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Review: Gone Without a Trace, by Patricia Bradley

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Gone Without a Trace, by Patricia BradleyGone Without a Trace, by Patricia Bradley (Revell, 2015)

Homicide detective Livy Reynolds can’t depend on herself to shoot if she or her partner is in danger. Not since she killed a young robber. With the choice of a desk job or a leave of absence, she takes time off work and returns to Logan Point.

When an out of town private investigator is sent to find a missing waitress, Livy seizes the chance to help. She doesn’t trust him to do the job, and this case reminds her of her cousin Robyn’s disappearance from the same town two years ago.

What if they could find Robyn as well as the latest victim? What if Livy discovers that Alex is not only competent but charming?

Book 3 in the Logan Point series, Gone Without a Trace is a satisfying romantic suspense. Each novel features different protagonists, tightly connected and all from the same town. Not only are the stories well plotted, the characters are fully developed and the town of Logan Point feels like a real place.

I’ve enjoyed this series and I’m looking forward to what’s next from this author. For more about Patricia Bradley and her books, visit ptbradley.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: The Hero’s Lot, by Patrick W. Carr

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The Heros LotThe Hero’s Lot, by Patrick W. Carr (Bethany House, 2013)

The Staff & The Sword series needs to be read in order. And it’s worth reading without seeing the spoilers for book 1 that will appear in the following review of book 2. If you haven’t read book 1, A Cast of Stones, you can see my review here. If it appeals, pop over to your favourite internet bookstore and download the book for free in Kindle, Nook or Kobo format.

I have so many books in my to-read stash that I’d forgotten I had A Cast of Stones until a review caught my interest. It took great self-control not to immediately buy The Hero’s Lot when I finished, and this time I went ahead and bought book 3, A Draw of Kings, to read immediately after book 2. Book 3 is $9.99 Canadian. I’ll only pay that much for an exceptional ebook. This series is worth it.

Enough rambling. Here’s my review of book 2, with the aforementioned spoilers for book 1:

The Hero’s Lot continues the saga of Errol Stone, a reluctant hero who somehow survived the first book. Naturally (for Errol) just when life is looking good, he’s thrown back into danger. This time he’s sent on an impossible quest. His friends Martin and Luis are sent on another path that turns out nearly as dangerous.

The world of Illustra bears a striking similarity to a mediaeval type of Earth, and its religion echoes key elements of Christianity. Illustra’s deity is a Trinity: Deas, Eleison and the “unknowable” spirit, Aurae. Except that the healers, rejected by the official Church (definitely a capital C for this institution) say Aurae communes with them.

Illustra’s Church has many devout priests, as well as others who have done untold harm in its name. Errol knows this better than most, and his pain is almost his undoing. The characters take an honest look at the problem of hypocrisy and abuse of power within the Church, and I think readers who’ve had their own negative experiences with Christians and/or the church will find this series a safe place to be. No pat answers, no denial, but perhaps a gradual presentation of hope.

Lovers of epic fantasy, whether they’re people of faith or not, can appreciate the sweeping nature of the series, with its intricately-crafted world and cultures, characters who inspire loyalty (or enmity), chases, combat scenes, plus threads of romance and the occasional funny line.

Some of my favourite lines:

Questions chased each other through his mind like unruly acolytes playing tag before vespers. [Martin, a priest. Kindle page 58]

“I always think better when I hold a cup of tea,” Karele said. “It keeps my hands from running away with my thoughts.” [Kindle page 75]

Naaman Ru moved through opposition like a phantom, and the touch of his shadow brought death. [Part of a fight scene. Kindle page 423]

I read a lot of books, most of them very good. Sometimes it starts to feel like work. With A Cast of Stones and The Hero’s Lot, I wanted to keep reading and see what happened, but I also wanted to take it slowly so the story wouldn’t end too soon. For me, that’s rare.

It’s also worth noting that the covers for this series are amazing.

Patrick W. Carr is an award-winning author of character-driven fantasy. His new series, The Darkwater Saga, releases this fall. For more about the author or to sign up for his newsletter, visit patrickwcarr.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Desperate Measures, by Sandra Orchard

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Desperate Measures, by Sandra OrchardDesperate Measures, by Sandra Orchard (Revell, 2015)

If you haven’t read the first two novels in the Port Aster Secrets series, don’t read this review or you’ll find spoilers for those stories. Desperate Measures concludes the over-arching plot threads about the drug company that has been after Kate because of her father. It also completes the romance between Kate Adams and Detective Tom Parker.

Desperate Measures picks up where Blind Trust left off. Kate  is angry with Tom about the choices he made to protect her, and she’s back to acting on her own, hiding plants from the drug company and trying to find out what makes the plants so valuable. She becomes so invested in her project that she’ll take any kind of risk to keep working on it.

Tom, meanwhile, is trying to find a missing youth while keeping an unofficial eye on Kate. He doesn’t trust her research assistant’s boyfriend, or the shady character who’s back from book one.

This entire series is well-crafted. Deadly Devotion and Blind Trust have both won awards, and Desperate Measures is likely to continue that trend. The writing is strong, the characters complex, and the tension is high.

I did find the wrap-up a touch confusing. There were a few additional players beside the drug company and I wasn’t sure how they all fit together. I did read the ebook, so I should have used the search feature to go back and orient myself. I also found Kate’s “desperate measures” a bit trying to my patience, but her behaviour was true to her character, based on all the stress that pushed her to that point.

Sandra Orchard is an award-winning, Canadian author of Christian romantic suspense. I hope we’ll see another long-format series from her like this one. She also writes shorter novels for the Love Inspired Suspense line. For more about the author and to check out her book bonus features, visit her website: sandraorchard.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Recipe for Murder, by Lisa Harris

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Recipe for Murder, by Lisa HarrisRecipe For Murder (Cozy Crumb Mystery Series Book 1), by Lisa Harris (Lisa Harris, 2013)

When retired cooking instructor Pricilla Crumb steps in as chef at her son’s hunting lodge, she’s hoping to spend time with him and perhaps work herself into a job. Truth told, she also has matchmaking on her mind, having invited her friend Max and his single, charming daughter.

What she’s not expecting is murder.

When one of the guests dies, Pricilla involves herself in the investigation. Max appoints himself as her protector, with matchmaking ideas of his own. He needs to keep Pricilla safe long enough to discover if they have a chance at a relationship, themselves.

Pricilla is your typical, amateur sleuth, thinking she can take on a murderer. For all the mistakes she makes along the way, she does turn up information that helps solve the case.

It’s interesting to watch characters in their 60’s begin to navigate the complexities of a new relationship. We’ll have to read the rest of the series to see how Max and Pricilla tackle what will be a long-distance relationship (and she doesn’t even use email).

I found the delivery a little slow, and Pricilla would annoy me if I lived with her. She’s a kind person, though, with a concern for people’s spiritual needs as well as their physical comfort. And she’s an amazing cook.

Recipe for Murder is a cozy mystery that’s good for an easy read without a lot of tension. Sometimes that’s exactly what we need.

Award-winning Lisa Harris also writes higher-stakes romantic suspense, including her Southern Crimes series. Her website is presently under renovations but she’s still active on her blog: myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.ca. I received my ebook copy of Recipe for Murder for free by signing up for her author newsletter, which you can do on her blog. The rest of the Cozy Crumb Mystery Series is available through the regular online booksellers.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Review: Burning Justice, by Helena Smrcek

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Burning Justice, by Helena SmrcekBurning Justice, by Helena Smrcek (EverWind Press, 2015)

Nora Martin’s dream is to establish the Beacon of Hope residence as an alternative to prison or forced military service for young men who’ve been arrested. She has the government approval and the funding, but suddenly she may not have the farmhouse she leased from a church in rural Indiana.

The church assumed care of the property when its owner died. How could they have forgotten to notify the man’s heir? What else have the locals “forgotten” to mention? One thing’s sure, they know how to hold grudges.

Most of those grudges are aimed at Jake Schwartz, the farm’s heir, who arrives unexpectedly on leave from the military. Jake tells Nora and her FBI friend Alicia to stay out of his troubles, even when things escalate to violence.

How can Nora do that, when she’s in danger of losing her ministry? And how can she admit her attraction to Jake, when she takes her Mennonite pacifist beliefs seriously? For that matter, how did Jake, another Mennonite, end up in the Navy?

Burning Justice is set in the real town of French Lick, Indiana, and many of the settings sound like real places. Nora and Jake are both what I’d call expatriate Mennonites, keeping their faith but cut off from traditional communities. Jake, who looks to have compromised his beliefs, is more connected to God than Nora, who’s crushed by guilt over advice she gave in her previous career as a social worker.

Favourite lines:

Sometimes we are our own biggest obstacles in our walk toward God’s will. (Miriam, a young Mennonite mother, to Nora, Kindle location 2436)

For some reason, you seem to think that by clutching the steering wheel, you can change the direction of the road. (Jake to Nora, Kindle location 3100)

My only issue with this novel is the ending. It provides a satisfying fictional wrap-up, but in the real world I think the characters would be setting themselves up for trouble. I can’t give more details without giving spoilers, but I wouldn’t want an impressionable reader to follow this example.

Burning Justice is the first book in the Alicia Yu series. This is Nora’s story, but Alicia is an intriguing support character. I look forward to seeing what action she gets into in the next books: Glitter of Sorrow and Color of Money.

Helena Smrcek’s debut novel is a fast read laced with danger and romance and steeped in small-town secrets. For more about the author, visit her Goodreads page, and to read a sample chapter, visit her website. Burning Justice is currently free for Kobo. Amazon and the other online retailers will follow shortly.

[Advance review copy provided by the author.]

Review: The King James Murders, by Linda Hall

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The King James Murders, by Linda HallThe King James Murders, by Linda Hall (Linda Hall, 2015)

Teri Blake-Addison is a former cop turned private investigator. When she accepts an assignment to locate a missing woman, she has no idea how closely it will tie in with the case that made her quit the police force: the one the media dubbed “The King James Murders.”

The missing woman, Kim Shock, is the sister of Barry Shock, who murdered four teenage girls before killing himself. Kim had moved on from her brother’s death, and become a lawyer. Kim’s friend, Glynis, hasn’t heard from her since she went away with a man she met online.

While Teri investigates, Glynis is falling for the leader of an online ministry. Readers can see how manipulative he is, but Glynis sees only what she wants to see.

Along with a well-constructed mystery, we have the story of Glynis: will she pierce the deception, and will she discover her potential or draw even further into her online world? We also have Teri, her older husband, and her struggle to find a place in his world.

I always enjoy Linda Hall’s mysteries. Her characters and descriptions make them feel real. The King James Murders is an updated version of her previous novel, Chat Room, reflecting the changes to online communication since the first version was published in 2003.

This is book 2 in the Teri Blake-Addison Mysteries series. Book 1 is Steal Away, and while you don’t need to read it to appreciate The King James Murders, it’s also a good read.

Linda Hall is an award-winning author whose novels often feature a connection to the sea. She has written a number of Christian suspense stories and has recently published a mainstream mystery, Night Watch, book 1 in the Em Ridge Mystery series. For more about Linda Hall and her novels, visit writerhall.com.

[Review copy provided by the author.]

Review: Inner Sanctum, by Darlene Oakley

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Inner Sanctum, by Darlene OakleyInner Sanctum, by Darlene Oakley (Lanico Media House, 2014)

In the mid 2100’s, with a global war raging, underground cities were established as refuges. The plan was to assess the inhabitants’ health at the 50-year mark and then seal them in until those on the surface considered it safe to bring them back.

Around 400 years after its founding, Aurora Cassle and her childhood friend, Den Maron, hold responsible positions in the underground city of Egerton. Aurora’s discovery that the population is declining in numbers and in health coincides with the finding of the forgotten door to the surface.

The mayor insists all citizens must remain in Egerton. Aurora and Den lead those who defy him through the doorway. Aurora’s and Den’s marriages have both ended by this point, and their childhood attraction revives during their early days on the surface.

I found the plot an interesting concept, very well thought-out and researched, especially in terms of how a colony could survive and what medical effects could manifest over generations. The first half of the novel takes place underground, the second on what the people begin to call New World Earth. It’s interesting to watch them rediscover, rebuild and work together.

In terms of story delivery, I couldn’t really engage with the characters. Everything felt a bit distant, except for a few disturbingly sensual encounters between Aurora and Den in the second half. That said, Inner Sanctum is a clean read, and there’s a Judeo-Christian faith element in the latter part as Aurora discovers records of the Old World Earth religions and finds parallels between the Egertonians’ journey and the Israelites of the Old Testament.

I love the cover.

Inner Sanctum is Canadian author Darlene Oakley’s first novel, although she has a long track record behind the scenes as an editor. For more about the author, visit Dar’s Corrections.

[Review copy provided by the publisher.]

Review: The Icarus Hunt, by Timothy Zahn

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The Icarus Hunt, by Timothy ZahnThe Icarus Hunt, by Timothy Zahn (Bantam Spectra, 1999)

This is one of those novels that I loved on a first read and appreciate just as much (if not more) on subsequent visits when I can watch the hints and clues drop into place.

If Alistair MacLean were to have written a space thriller, it might look like this. Twists, turns, people who aren’t what they seem, and a protagonist I somehow trusted from page one even though his resume testified against him. (That might have had something to do with the way he dispatched three large, hairy aliens who picked a fight with him in a seedy spaceport tavern.)

Jordan McKell and his partner, Ixil, smuggle drugs for an interstellar cartel. (I’m very fond of Ixil, the alien with the two symbiotic, ferret-like “outriders.”)

The thing about McKell? You can’t stop him. So despite his unsavoury life, when he’s hired to lead a mismatched band of strangers flying a bizarre-looking ship across the galaxy to Earth, you know that somehow he’ll get it done. Despite increasingly strong opposition.

The Icarus Hunt is a chase. It’s also a puzzle, as McKell and his crew try to find out what makes this ungainly ship such a hot commodity.

This is a mainstream novel containing minor profanity, but otherwise what I’d class as a clean read. There’s violence, but it’s more punching or shooting than bleeding or screaming.

Timothy Zahn is my favourite science fiction author, and The Icarus Hunt may be my favourite of his stand-alone titles. He’s written over 40 novels, including some of the best ones in the Star Wars expanded universe, as well as numerous shorter stories. Along the way he’s won a Hugo Award and become a New York Times bestselling author.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Writing the Heart of Your Story, by C.S. Lakin

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Writing the Heart of Your Story, by C.S. LakinWriting the Heart of your Story, by C.S. Lakin (Ubiquitous Press, 2014)

What transforms a novel from a good read to one that lingers in readers’ imaginations? C.S. Lakin suggests the key is finding—and writing—the story’s heart. Finding it, she says, requires seeing the big picture, or some level of pre-writing discovery. Once a writer has found this connection point, he/she is in a strong position to weave it through the whole story.

Sections of the book focus on the heart of the story, of the characters, and of the plot, with extra sections on scenes and settings. Each chapter ends with a “think about” assignment, which turns this already-helpful book into a personalized writing course. Most assignments send writers back to their own favourite books to observe how those authors succeeded, and then challenge us to re-evaluate our own work.

If you’re a die-hard seat-of-the-pants writer, you may not value the book as much as I do, but you’ll likely find some things to help in your revision stages. C.S. Lakin is an unapologetic advocate of pre-planning, using the analogy of a mine: if you’re digging for the heart of your story, it makes sense to stabilize the tunnel so it won’t collapse.

I’ve done a prodigious amount of highlighting in this book, and it’s one I’ll go back to again and again to deepen my understanding. My first reading taught me things I’ve been able to apply immediately, and taking time to do the homework will build on that.

C.S. Lakin is a novelist and writing coach. Writing the Heart of your Story is one of her Writers’ Toolbox books, compiling a year’s worth of teaching on her Live Write Thrive blog. It’s available in multiple ebook formats as well as in print.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Shadow of a Butterfly, by J.A. Menzies

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Shadow of a Butterfly, by J.A. MenziesShadow of a Butterfly, by J.A. Menzies (MurderWillOut Mysteries, 2015)

In typical Golden-Age mystery style, J.A. Menzies creates a tapestry of well-formed characters whose interplay offers – and masks – motive and opportunity for murder. The dynamics between old-school detective Paul Manziuk and his much younger partner, Jaquie Ryan, add another satisfying layer.

The murder takes place in an upscale apartment complex for senior citizens, making everyone on that floor of the building a potential suspect. The novel includes a list of characters for helpful reference, as well as a floor plan.

I’m one of the many readers who’ve been looking forward to a new Manziuk and Ryan Mystery, and Shadow of a Butterfly does not disappoint. The title is significant on two levels, but you’ll have to read the novel to find out why.

Favourite quotes:

… their appearance bore no similarities beyond the fact that each was dressed in the manner she felt most likely to intimidate the other. [Kindle Advance Review Copy location 169]

… when we begin, we only have our dreams. If we could see the sacrifices and struggles ahead, how many of us would set foot on the path to reach those dreams? (Hilary Brooks) [Kindle Advance Review Copy location 2669]

J.A. Menzies is the alter-ego of Canadian author N.J. Lindquist. Shadow of a Butterfly is book 3 in the series. If you haven’t read book 1, Shaded Light, it’s available for free on all ebook platforms. For more about the author and her books, visit jamenzies.com.

[Review copy provided by the publisher.]