Tag Archives: suspense

Review: Breach of Trust, by DiAnn Mills

Breach of Trust, by DiAnn Mills (Tyndale House, 2009)

Paige Rogers is an ex-CIA operative forced undercover in the small town of Split Creek, Oklahoma. Her last mission nearly killed her. It did kill the rest of her team—except for the man who betrayed them, Daniel Keary.

Now Keary is poised to win state governorship, and his ambitions don’t stop there. Will Paige put her loved ones in danger for one last chance to expose him…for the good of her country?

Miles Laird is the high school football coach, and it takes all Paige’s self-control not to return the affection he can’t hide. But if he knew who she really was, what she’d done in the line of duty, she’d lose him.

After quitting the CIA Paige became a Christian. Even as she considers reactivating, she wrestles with the morality of her past actions in the line of duty. How can deceit and righteous living co-exist?

I took a while to get into the novel. It flows nicely in third-person past-tense, but Keary’s brief sections are first-person present-tense. It may underscore Keary’s sense of ruthless power, but I always find these shifts throw me out of the story. Once I got used to it, the novel was hard to put down.

Breach of Trust is book one in the Call of Duty series, and winner of both a 2010 Christy Award winner and a 2010 Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Book two, Breach of Security, released in the spring of 2010. On the Breach of Trust page on DiAnn Mills’ site you’ll find links to the video trailer and to an excerpt of the novel. Click here for discussion questions.

DiAnn Mills is an award-winning author of more than 15 novels. Visit her website to learn more about DiAnn and her books: historical fiction, contemporary fiction and non-fiction.

[review copy from my personal library]

Review: Deceit, by Brandilyn Collins

Deceit, by Brandilyn Collins (Zondervan, 2010)

Some evil shouts from rooftops, some scuttles in the dark. The greatest evil tips its face toward light with shining innocence.

Baxter Jackson shone with the worst of them. (p. 15)

Brilliant opening words for a suspense novel! These are the angry thoughts of Joanne Weeks, whose best friend Linda was Baxter’s first wife. Now his second wife is dead too, and Joanne believes he killed them both.

Problem is, Baxter is larger than life in the small California town of Vonita. He’s rich, successful, admired by all except Joanne. He’s even head elder of their church.

But Joanne knows Baxter abused Linda, even if the rest of the town—chief of police included—thinks he’s a model citizen.

A frightening encounter with a hooded man (see the book cover) gives Joanne a new mission: find Melissa, the teenaged foster child who was living with the Jacksons at the time of Linda’s death. “HM,” as Joanne calls the man, says Melissa knows where Baxter buried the body.

Joanne is a professional skip tracer, making her living by finding people who don’t want to be found. But can she find Melissa and convince her to talk before Baxter learns what Joanne’s up to—and stops her permanently?

Joanne’s part of the story is told in first person and alternates with Melissa’s from six years earlier. Melissa’s scenes are told in the third person.

The first-/third-person switch works for me in the novel because it makes a clear break between present and past. As the two plots play out, with occasional third-person scenes from an unidentified man who’s keeping tabs on Joanne, there are some unexpected twists along the way.

In her typical Seatbelt Suspense® style, Brandilyn Collins gives us a wild ride from the opening pages. I’ve read enough of her novels now to trust her delivery: she may scare me, but she won’t traumatize me with explicit scenes.

A big part of what makes her novels bestsellers is the characters: they’re real, with thoughts, experiences and motivations that make sense—and that drive the plot to come out the way it does.

Brandilyn explains some of how she does this in her non-fiction book for writers, Getting Into Character. It’s harder than it looks!

Deceit is the perfect name for this book. It seems like everyone’s lying, even Joanne, whose job sometimes involves gaining information under false pretences. She hasn’t thought anything of it until Melissa demands, “Is that what the Bible says—don’t lie except when you ‘have to’?” (p.186)

If she can stay alive long enough to see Baxter behind bars, Joanne knows she needs to think about Melissa’s accusation. For readers interested in this and other thought-provoking questions, see the discussion guide for Deceit.

You can read an excerpt from Deceit and learn more about the author and her other books at the Brandilyn Collins website. Brandilyn also blogs at Forensics and Faith.

Her next suspense novel, Over the Edge, releases May 2011. You can read a teaser for Over the Edge here. The plot is based on Lyme Disease, and Brandilyn says it’s the novel she was “made to write”. (Her Lyme-Over the Edge blog says, “Brandilyn was struck with Lyme in 2002. She was miraculously healed in 2003 and was completely well for six years. The year 2009 brought a reinfection, which she is managing to keep under control.”) Lyme-Over the Edge is a place for people to share their own experiences with Lyme Disease.

[Book from my own collection.]

Review: The Constantine Conspiracy

The Constantine Conspiracy, by Gary E. Parker (Revell, 2010)

Wealthy, freewheeling bachelor Rick Carson’s annual retreat with his father turns into disaster when the elder Carson is found dead. Only a skilled assassin could have penetrated their security system, so the evidence points to an inside job—perhaps to Rick himself.

The Carson ranch backs onto a national park, and Ranger Shannon Bridge is dispatched to the site until the police can arrive.

Rick can’t risk being detained as a suspect. Instinct tells him if he doesn’t find his father’s killer fast, nobody ever will. He flees out the back door as the police knock on the front.

Believing him to be innocent, Shannon lets him go and offers her help if he’ll trust her.

Meanwhile, at various points across the US, individuals hired by a man matching the assassin’s description commit often-violent social activism, each one claiming to do it in the name of Jesus.

Rick and Shannon are players caught up in a conspiracy of powerful allies united against what they perceive as their greatest threat: Christianity.

The plot is cleverly constructed, and with a subject matter that could come from present-day headlines it should attract plenty of readers.

I prefer a deeper third-person point of view, where the reader develops a stronger emotional connection to the characters. Gary E. Parker uses a distant third-person narration, or perhaps it’s a masterfully-done omniscient. It feels more impersonal, but it’s probably an attribute of the conspiracy-intrigue genre.

The actions and settings work well in the “show-don’t-tell” convention, but to me the thoughts and emotions felt “told, not shown”. Instead of reading that Rick or Shannon was unsure, curious etc, I wanted to see it in their speech and actions.

The novel does have some very strong lines, like the description of Shannon moving “like a woman accustomed to going places and not afraid to arrive.” (page 106)

What bothered me most was the frequent dangling of hidden information. When we meet Shannon we’re told she has a deeper mission behind the park ranger role: a mission she doesn’t know when will begin or end, and one she fears and yet hopes for.

It would have worked better to let us meet her as a ranger and discover the rest on a need-to-know basis.

Readers should be intrigued by the hints instead of resentful about being kept out of the know. Shannon is the biggest example of this, but even minor bits of information feel like jealously-guarded things instead of like nuggets doled out as needed.

I also had trouble with the Carter ranch’s high-tech voice-recognition controls. It’s great to have a computer that turns on your lights and preheats your shower on command, but how does it know when you want your words transmitted over the intercom—and to whom—and when you’re having a private conversation?

The spiritual thread is done well. Shannon takes her Christianity seriously, and Rick has been brought up to hold it in contempt. As the attraction between them grows, the faith issue seems insurmountable. Unlike some novels, the author treats both characters’ views with respect and makes no attempt to force Rick into a quick conversion so the couple can get married on the final page.

After a wild ride, the novel comes to a satisfying finish that leaves room for a sequel. Suffice to say there’s still a significant threat to Rick’s and Shannon’s lives, and they reach a tentative truce on the faith issue. If you like conspiracy theories and fast-paced intrigue, this one’s for you.

American author Gary E. Parker is multi-published in fiction and non-fiction. You can read the first chapter of The Constantine Conspiracy here.

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

Review: Forget Me Not, by Vicki Hinze

Forget Me Not, by Vicki Hinze (WaterBrook-Multnomah, 2010)

She’s been running from her enemies for three years. As the story opens, readers don’t know her name, but we see her attacked by two separate groups in New Orleans.

When she wakes, bruised and abandoned, in Florida, she can’t remember her identity. Her only clue is a card in her pocket with Crossroads Crisis Center on one side and the name “Susan” written on the other.

She’s taken to Crossroads, and that’s when things get complicated.

The mystery woman looks like Crossroads’ director Ben Brandt’s murdered wife—whose name was Susan, and whose cross this woman found in her pocket and is now wearing.

As upset as Ben  is, he realizes that he and this stranger must work together for her safety as well as to find the answers he desperately needs.

With so many unknowns, and what looked like a complex cast of villains, I found it hard to get my head around the book at first. I kept reading out of concern for the heroine and because I trusted veteran author Vicki Hinze to deliver a suspenseful novel that would bring all the pieces together in the end.

The pieces do come together, and the network of villains is indeed complex. “Susan” and Ben are strong, complex characters. She doesn’t know who she is, but she’s sure Whose she is. He knows his identity but walked away from faith when his wife and son were killed. And in the midst of the danger and unknowns, they may be falling in love.

Vicki Hinze has written 23 novels and 3 non-fiction books in the general market. Forget Me Not is her first “faith-affirming romantic thriller, and she handily earns a spot at the top of my suspense list with Brandilyn Collins. Her next novel in the Crossroads Crisis Center series is Deadly Ties, coming February, 2011.

You can read the first chapter of Forget Me Not,  and learn more about award-winning author Vicki Hinze at her website. Check out an in-depth interview with Vicki Hinze at Nora St. Laurent’s Finding Hope Through Fiction blog.

Here’s the book trailer for Forget Me Not: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi9bXuLk_Fw]

[review copy borrowed from the public library]

Review: On Thin Ice, by Linda Hall

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: The Real Enemy, by Kathy Herman

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.

Review: Beguiled, by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand

Beguiled, by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand (Bethany House, 2010)

Rylee Monroe is a dog-walker and pet-sitter for the elite in Charleston, South Carolina. Unfortunately she’s also a key suspect in a rash of thefts by the “Robin Hood burglar,” since most of the victims happen to be her clients.

Journalist Logan Woods wants an inside scoop on the burglar for his paper, but it’s even more important for the book he’s writing on local criminals.

The two meet when one of Rylee’s charges mistakes Logan for an attacker and chases him. Despite first impressions, the two team up to catch the thief, since the police don’t seem to be making much headway. But faced with a growing attraction, can Rylee and Logan trust the other’s motives?

The authors deliver a page-turning mystery that’s not too scary to read before bed. The one problem might be putting it down to get your sleep. I’m unfamiliar with Charleston, but they claim to have reproduced the South of Broad neighbourhood with only very few touches of artistic license.

Rylee, Logan and their friends are sympathetic characters that I was rooting for from the beginning. The opposition is strong as well, and interesting.

I chose this book because of the back-cover blurb, before seeing the cover art. Based on sight and title, I’d have passed it up as a straight romance and missed a good read. (Not that romances aren’t good reads! I just like something extra thrown in.)

Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand are each novelists in their own right. Deeanne’s most recent historical romance is A Bride in the Bargain, and Mark’s first crime novel, Back on Murder, releases July 2010. Beguiled is their first collaboration, and I hope they’ll do more.

Beguiled is available now at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group. For reviews, audio and video interviews and all kinds of reader tidbits, visit the Beguiled page at Bethany House.  You can read an excerpt here, or if you’ve already read it you may want to check out the discussion questions here.

Review copy provided by Graf-Martin Communications Inc.

Review: Steal Away, by Linda Hall

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

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: The Lightning File, by Eric E. Wright

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.