Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Tooth for Tooth, a novel by Kimberley J. Payne

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Tooth for Tooth, a novel by Kimberley J. Payne

Heather Williams is doing okay with the single-motherhood thing, she’s happy in her job, and her attractive boss is a bonus. Life is good—until she discovers her estranged husband has been sexually abusing their young daughter.

Sick with horror, she does her best to get help for Caitlin (Caity-Cat) and to keep her safe. Of course Caitlin’s father denies the truth and wants her weekend visits to continue.

Heather navigates a maze of community service, medical and legal systems, and although she doesn’t always like their methods, she does find some compassionate people who can help. At the same time, she’s dealing with both guilt (Catilin had tried to tell her a few years earlier) and anger at the man who could do this to anyone, let alone his own child.

Supportive family and friends, including her charming boss, keep her sane, and she’s surprised to find even more strength through a local Bible study.

This is a novel I hesitated to read because of the subject matter, but although what happened to Caitlin and her mom is troubling, author Kimberley Payne doesn’t go into traumatic details of the abuse.

The story gave me more insight and understanding into a situation nobody should ever experience but far too many do. It also reaffirmed what I’d sensed from a few people who’ve expressed similar—or worse—experiences: as traumatic as it is, there is hope for healing.

Kimberley Payne deals frankly with questions such as “Why, God? Where were You?” and with issues of anger, guilt and forgiveness.

Her strength is in non-fiction, and there are writing elements of Tooth for Tooth that could be stronger, but she has a keen sense of detail and an eye for descriptions. She also makes Heather’s and Caitlin’s struggle come alive. When I was away from the story for a day, I kept wondering how they were.

The subject matter is dark, but Tooth for Tooth offers insight and hope. The author’s deft use of humour keeps the tone balanced, and this short novel is a good—and fairly quick—read.

Canadian author Kimberley Payne is better known for her “Fit for Faith” books and workshops. Tooth for Tooth is her first work of fiction. It’s available to read (for free!) online at the Tooth for Tooth blog. Those who prefer hard copy can order Tooth for Tooth through Lulu.com.

For more about the author, visit her website, Within Reach.

Electronic review copy provided by the author.

Review: I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, by Dolores Ayotte

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I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, by Dolores Ayotte (Tate Publishing, 2008)

I love the cover design of this book – all these uniquely-marked balloons, all in different places but each adding to the scene.

Dolores Ayotte is a former teacher who loves finding ways to share what she’s learned. Her first book, I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, is one of those ways, and in it Dolores reveals the lessons that helped her move out of a serious depression.

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay offers “thirteen steps to a happier self,” and they’re all simple, down-to-earth things that we somehow overlook when we’re in distress. Appropriately enough, the first step is learning to love: oneself, others and God.

The author contends that without a healthy sense of self-worth we can’t find emotional healing. Indeed, why would we think we deserve it? If, she says, we can love ourselves as we are, we can then begin to change those things in us that we don’t like.

Dolores speaks of relying on a quiet “inner voice” and it’s clear that this is no mystic “spirit guide” – it’s the Holy Spirit whispering into His child’s life. Healing is, after all, His specialty.

Other key themes in the book are simplicity, relationships, forgiveness, laughter, silence, money management (“live below your yearnings”), wisdom and communication.

I wasn’t comfortable with the book’s reference to God as “him/her” although I’m aware that the Bible does attribute both paternal and maternal characteristics to our Creator. I did find the ingredients in this “Baker’s Dozen” recipe for a better life to be pleasant, helpful and encouraging.

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay is an easy book to read, gentle on the spirit, that feels like a personal letter just for you. It includes many inspirational quotes that have encouraged the author over the years. The book comes with a code allowing free download of the text in audio format from the publisher.

To learn more about Canadian author Dolores Ayotte, you can visit her website.  is available through her site and also at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

Review copy provided by the author.

Review: Steal Away, by Linda Hall

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Steal Away, by Linda Hall

Steal Away, by Linda Hall (Multnomah, 2003)

Steal Away is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Private Investigator Teri Blake-Addison, a vibrant former cop who has recently returned to the Christian faith. Teri is an interesting character in her own right, struggling to balance her independent career within her new role as the wife of a university English professor.

In this story, she is approached by a well-known evangelist to discover the truth about the sailing accident that killed his wife, Ellen, and two of Ellen’s friends five years earlier. The boat—and Ellen’s body—was never found. Teri’s investigations take her to coastal Maine, and to St. Andrews and Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick.

This complex mystery is filled with real people and their real struggles. Readers can nod and say, “Yeah, I know someone just like that.”

As always, Linda Hall writes with an honest and unvarnished view of life and faith. The book deals with choices, redemption, betrayal and mercy, as well as with some of the stumbling-blocks that can cause people to “go off church.” It’s hard to put it down once you’ve started reading. But when you’re finished, it would be a good book to share with a friend—Christian or non.

Steal Away was originally published in 2003 but is now available in audio book format, narrated by Kirsten Potter, at Audible.com and through  iTunes.

From the author’s website: “Steal Away was a Christy Award finalist, a Daphne finalist and was given top honours by The Word Guild. As well, it was the 2004 Beacon Award winner for Best Inspirational Novel, the Winter Rose Award Winner for Best Inspirational Novel, and it was given the Award of Excellence from the Colorado Romance Writers.”

Linda Hall currently writes romantic suspense for the Love Inspired line, and her next release with them is Storm Warning (January 2010). She’s also the author of a number of stand-alone suspense novels, including Sadie’s Song, Dark Water and Black Ice.Each of her novels delivers the memorable characters and struggles that we’ve come to expect from this award-winning Canadian author.

You can learn more about Linda at her website. She also contributes to multiple blogs and maintains a Facebook fan page. Read the prologue of Steal Away here.

Review: The Pawn, by Steven James

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The Pawn, by Steven James

The Pawn, by Steven James (Revell, 2007)

FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers’ assignment is to find—and stop—a serial killer in North Carolina. Even though few law enforcement officers are familiar with his approach, his success using high-tech geographical profiling makes him highly respected.

Pat comes into this case with troubles of his own: his wife’s recent death and his step-daughter’s attitude. And while he’s glad to have an old friend on the investigative team, he’s less than thrilled to discover the agent in charge still bears a grudge from their last meeting.

Steven James does an excellent job of pulling readers into the characters’ heads. With Pat, this is great. He’s intelligent, interesting, and has a low-key sense of humour I like.

Scenes with Pat’s step-daughter Tessa or with other characters were fine too. Each time I hit a villain scene I read timidly, but I made it through.

The characters are rich and have depths we won’t fully explore without reading the whole series. Some of the relationships in this book, most notably the one between Pat and Tessa, reach a new level but definitely have room for further growth. Even the dark characters have depth, albeit disturbing.

As for the plot, “masterfully crafted” is perhaps over-used but here it fits. Looking back at how everything unfolded, all I can say is “Wow.” So many threads and details, all drawn together into a satisfying conclusion.

The novel’s intense delivery and the killer’s deep point of view reminded me of Dean Koontz’ The Good Guy. That was another can’t-put-down thriller that skirted the very edge of my comfort zone. The plots—and characters—aren’t similar, but both novels give the same feeling.

The Pawn’s pace is fast, yet Steven James slips in some interesting insights and thoughtful language. Remembering his wife’s death, Pat says, “Spring was trying to unfold; winter trying to die. She passed away in between the seasons, in the middle of the empty spaces of the year.” (p. 138)

One advantage of the villain scenes is that readers see more of the danger than Pat and his team do. The author makes us aware of the ticking clock on a few different occasions, and it effectively ups the tension. (For example, he introduces us to a woman who has no idea she’s the killer’s next target but we know, and she’s a nice lady.)

The Pawn is published by a Christian house, and I should point out that it’s a fine read for any thriller-lover, regardless of their faith stance. Pat has only a hazy belief in God, mostly anger-based after losing his wife. He remembers conversations—arguments, mainly—with a pastor he and I don’t think much of, and occasional wise faith words from a deacon. The author’s faith shows through, but it’s a subtle glow and not anything preachy or overt.

Why have I not heard of Steven James before now? Tender-hearted chicken that I am, I’ll need to recover a bit before taking on the rest of the series, but I look forward to spending more time with Pat and Tessa in The Rook and The Knight.

You can learn more about Steven James at his blog, Musings and Meanderings, and his website, and I’m delighted to see he has some highly-acclaimed Christian non-fiction. I want to check out Story and Sailing Between the Stars. Certain brief moments in The Pawn convinced me he can do justice to thoughtful non-fiction too.

The Pawn is available in bookstores and online at Chapters-Indigo, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com… and the best price I saw was at Christianbook.com. Also, if you’re looking for a copy of Sailing Between the Stars, check out Christianbook.com—when I looked, it was only $1.99 US. Plus shipping, of course.

Review: Seeker of Stars, a novella by Susan Fish

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Seeker of Stars 2005
Seeker of Stars 2013

Seeker of Stars, by Susan Fish (Winding Trail Press, 2005 and David C. Cook, 2013)

Melchi has always been fascinated by the stars’ slow dance in the night sky. Even after exhausting days learning the family trade of rug making, he steals to the rooftop at night to gaze on his “beauties”.

When his father at last permits him to go and study with the astronomers, Melchi plays a key part in discovering the meaning of a new star and joins the expedition to Jerusalem in search of the newborn king of the Jews.

Told in the first person by an adult Melchoir who looks back over the events leading to his journey—and what happened at its end—Seeker of Stars carries an exotic taste as if this ancient scholar had learned English and invited us to hear the tale.

I love the richness of the language, both in feel and in word choice. Susan Fish says a lot in a very few pages, and creates memorable, complex characters.

This novella has become a part of my Christmas tradition. The season’s first strains of “We Three Kings” bring the story to life in my mind, but I save the reading—like a treat—to savour in the days after Christmas. Ideally I’ll read it around the time of Epiphany, when Christians observe the Magi’s visit.

For more about Canadian author Susan Fish, visit her website: susanfishwrites.wordpress.com. [Note, Seeker of Stars has been re-released with an updated cover. The original is featured above.]

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Review: Your God is too Safe, by Mark Buchanan

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Your God is Too Safe, by Mark Buchanan (Multnomah, 2001)

In a day where many teachers either speak in “academic-ese” or dumb down their language, Mark Buchanan’s writing is a refreshing treat, comparable with Philip Yancey. What sets his books apart from other life-changing works is the beauty of the language. The images and descriptions are fresh, original and strong.

Your God is Too Safe is subtitled “Rediscovering the Wonder of a God You Can’t Control.” It opens with a candid look at life in “borderland”—that place where many of us get stuck, saved but slow of heart and unfruitful. The second half of the book calls us to life in the “holy wild.” Here Rev. Buchanan offers practical steps to take if we’re willing to risk walking with a God who is not safe but is good.

The book stresses the value of holy habits, often called spiritual disciplines. These are to be God-ward habits, not legalistic rules; practices that develop into new life patterns. Holy habits lead to practicing the presence of God through worship, expectancy, confession, solitude, fasting, reading Scripture, servanthood, prayer and celebration.

I appreciated the author’s honesty about real people’s struggles, his own included. We can all relate to the section on borderland, having been there. We can leave borderland for the holy wild, and Mark Buchanan’s words instil within us a longing to do so.

Mark Buchanan is a pastor in British Columbia, and one of my favourite Canadian authors. Your God is Too Safe was his first book, published in 2001. Since then he’s written Things Unseen: Living in the Light of Forever, The Holy Wild, The Rest of God, and Hidden in Plain Sight. Each one has blessed me as I’ve read it.

You can learn more about Mark Buchanan and his books at his website. Your God is Too Safe is available in trade paperback, audio or e-book from Chapters-Indigo, trade paperback and audio book from Christianbook.com, and trade paperback only from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. You can also order it through your local bookstore.

— trade paperback and audio book

Review: Bad Ground, a novel by W. Dale Cramer

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Bad Ground, by Dale Cramer

Bad Ground, by W. Dale Cramer (Bethany House Publishers, 2004)

Bad Ground follows 17-year-old Jeremy Prine into the hard-rock mining world of his estranged Uncle Aiden. Jeremy feels trapped underground, but it’s the only place his uncle finds freedom. Jeremy’s mother’s dying request was that he find – and stay with – Aiden, now known as Snake. Each has something the other needs, she said, but what can an overprotected teenager and a battle-scarred miner share?

This is one of those rare novels that has not only a captivating story but unique characters, lush descriptions, insights into God and man, and prose to please a lyricist’s soul. Dale Cramer’s writing is fresh and poetic. He’s a keen observer of people, nature, and the rhythms of time and of the heart.

He renders a world in harsh relief, where there’s no room for stereotypes or illusion. If a miner slips up, he’s maimed or dead. This is a natural place to find the “where’s God when it hurts” question, and Cramer’s characters meet it head on and from a number of angles, in a frank and open manner. Jeremy’s favourite tee shirt sums it up in Latin, but he needs to have it translated: “Deus Aderit” – “God is Present”

The book contains some deep thoughts on faith, but given by such real people out of the crucibles of their experience that the other characters, and I as a reader, listened and nodded and thought. It’s a serious coming of age and reconciliation story, veined with surprising flashes of laughter and a hint of romance.

The level of excellence of Dale Cramer’s writing makes this book worthy of study as contemporary literature, without the hopelessness and despair I remember from the selections inflicted by my high school English teachers.

Bad Ground won the 2005 Christy Award for General Fiction. Prior to that, it received starred reviews from both Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist, as well as from the Christian CBA Marketplace, and was on Publisher’s Weekly’s list of the best books of 2004.  We don’t see very many good Christian novels finding acclaim the mainstream market as well, and it was great to see this one smash a few barriers.

This is a book for men and women, Christian and non, who love a good story well told.

Bad Ground is W. Dale Cramer’s second novel. His first was Sutter’s Cross, and he has since released Levi’s Will and Summer of Light. More information is available from his web site.

Review: The Penn of Denn, by Denn Guptill

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The Penn of Denn, by Denn Guptill

The Penn of Denn, by Denn Guptill (Forever Books, 2009)

Denn Guptill has a gift for picking up on something newsworthy or current, adding a bit of humour or common sense, and finding a spiritual application. The Penn of Denn will make you smile, nod, scratch your head, perhaps even pray.

Subtitled “The world through Denn coloured glasses,” this book is a compilation of Canadian author Denn Guptill’s thoughts on a variety of subjects: church, sports, nature, celebrities, politics, etc.

Most of the brief readings (each less than a page) first saw print in the Bedford Community Church bulletin (Nova Scotia, Canada), where Denn was pastor at the time. A few longer ones are from his sailing column, “Aboat Time”.

Because it’s the writings of a pastor to his people (and now shared with us), there is talk of sin, grace, forgiveness… perennial Christian subjects. There is no finger-pointing or blaming, but there is a compassionate desire for all to experience the awareness of God’s grace. Sometimes that comes out in a plea for Christians to share the news of the spiritual life they’ve been given.

Since this is a collection of writings to a particular congregation over a period of years, some selections refer to old or local news. The principles still apply. Not everyone’s writings could translate to the larger audience, but Denn Guptill’s do. I think it’s because he speaks to common issues in a conversational way.

Reading The Penn of Denn is a bit like sitting with the author for tea and a friendly chat. The content isn’t heavy, but it isn’t fluff either. It’s the stuff of everyday life.

The Penn of Denn is available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Barnes and Noble. To learn more about the author and read the latest weekly instalments of The Penn, visit his blog, The Penn of Denn.

Review: The Lightning File, by Eric E. Wright

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The Lightning File, by Eric E. Wright

The Lightning File, by Eric E. Wright (Hidden Brook Press, 2007)

“My discovery of terrorist cells operating in Canada coincided with Stephanie’s request that I move out.”

And so begins journalist Joshua Radley’s harrowing adventure.

Well-liked by almost everyone at the Toronto newspaper where he works, Josh is in the boss’ bad books. He’s been spending too much time chasing a hunch about a new drug ring linked to international terrorists. With a few tenuous leads and a faceless hacker friend, Josh slowly begins to piece together some clues.

As gifted as he is with news stories, Josh isn’t so good at relationships. His wife can’t take his workaholic ways anymore and says they need time apart. All he wanted was to track down this terrorist threat before it’s too late. Now, he’s dealing with writer’s block on the stories he’s actually been assigned, a tumult of emotions over his separation, a shaky faith, and temptation in the form of a beautiful woman who shares his commute.

The Lightning File languished in my “should read” pile too long because I thought it might be traumatic. Terrorists, after all, get pretty intense. But Josh is our narrator for the whole story, and although he’s shaken by his experiences it’s not an upsetting book to read. Instead, it’s a fast-paced puzzle he’s racing to solve.

His investigations take him into nuclear power plants and other places that require a lot of detail. Author Eric E. Wright does a fine job of keeping it all understandable, although at times the volume of facts got a bit too much for me.

Perhaps it’s the weight of facts that makes me feel there’s more “telling” than “showing” in this novel, although Josh tells us a lot about his feelings too. The plot gets very complex as it progresses, but it’s all part of unravelling the mystery. And the details could come out of today’s newscasts – or tomorrow’s.

The Lightning File is a well-crafted, high-stakes novel that will appeal to men and women both. It’s the winner of the 2007 Canadian Christian Writing Award in two categories: best mystery/suspense and best independently-published book.

Canadian Eric E. Wright is the author of five non-fiction books. The Lightning File is his first novel, and his second, Captives of Minara, also featuring Josh Radley, released in November 2009. You can learn more about Eric at The Country Window site and read an interview with him at the Hot Apple Cider site.

Review: Because We Prayed, by Mary Haskett

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Because We Prayed, by Mary Haskett

Because We Prayed: Ten Considerations for Effective Prayer, by Mary Haskett (Word Alive Press, 2009)

Our troubles don’t end when we become Christians. They may even get worse. But belonging to Jesus means we’re not alone. We can pray to a living and powerful God who loves us.

In Because We Prayed, Mary Haskett looks at ten considerations for effective prayer: faith, forgiveness, not judging, the Holy Spirit, the Enemy, spiritual warfare, hope, evidence, the value of prayer, and victory in Jesus. In her own gentle style she shares key truths learned through Scripture and personal experience.

Because We Prayed is a small book, easy to read yet offering solid teaching. I took a chapter at a time so I could digest it before moving on. Each chapter finishes with three application questions for personal reflection or group discussion, and with a prayer.

This isn’t a theology text, but it’s theologically sound. It’s meant for the average reader. New Christians, seasoned pastors, and everyone in between in a variety of denominations can benefit from these brief readings. Prayer is a work to which all Christians are called. It can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be elaborate. It’s our duty—and our privilege. If it’s boring, we’re doing it wrong. And prayer works.

Let Mary Haskett challenge and encourage you to deepen your prayer relationship with God. You won’t be sorry.

Mary is the author of two non-fiction books: Reverend Mother’s Daughter and Because We Prayed. Reverend Mother’s Daughter received the Bronze IPPY Award in the 2008 International Literary Competition and was a finalist in the Life Stories category, The Word Guild of Canada National Award, 2008. You can find her online at her website and her blog. It’s been my pleasure to work and pray with Mary in The Word Guild prayer team, and I truly appreciate her gracious spirit and her sincere faith.