What God did next for Audra was interesting, mainly because God had been doing it all along. [without it yet being seen]” (p.266)

I laughed less with The God Cookie than with Leaper, but I thought more and got the message better. I hate to use a word like “message” because neither novel is “about” an agenda. Neither preaches. They’re about the characters. Those characters, at least the protagonists, grow and change, but it comes organically from their natures and their experiences.

The God Cookie is a brilliant novel, and I hope we’ll see more from Geoffrey Wood very soon.

Check out chapter one of The God Cookie and see if you don’t want to read more. You can read an interview with Geoffrey Wood at Novel Journey.

Here’s a video introduction to The God Cookie from the author himself. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ROs9DvQ6o]

[Review copy courtesy of my local public library.]

Review: Caught Dead, A Dean Constable Mystery, by Jayne E. Self

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Caught Dead: A Dean Constable Mystery, by Jayne E. Self (Serialized in the Presbyterian Record, 2010)

After 16 years in Buffalo, Dean Constable has returned to the town of Lynngate, New York, to help his brother care for their aging father and to serve in his first pastorate. He’s still settling in when his long-time friend Justin is killed in a car accident.

A former police officer, Dean is determined to leave investigating to the experts—until Justin’s sister Paige pleads for his help. And until he sees signs of an official cover-up.

The story takes place just after Christmas, and Dean has charge of his father, Tony, for the holidays. As well as finding the truth about Justin’s death, Dean must prove himself to his parishioners, his father, and himself.

The mystery is well done, with hints and clues and complications, and the characters have a depth that drew me into the story. Not only did I want to see what happened, I cared about the people it was happening to.

Jayne Self knows churches and small towns. She gives us the usual background characters: the busybody neighbour, the big shot who wants church run his way, the single church lady with an eye for the new minister. We recognize them, but these aren’t flat stereotypes. Just like real people, they come with surprises.

Even more real and complex are the main players: Dean, Tony, and Paige. Dean’s an adopted son and he’s never felt like he belonged. Paige grew up in her brother’s shadow. Tony is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. These, plus each one’s lifetime of experiences, shape them into believable individuals worth spending time with. In that sense, I was disappointed to reach the end of the book. I’m looking forward to Dean’s next mystery, Hit’N Miss.

Jayne writes with compassion for her characters, and this is especially clear in Dean’s attempts to care for his father. He makes mistakes, but he treats Tony with a gentle dignity. Often we don’t know how to respond to people suffering dementia, and Dean gives us a positive example.

Caught Dead is a mystery complete with poignant moments, humour, and evocative descriptions. Check out this one from the scene of Justin’s crash:

“Crooked headlights shone on a row of weathered monuments. Their narrow shadows pointed toward the church like bony fingers reaching for a second chance at life.” [The police] “strung their yellow tape around the cemetery like a macabre Christmas garland.”

Or Dean, observing wildlife tracks in the woods:

“Signs Dad taught me, familiar bits of creation that spoke to my heart long before I ever recognized the voice of their Creator.”

As a minister, part of Dean’s job is to preach. But the novel isn’t preachy. Dean is an authentic Christian, a fairly recent convert, with strengths and weaknesses. The spiritual element of the novel flows naturally because it’s part of Dean’s story. He’s growing spiritually as well as in other areas of character. What stuck with me was his discovery that he’d been doing well trusting the Head (Jesus) of the church, but not so well trusting the rest of the body (his fellow believers).

Like any good mystery, Caught Dead is hard to put down. It’s currently available online as a weekly serial at the Presbyterian Record. One of the reasons I leapt at the chance to review it is I’d get to read the rest of the novel without the enforced breaks.

Jayne E. Self is a Canadian author whose previous credits include articles and short stories. Caught Dead is her first published novel. It was a finalist in 2009 for The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award (for unpublished work). To learn more about Jayne and her novel, see the Caught Dead book trailer on her website.

[Electronic review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Review: Leaper – The Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero, by Geoffrey Wood

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Leaper – The Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero, by Geoffrey Wood (WaterBrook Press, 2007)

James is a 30-something barista who lives in a squalid apartment now that his lawyer wife has filed for divorce. He’s neurotic, perhaps paranoid, and he doesn’t have much of a life.

Doesn’t sound like a guy you’d want to spend a novel with, does it?

But listen to him talk:

“I don’t know how this works for normal people, but being a basically paranoid-delusional person who finds himself with someone actually following him—well, most of my life has been lived talking myself out of such imagined plots. Now it’s happening. There is a guy, and he is following me. An actual emergency.

“In a way, it’s like an “I told you so” to the universe. I feel prepared. I have been practicing for this sort of thing all my life.” (pp. 209-210)

This is the funniest book I’ve read in a long time. It’s written in first person, mostly present-tense, and James’ quirky humour and his misadventures make for a novel that engaged me from page one.

To make matters worse, this poor guy discovers a random ability to instantly zap from one place to another—to leap. As we follow his attempts to learn how to control this new ability, and his socially-inept dealings with his ex-wife and co-workers, Leaper reveals itself to be more than a comedy. There’s a poignancy here too, and some interesting insights on how we relate to the people around us…and to God.

James thinks maybe God gave him this ability so he can do good, but “If God’s suggesting that I am expected to do good and also obligated to manufacture a genuine desire for it, this boat’s sunk, still sitting on the trailer in the driveway….We’ve got to talk me out of me first.” (p. 199)

Geoffrey Wood has given us a funny, quirky read with some questions that will linger—and that may make a difference in our own relationships. I admit I didn’t get the ending, and that disappointed me. Still, the rest of the novel was fun.

Check out chapter one of Leaper and see if you don’t want to read more. You can read an interview with Geoffrey Wood at Novel Journey.

Leaper is Geoffrey Wood’s first novel. I’m pleased to see he has another novel out: The God Cookie.

[Review source: my personal library]

Review: Reluctant Burglar, by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

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Reluctant Burglar, by Jill Elizabeth Nelson (Multnomah Publishers, 2006)

Desiree Jacobs inherits more than just the family business when her father is killed. She’s horrified to find a cache of stolen paintings.

Should she turn them over to the authorities and ruin her father’s reputation – and the family business? Give them to the menacing “Chief,” who ordered her father’s death? Or carry out her father’s plan to secretly return the paintings to their owners?

Dare she trust attractive FBI agent Tony Lucano? Dare she trust her friends, for that matter? But she trusts God….

Desiree is a wonderful character: spunky, determined, real enough to have self-doubts and struggle to apply her faith… and she’s got a quirky humour that I love.

Reluctant Burglar is fast-paced and fun, with some daring antics that had me holding my breath. Full marks to Jill Elizabeth Nelson for delivering a great read.

Click here to read an excerpt from Reluctant Burglar. Odds are, you won’t want to stop there! Right now it’s available for an incredible price at Christianbook.com. Of course the next two books in the “To Catch a Thief” series, Reluctant Runaway and Reluctant Smuggler, are full price, but you may want to order them at the same time. If you prefer eBooks, Reluctant Burglar is now available at Fictionwise.com.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson’s most recent novels are Calculated Revenge and Witness to Murder, from Love Inspired. You can learn more about the author and her books at the Jill Elizabeth Nelson website.  Jill is currently offering a contest to win an autographed copy of Calculated Revenge. I like her contests because they’re more than just “enter your name here”—they’re fun, and those of us who aren’t likely to get the answers all correct won’t be disqualified. All we have to do is try.

Review: Christianus Sum, by Shawn J. Pollett

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Christianus Sum, by Shawn J. Pollett (Word Alive Press, 2008)

In third-century Rome, Christians have enjoyed a time of relative peace…until the installation of Emperor Decius. One of the emperor’s key supporters is Publius Licinius Valerianus, a cruel man who schemes to be next on the throne—and whose hatred of Christianity has already cost many lives.

To refuse to deny the Christos, to adamantly declare “Christianus Sum”—I am a Christian—is to die a martyr’s death.

Roman Senator Julius Valens disagrees. In honour of his dead wife’s faith, he allows a group of Christians to worship in one of the many rooms of his home. Equally indifferent to all deities, he designates other rooms for the other gods his slaves may want to worship.

He doesn’t expect to fall in love with a slave—a Christian slave, at that. The beautiful Damarra and her friends teach him about their faith. Although he’s not convinced, his efforts to protect the Christians from persecution draw him into danger.

Canadian author Shawn J. Pollett has created a complex plot with vivid characters and a strong sense of place and time. I was hesitant to read a novel set in such a troubled era, but the story quickly drew me in. When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about it.

With long Latin names and authentic details, Christianus Sum (the ‘u’ in ‘sum’ sounds like the ‘oo’ in ‘cook’) isn’t a fast or light read. It slowed me down and made me feel like I was there in the past, in this ornate and formal time of Roman rule. It also let me see a bit of the life and times of the culture.

The novel has plenty of drama and emotion to keep you turning pages, and I appreciated the author’s sensitive handling of the brutality. Much of the suffering is off-camera, so to speak. Readers know what’s going on without being traumatized. The ending does get quite intense, but no more so than necessary and there’s nothing gratuitous about it.

The story is told in the third person with shifts into omniscient, and although occasionally I wasn’t sure of a scene’s point of view it always became clear within a few paragraphs.

As well as the spiritual, persecution and romance threads, Christianus Sum also explores friendship, duty, battles and political intrigues. There’s a lot in these pages to satisfy a reader.

I’m not strong in history and I found myself wondering about these characters, especially the emperors and generals. Were there actual people by these names? How much of this actually happened? The author thoughtfully included an afterward to answer these questions and more.

I’ve finished the novel, but its characters have stayed with me, and I find myself wondering how well I’d stand in such a time of trouble. How my brothers and sisters in Christ would stand. These fictional characters share such a vibrant love for one another and for the Christos, and mine feels so pale in comparison.

As well as love for God, the characters have a strong trust in Him. After one rare, happy experience, we read, “Sometimes, [Damarra] wondered if God worked in unexpected ways for the sheer pleasure of watching his people look up to the heavens, scratch their heads, and ask, ‘How did you do that?’” (p. 49)

In 2009, Christianus Sum received The Word Guild’s Canadian Christian Writing Awards in three of the novel categories: Historical, Mystery/Suspense and Romance. Before that, as an unpublished manuscript, it won Word Alive Press’ 2008 free publishing contest in the fiction category.

Christianus Sum is book one in the “Cry of the Martyrs” trilogy. Book two, What Rough Beast, released in April 2010. I look forward to reading it. Both are available through local bookstores and online. Ebook versions are available through various online stores although not from my favourite, fictionwise.com. I notice a variety of ebook pricing, so shop around.

If you visit Shawn J. Pollett’s website, you’ll find an interesting introduction to the “Cry of the Martyrs” series.

[Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Review: Just Between You and Me, a novel by Jenny B. Jones

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Just Between You and Me, by Jenny B. Jones (Thomas Nelson, 2009)

Maggie Montgomery has done video shoots all over the world, but the one place she doesn’t want to be is Ivy, the town where she grew up.

Maggie’s a fairly new Christian, and she senses God has brought her home for a reason…but why?

Her father doesn’t want to see her, but he’s desperate for help with her unruly niece, Riley. Riley’s mom is mentally ill and hasn’t been able to care for her.

Maggie is smart, sassy, and she comes with a lot of emotional baggage. When she shows up in her home town, her high school friend Beth is the only person who remembers her who’s not toting a huge grudge. Maggie’s feisty enough to handle it, but I found myself getting defensive on her behalf.

Handsome veterinarian Connor Blake has some harsh, preconceived ideas about Maggie, but it doesn’t take long for him to understand her almost too well. Maggie thrives on keeping everyone at arms’ length—so why does being with Connor make her want to drop her defences?

Jenny B. Jones writes with a snappy sense of humour and tight delivery. This is one of those novels that works well in the present tense, first person. Present tense usually feels contrived to me, but the character of Maggie has such a strong voice that it feels like she’s really telling us what’s happening. Combined with the title of “Just Between You and Me,” it feels like Maggie’s telling the story one-on-one to a close friend.

Like the few others I’ve read in the Christian chick-lit genre, Just Between You and Me is not all surface and fluff. Maggie’s experience changes her life, and aspects of it—and the process of her learning—can shape readers as well. For all of her daredevil reputation, Maggie has a major fear issue when it comes to relationships—and to water, because she wasn’t able to save her drowning mother.

Just Between You and Me is fresh, funny and real—and the most feel-good book I’ve read in a long time. It’s actually one of maybe five novels or short fiction that I’d count as life-changing. An added benefit for me is the title: every time I thought about the novel, I’d hear the April Wine song.

You can read chapter one of Just Between You and Me or learn more about the author at the Jenny B. Jones website. The Thomas Nelson website has a reader discussion guide you might want to check out after you’ve read the novel. Just Between You and Me is aimed at adults, but Jenny is also the author of novels for young adults: the Katie Parker Production series and A Charmed Life series. YA novels are fun, and I look forward to checking these out.

[Review copy borrowed from my local public library. If you’re in Canada, you can get it via inter-library loan… or buy your own copy. It’s worth it!]

Review: The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag, by Alan Bradley

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The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag, by Alan Bradley (2010, Doubleday Canada)

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag is the second mystery from Alan Bradley featuring 11-year-old Flavia de Luce. The series is set in 1950 in rural England.

Flavia, her sisters and their father live in a huge old house, where she spends her happiest times in the lab of a mad (now dead) chemist.

The mystery surrounds a murder that doesn’t happen until part-way through the book. I knew it was coming, having read some promotional material. Getting to know the soon-to-be victim was an odd sensation.

A secondary plot thread involves the death of a local boy some years earlier, and Flavia is determined to get to the bottom of that too.

The world through Flavia’s eyes is an interesting place. She observes, rarely judging, and leaves readers to draw their own conclusions.

Although she’s a child, this is a novel for adults. Since I usually review books for the Christian market, I’ll add that it’s a general market book containing some mild profanity.

Flavia is one of those enjoyable fictional characters you probably wouldn’t want to live with. She has a dry sense of humour and a vocabulary that includes words like pustulent, pristine and diminutive, along with a variety of chemical terms.

When she successfully ducks an assignment from her father, he laments that she’s unreliable. Her comment as narrator: “Of course I was! It was one of the things I loved most about myself. Eleven-year-olds are supposed to be unreliable.” (p. 86)

Another character calls her terrifying, and Flavia tells us with all modesty, “It was true—and there was no use denying it.” (p. 90)

I suspect Inspector Hewitt of the local constabulary would describe her as terrifying too—but she does have his grudging respect.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag is a sadder story to me than the first novel in the series, but it’s still a very good read with plenty that made me smile. You don’t have to read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie first, but don’t miss it!

Alan Bradley is a Canadian author now living in Malta. You can find him online at the Flavia de Luce website, and Flavia de Luce has her own online fan club.

You might also be interested in this interview with Alan Bradley in the Ottawa Sun,  or this article by Andrea Baillie of the Canadian Press.

The next book in the series is A Red Herring Without Mustard, releasing in 2011.  I’m looking forward to it.

Here’s a video trailer for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, to introduce you to Flavia. The voice is perfect. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVkxr7e9YGs]

Review copy purchased from Kobo Books and enjoyed on my Aluratek Libre e-reader.

Review: The Real Enemy, by Kathy Herman

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The Real Enemy, by Kathy Herman (David C. Cook, 2009)

As the first female chief of police in the town of Sophie Trace, Brill Jessup expects to have to prove her worth. She doesn’t expect citizens to start disappearing before the paint is dry on her office walls. Now she’s dealing with a territorial sheriff , the FBI, and a panicky town council… not to mention the local superstitions.

It does keep her from having to spend much time with her husband, Kurt, but she knows it’s hard on their daughter, Emily.

Brill is understandably angry over her husband’s one night of infidelity. They’ve agreed to stay together for Emily, but Brill has no interest in rebuilding the marriage.

The novel opens with Brill on the defensive at work and bitter towards her husband—not a sympathetic heroine. She’s very good at her job (the nickname “Brill” is short for “brilliant”) but I found the strength of her anger kept me from really connecting. Kurt is almost too nice, on the other hand. His goal is to overcome the evil he’s caused with good. (The novel’s theme verse is Romans 12:21.)

Nine-year-old Emily (the older kids are away at university) is serious and well-spoken for her age, but there are children like that—and I think her parents’ struggle has matured her beyond her years.

I always enjoy Kathy Herman’s novels, for the suspense and for the relationships. She draws believable characters, and it was partly on the strength of this knowledge that I was comfortable sticking with Brill through the opening pages. I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed the novel.

The Real Enemy is the first in Kathy Herman’s new Sophie Trace series, and I’m looking forward to reading book 2, The Last Word, and book 3, The Right Call. You can read the prologue and first chapter of The Real Enemy here, and learn more about Kathy here.

Review copy from my personal library.