Tag Archives: book reviews

Review: The Realms Thereunder, by Ross Lawhead

3 Replies

The Realms Thereunder - cover artThe Realms Thereunder, by Ross Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, 2011)

The Realms Thereunder is a fun ride. Eight years ago, 13-year-olds Daniel and Freya discovered an underground world with sleeping knights and dangerous creatures. Today, Daniel lives on the streets of Oxford, England, and Freya is a university student there. And the lines between the visible and hidden world are blurring.

The novel tells both stories, in scenes clearly labelled “eight years before” and “now,” and it held my interest from the very beginning. The plot is complex but understandable, Daniel and Freya are real characters with real issues and neuroses (Daniel’s home life scarred him, and Freya hasn’t recovered from her first experience underground.)

There’s some delightfully understated humour, like Daniel’s reaction to a stone he’s supposed to put in his mouth, and there are mythical and disturbing creatures of all kinds. (Love the conversation about how to dispose of dead trolls in present-day UK.)

Naturally, most people around Daniel and Freya deny the encroaching danger, but there are a few who don’t: Scottish police officer Alex Simpson and the mysterious Oxford-based group, the Society of Concerned Individuals.

The Sleeping Knights (once awake) and their people use archaic names and titles, complete with some ancient letters that I can’t reproduce on this blog. The author is careful to have Daniel or Freya pronounce the key words phonetically the first time so readers can do the same. And there’s a pronunciation key at the back of the book if needed.

I applaud the publisher for allowing at least some of British spellings in the novel (they wimp out on manoeuvred and go for maneuvered). Words like honour, armour, colour, are a subtle way to remind readers that we’re in England. As a Canadian, I hope this is precedent for novels set in Canada.

On the other hand, this intricately-plotted story would have benefited from more careful polishing and copy-editing. We see a horse’s reigns and a creature trying to wretch, and a character exalt at the prospect of adventure, all simple spell-check issues. And there’s text with repeated words or phrases (“find purchase” three times close together) that a quick polish would fix.

These are minor things and hardly worth mention for most readers, but they’re evidence of a disturbing trend as even the big-league publishers find themselves with more work than time to do it.

The Realms Thereunder is Ross Lawhead’s first novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it, quickly passed it on to my son, and am looking forward to the next in the series, The Fearful Gates, available September 2012.

Click to read an excerpt of The Realms Therunder, and you can learn more about Ross Lawhead at his blog.

[Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson] 

Review: Over the Edge, by Brandilyn Collins

Leave a reply

Over the Edge coverOver the Edge, by Brandilyn Collins (B&H Publishing Group, 2011)

What if a man who watched his wife die of Lyme disease decided his best revenge was to infect the wives and children of the doctors and researchers who’ve convinced the insurance companies that there’s no such thing as chronic Lyme?

He starts with Jannie McNeil, wife of Dr. Brock McNeil, who is one of the loudest voices denying chronic Lyme. Her symptoms hospitalize her, but the standard Lyme test comes back negative. Her husband accuses her of faking, as if she’d make this up to discredit him.

An anonymous phone call tells her to convince Brock to recant his position on Lyme—or her nine-year-old daughter will be the next victim. Brock pulls farther away and thinks she made up the mystery caller too.

Over the Edge is a fast, compelling read. Jannie is a likeable and multi-layered character who’s trying to find out what’s happening to her, keep her family together, and protect her daughter.

What she (and readers) learn about the “Lyme wars” screams of injustice and wilful blindness on the part of traditional medical experts who stand to lose both face and funds if the true extent of Lyme were acknowledged.

I’m thankful not to have Lyme, but I’ve read enough from people who’ve experienced it to place myself on their side of the controversy. The author herself is a Lyme survivor and knows what she’s talking about.

But this isn’t an in-your-face, prove-my-point, sensationalist novel. It’s excellent suspense fiction with a heart-catching subplot about Jannie’s crumbling family relationships.

Jannie’s troubles bring her to a major crisis of faith, and she realizes she has a choice: to turn away from God or to praise Him despite her pain. Her decision to praise—in defiance of the circumstances—resonated with me from the times I’ve made that same hard choice.

The scope of the novel doesn’t allow readers to see how some of the loose ends weave in after the end, specifically Jannie’s relationship with her mother, and any repercussions from Brock’s research.

To read more about Over the Edge and to view the trailer, click here. To read an excerpt, click here. The book includes a discussion guide as well as extra Lyme information and resources. There’s also an online community at Lyme Over the Edge, where Lyme sufferers can share their stories.

You can learn more about award-winning suspense novelist Brandilyn Collins, her other books, and her own Lyme experience at her website, Seatbelt Suspense®.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Shadowed in Silk, by Christine Lindsay

2 Replies

Shadowed in Silk, by Christine Lindsay (WhiteFire Publishing, 2011)

It’s December, 1918. The war in Europe is over, and Abby Fraser sails from England to India to join her officer husband, Nick. She hasn’t seen him in four years, and he’s never met their son, Cam.

The ship docks in Bombay, but Nick isn’t there to meet them. Major Geoff Richards took a fancy to young Cam on the ship and his proper British chivalry insists he assist the stranded mother and son on the train ride to reach their home.

Geoff introduces Abby to Miriam, an Indian Christian whose loving ways make her an immediate friend.

Nick has been happily living the single life and his wife and child cramp his style. His military performance is slipping and his career is at risk. Geoff, himself a widower, keeps an eye on the family in concern but also in the line of duty: he’s been assigned to uncover the Russian spy said to be among the officers.

Shadowed in Silk is a richly evocative tale set in the closing days of British rule in India. We see the elegant lifestyles of the British officers and their wives (flirting is an unofficial sport, but don’t get caught), and the second-class treatment of the Indian nationals.

Geoff is one of the few officers who are not only troubled by the double standards but who see a revolution in the near future if things don’t change. It’s one of the attributes he shares with Abby, who considers all people equal no matter their ethnicity.

There are so many layers to this novel: romance, relationships, culture, faith, social justice, intrigue and danger. And it’s set at a point in history when Ghandi’s teaching of peaceful revolution was gaining influence but others wanted to light a fire.

I’m not familiar with historical novels from this time and place, but Christine Lindsay has done an excellent job of crafting a setting that comes alive to the novice. From what I’ve heard of her research, history buffs will find it accurate. The novel has been compared to M.M. Kaye’s Far Pavilions, which I may now have to check out.

Shadowed in Silk released earlier in 2011 as an ebook (eBookIt! and Amazon) and is now available in print through Amazon and your local bookstores. The unpublished manuscript was a Gold winner of  the 2009 ACFW Genesis Contest for Historical. You can read the opening chapter or another sample scene from later in the book.

Christine Lindsay is a Canadian author of Irish descent. You can find her at her website and her blog. If you missed the interview with the characters from Shadowed in Silk, be sure to check it out. These are good fictional people to spend some time with. Here’s the book trailer for Shadowed in Silk.

[Review copy provided by the author in exchange for a fair review.]

Review: Abundant Rain, by Marcia Lee Laycock

Leave a reply

Abundant Rain, by Marcia Lee Laycock (Smashwords, 2011)

The subtitle of this ebook is “Inspiring words for writers of faith.” It’s an 110-page collection of short pieces designed to encourage and sustain writers (and perhaps to help their loved ones understand them).

The articles in this collection have appeared as Marcia’s weekly devotional posts on the popular Novel Journey blog.

Topics cover perseverance, pride, writing about life’s ugly bits and hard questions, self-promotion versus bragging, art and perfectionism, praising God, and what happens when we compare ourselves with other writers.

One of the selections, “Little Songs,” particularly warmed my heart. In it, Marcia describes a string of emails in an online writing group, all on the theme of “whatever our circumstances, bless the Lord.” I’m part of the same group—InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship—and I remember that conversation thread well. In fact, one of the quoted prayers may well be mine.

Writers, like any other group of people following a particular passion, are a misunderstood lot. It takes one of our own to know which words will encourage us. Abundant Rain is a book designed to bless writers. It’s one to read and then read again, in small sections, as needed.

Look for the free ebook, “A Small Patch of Blue,” on the author’s Smashwords profile page if you’d like to preview an excerpt from Abundant Rain. Abundant Rain is available from Smashwords in various ebook formats.

Marcia Lee Laycock is an award-winning Canadian author of non-fiction and fiction. Her work has been published in numerous anthologies (most recently in A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider) and she has written two devotional compilations, Spur of the Moment and Focused Reflections, as well as the novel One Smooth Stone. A Tumbled Stone, the novel’s sequel, is due to release soon.

Marcia can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and on her website, which also has links to her various blog presences.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Chasing the Wind, by Robert White

Leave a reply

Chasing the Wind, by Robert White (Word Alive Press, 2011)

This attractive gift book is subtitled “Finding Meaningful Answers from Ancient Wisdom,” and it’s a look at the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.

What does a small book written hundreds of years ago have to do with us today? Author Robert White says it looks at a lot of the same issues we face now:

“… the meaninglessness of wisdom, wishes and work; the futility—or chasing the wind—of desire and deeds; and the eternal and temporal curses and joys of toil, treasures and termination. As pessimistic as Ecclesiastes seems, the Teacher leaves us with hope. Only once we’ve chased after the wind and become weary of the meaninglessness found under the sun do we come to the end of the matter.” (p. 10)

The end of the matter, in the words of Ecclesiastes, is to “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” Ecclesiastes 12:13b, NIV*.

As such, the book takes an honest look at some of our questions and struggles, and works them through to a perspective that seeks God first.

Chasing the Wind is a short book, only 100 pages long, and it’s an easy read. I appreciated the references to the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, and I loved the way Robert illustrated Ecclesiastes’ “all is meaningless” lament with a quote from the original Star Trek series. (Bonus for geek readers!)

This is a book for readers of all ages and experiences (the Star Trek illustration is explained, so everyone will get it). Each short chapter ends with a handful of questions for personal reflection. The aim is to leave us with a perspective of hope and a focus on God rather than on self.

The unpublished manuscript of Chasing the Wind won the Word Alive Press 2010 publishing contest in the non-fiction category, and was published in March 2011.

Robert White is the editor of ChristianWeek Ontario and writes the “A Matter of Faith” column in the Guelph Mercury. You can find Robert on the Great Canadian Authors site, or watch his interview on 100 Huntley Street: part 1 and part 2.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

*THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Review: Save the Date, by Jenny B. Jones

2 Replies

Save the Date, by Jenny B. Jones (Thomas Nelson, 2011)

Lucy Wiltshire runs a Saving Grace, a non-profit home for 18- and 19-year-old young women who’ve aged out of the foster care system and might otherwise be on the streets. The daughter of a cleaning lady, she feels more in common with these girls than with the affluent Charleston society members on whom she depends for donations.

Her desperate attempt to reverse a major funding cut ends in disaster—and with only one option to keep a roof over her girls’ heads: pose as wealthy Alex Sinclair’s love interest. Alex is a former football star who’s running for Congress, and dating a hometown girl like Lucy is just what he needs to improve his image.

The fake-engagement plot is nothing new, but author Jenny B. Jones keeps it fresh and adds other layers of story. Alex and Lucy sign a five-month agreement and plan to quietly “break up” after the election. She thinks he’s shallow and arrogant. He doesn’t want a long-term commitment this early in his career.

But Lucy begins to discover the good in Alex, and the approaching breakup adds to her stress. And stress there is. The girls’ home is saved, thanks to Alex’s money, but the girls still need care and Lucy’s on a crash course to learn enough about politics and high society to stand by “her” man in his campaign. Her mentor’s trying to re-make her, the paparazzi haunt her, and worst of all is the truth she learns about her father.

In the middle of high-society Charleston and US congressional politics (neither of which are big draws for this middle-class Canadian) Lucy is a delightful character. Spunky, quirky, and with a tendency to break something when she’s embarrassed, she’s unpretentious and fun. And she’s into Star Wars, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings. A bonus, for me.

She’s also a Christian, and her friends don’t think lying about a relationship with Alex is God’s way of providing for Saving Grace. But they stand by her, and she makes some surprising new friends along the way.

Save the Date is a heart-warming read complete with witty verbal sparring between Lucy and Alex. These two feel like real people and I genuinely cared about what would happen to them. There are some colourful support characters that add to the fun.

It’s also a novel that takes a serious look at insecurity and poor self-image. Jenny B. Jones is too good a writer to turn the novel into anything heavy-handed, but what Lucy and Alex learn, we can learn right along with them.

These deep insights are part of what I appreciate in her adult novels. Her previous one, Just Between You and Me, deals with fear, and I count it among the handful of life-changing fictional stories I’ve read. Based on that, as soon as I heard this new novel was in the works, I “saved the date,” and this book is every bit as good as the first.

Jenny B. Jones is best known for her young adults’ “Charmed Life” series, which are good fun for adults as well. She has a new young adult novel, There You’ll Find Me, coming out in October 2011. You can find Jenny at her website and her blog. (You may also want to see my review of Just Between You and Me.)

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Choices of One, by Timothy Zahn

Leave a reply

Choices of One, by Timothy Zahn (Del Rey, 2011)

Masterful storytelling, complete with multiple plot lines and one of Timothy Zahn’s signature plot twists… and a spectacular climax that had me cheering out loud.

Choices of One has a cast that includes Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Mara Jade and Thrawn, and it takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

It can’t be easy to write about established characters whose future has already been mapped in other novels (the Star Wars series now extends forty-plus years past A New Hope). The writer has to be true to who the characters are at that point in the timeline, and not do anything that will rewrite their future. To add to the challenge, Timothy Zahn brings characters who can’t meet yet into very close proximity – and pulls it off in style.

Only Thrawn can make me cheer for the Empire (well, for his section anyway) and that’s because Timothy Zahn knows how to create good characters working in their own corners of a bad structure. Thrawn knows the Empire is corrupted, but from his perspective, it’s still the best option out there for galactic stability. Instead of sweating what he can’t control, Thrawn handles his own sphere of influence with justice and fairness.

Hugo-Award-winning Timothy Zahn is my favourite author. The Random House site says he’s “one of science fiction’s most popular voices, known for pitting realistic human characters against a well-researched background of future science and technology.” This may be the best of the Star Wars books he’s written to date, and I’ve enjoyed them all.

Along with his Star Wars and Terminator novels, he’s written somewhere around 30 other satisfying science-fiction novels. For me, it’s been worth hunting down the out of print ones from his early days. I’ve previously posted reviews of Conquerors’ Pride, Conquerors’ Heritage and Conquerors’ Legacy. Recent titles include the Cobra Wars and Quadrail series.

Choices of One is a sequel to his novel Allegiance, and although you don’t have to read them in order there will otherwise be spoilers. Here’s an interesting recent interview with Timothy Zahn. If you need more convincing, here’s an excerpt from Choices of One.

[Review copy from my personal library, and worth every penny of the hardcover price.]

Review: Pattern of Wounds, by J. Mark Bertrand

2 Replies

Pattern of Wounds, by J. Mark Bertrand (Bethany House, 2011)

Detective Roland March is called to a Houston murder scene that’s eerily similar to his first big case, which was sensationalized in a true crime book. That killer’s in prison, but could someone have used the photos from the book as a pattern? Even worse, is the wrong man behind bars?

March follows up on every angle, but he also trusts his instincts. In his own words:

“The thing about instinct is, you follow without knowing where it’ll take you. You can’t explain why, and along the way nothing adds up, making you look like a fool. But working homicide, looking like a fool goes with the territory. That’s the job: getting it wrong until you finally get it right.” (p. 58-59)

As the story progresses, there’s a lot of getting it wrong before March finally gets it right. He blames others for allowing their biases to blind them to what he sees, but events make him question his own blind spots.

This book grabbed me on page one and kept me reading. Author J. Mark Bertrand has a tight, satisfying delivery and uses some strong visual imagery. Here’s an example where a character’s been asked a question: “He puts the photo down and leans back, checking the ceiling like his memories are kept up there.” (p. 312)

The story is told in the first person, which works well for a detective novel, and in the present tense, which doesn’t work so well for me except in chick lit. It’s probably intended to convey immediacy, but I find it a bit disconcerting.

Pattern of Wounds is put out by a Christian publisher, but it should please any lover of detective fiction. March himself has seen too much, lost too much, to find comfort in the faith in which he was raised. His wife, Charlotte, attends church without him, and he feels like she’s growing apart from him.

This is the second Roland March mystery (the first was Back on Murder) and while you don’t have to read them in order it’s a good idea. March is a richly complex character who changes over the course of the stories. I found it easy to care about him and Charlotte and their friends. I certainly hope there’ll be a book 3.

You can read the opening chapter of Pattern of Wounds on the Bethany House site and read an interview with J. Mark Bertrand as well. For something a little different, you can read a fictional interview with the Brad Templeton, the character who wrote the true crime book based on March’s famous case, The Kingwood Killing.

For a limited time, book 1, Back on Murder, is available for free as an eBook through Christian Book Distributors and in Kindle, Nook and Kobo formats.

You can learn more about J. Mark Bertrand and his books at his website and at his blog, Crime Genre.

[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: Falls Like Lightning, by Shawn Grady

Leave a reply

Falls Like Lightning, by Shawn Grady (Bethany House, 2010)

Falls Like Lightning opens with smokejumper Silas Kent and his team parachuting into the path of a forest fire to save an injured man. We follow Silas for a few chapters and leave him in an even more dangerous position. The focus shifts to introduce Elle Westmore, who pilots one of the smokejumper planes. As if Elle didn’t have enough struggles as a single mom, her young daughter, Madison, is subject to unexplained seizures.

The novel’s opening chapters do a great job of bringing these characters to life and into our hearts. Silas and Elle haven’t seen each other since he ran out on their relationship seven years ago. Now a massive forest fire in California throws them back together.

The danger and romantic tension would be enough to make this a good read, but it gets better: One jump team is after a cache of gold in the fire’s path—and the flames will destroy evidence of any “accidental” deaths if anyone tries to cross them.

Author Shawn Grady gives readers an insider’s look at this specialized form of fire-fighting. Details of equipment and terminology arise naturally as events unfold, sparing us the dreaded “information dump” or the confusion of too much information. I could really imagine myself in the scene.

Like action novels? This one’s for you. Like emotional tension? It’s for you, too. Not only do Silas and Elle have unresolved baggage from their past relationship, they each have their individual issues they’re working through.

I enjoyed Falls Like Lightning, and the characters kept coming back to me when life interrupted my reading. You can read the opening chapter (scroll down that page) and a brief interview with the author.

Shawn Grady has served for more than a decade as a firefighter and paramedic in Reno, NV, where he lives with his wife and three children. Named the “Most Promising Writer” at the 2008 Mt. Hermon Writers Conference, he is the author of Through the Fire, Tomorrow We Die, and Falls Like Lightning. Visit his website at shawngradybooks.com.

[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 Kingdom, by Benjamin T. Collier

2 Replies

The Kingdom, by Benjamin T. Collier (Word Alive Press, 2011)

The Kingdom is a short novella, under 100 pages, but it pulls readers into an intriguing fantasy world of kingdoms, knights, princesses and mythical flying beasts.

The story draws on classic fantasy and fairy tale elements such as the princess enduring endless presentations from eligible-but-boring suitors, the corrupt steward ruling in the good king’s absence, the strong hero and his fantastic animal companion (in this case, a dragon-like creature called a wyvern).

One of the twists: the “strong hero” might be considered a villain. And Princess Nevaeh is no damsel in distress. She’s a strong young woman looking for a partner, not a rescuer.

Nevaeh and the villain/hero, Roy, are each looking for someone who’ll love them for who they are—and neither is looking for a person like the other. Behind the romance is another kind of love and trust as Nevaeh waits confidently for her father, the good king, to return as promised, when the rest of the kingdom considers him lost at sea.

Canadian author Benjamin T. Collier writes with vivid description and humour. In contrast with epic fantasy and its multiple plot threads, he keeps a tight focus on Nevaeh’s story. The world he’s envisioned could support a more complex weaving of plots, and if he decides to revisit it in the future there would be plenty to explore.

You can find Benjamin at his blog, and you might want to check out my interview with him.