Tag Archives: suspense

Review: Exposure, a novel by Brandilyn Collins

Exposure, by Brandilyn Collins (Zondervan, 2009)

Exposure is the sixth Brandilyn Collins novel I’ve read, and I think it’s time to officially call myself a fan. After reading Dark Pursuit, I started asking “when’s the next one coming out?” and picked up Exposure and Always Watching (co-written with daughter Amberly Collins) as soon as they released.

Always Watching is a fast-paced young adult read, and it’s now circulating among my nieces.

In Exposure, Kaycee Raye’s syndicated column on fighting fears helps a lot of people. But the realization that a person’s worst fears can come true has turned her private world into a terrifying place. A fearful woman… doesn’t sound like an ideal protagonist for us to bond with, but Brandilyn Collins pulls it off in her usual “seatbelt suspense”® style.

As terrified as Kaycee is, she’s determined to fight this inner battle because something more important is on the line. Her best friend’s young daughter disappeared on the way to Kaycee’s house. Hannah is nine years old—the same age as Kaycee when she realized she’d absorbed all of her mother’s fears.

But Kaycee’s mother never saw things that weren’t there—someone watching, a camera, images. Is Kaycee cracking up, or is the old joke true: “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out to get me”?

Kind police officer Mark says he believes her, but he’s also the one who accused her of making money from other people’s fear. And she can’t offer proof of what she’s seen. Even her trusted friend suggests it’s a product of her own mind.

As these scares pile up, the search for Hannah intensifies. And there’s another plot thread running through the novel, complete with stolen money, mobsters, and a mother and child on the run.

Brandilyn Collins brings everything together for a tense and satisfying conclusion that I did not see coming. I was so pleased with myself for deciphering some of her clues… and completely missed the twist at the end.

Exposure is a fast-paced read that I didn’t want to put down. Yes, it’s intense, thanks in part to the author’s masterful use of deep point of view to pull readers into Kaycee’s heart and head, but it’s not the traumatic type of scary.

Brandilyn Collins is a multi-published, best-selling author. For information on her other books, visit her website. Click here to read an excerpt from Exposure. Better still, grab a copy of the novel, buckle your seatbelt, and as Brandilyn Collins’ tagline warns, “Don’t forget to b-r-e-a-t-h-e!”®

Review: If Only You Knew, by Mags Storey

2 Replies

If Only You Knew by Mags Storey (Kregel Publications, 2009)

If Only You Knew is a perfect summer read: light, straightforward, non-threatening – and yet with plenty of depth and complexity to chew on.

Recent high school grad Jo Mackenzie is spending the summer with her cousin in a small Ontario town called Silverpoint. With no plans for the future and no great sense of self-worth, she has two pressing goals: find a job and find a boyfriend, not necessarily in that order.

Jo isn’t shallow, she’s just not aware of her own potential – or that life is just as imperfect and complicated for her new friends as it is for her.

She’s a fun character to read about, particularly with Canadian author Mags Storey’s vibrant, candid writing style. We’re in Jo’s head and we can love her vulnerability and honesty. Along with the relationship angst, Jo has a bigger problem: two creepy guys are stalking her, but only one of her friends believes it.

If Only You Knew is the story of a young woman’s search for friendship, love and significance. Mags Storey presents faith from the outside (through Jo and Sam, who don’t feel perfect enough to belong) and the inside (through Kevin, Nate and Lisa the pastor’s daughter, who aren’t perfect either).

The message of Jesus comes through fresh and clear, as do non-Christians’ reactions to things church-goers can take for granted. If Only You Knew would be a good read for a teen who’s not sure about faith as well as for one who believes. It was a good read for me, a Christian at the mid-life mark.

These days it feels like a US-based setting is a requirement for a Christian novel, and it’s great to see that Kregel Publications has given us one set in Canada. Great stories can happen anywhere, and visiting new places is part of the fun of reading. For the record, Silverpoint is a fictional town in Ontario’s cottage country.

Mags Storey is a Canadian writer and editor who has lived in the United States and the Middle East. At present she’s a correspondent for ChristianWeek. You can read some of her articles here. You can also read chapter one of If Only You Knew. If Only You Knew is Mags Storey’s first novel.

Christian Mystery Novelist Sara Mills

4 Replies

Sara Mills is the author of two 1940s-era PI mysteries featuring Allie Fortune, a “female Sam Spade” operating in New York City. Sara is a wife, mother, writer, freelance editor and motorcycle racing enthusiast. She loves animals, raises Golden Retrievers, has a house full of hamsters, guinea pigs, turtles, puppies and any other stray that makes its way to her door. (from her website — click here to read the rest, or you can read interviews with Sara at Cara Putman’s blog or Novel Journey) And I discovered today that she lives in Canada. I’m always looking for more Christian authors in Canada.

I’ve wanted to read Miss Fortune and Miss Match for some time. Wish I had a happier reason for deciding to order them now, but here it is: Sara’s husband Keith died suddenly last week, and she’s now a widow with three young kids. (For more details, see a recent post at Novel Journey.)

Some of her good friends at American Christian Fiction Writers have organized a blog tour to show their support and love. Her friend Ronie Kendig’s blog explains, “This isn’t an attempt to trivialize Keith’s death–I’d actually think he’d be thrilled to see so many throwing their support behind his beloved wife and the mother of his children.” (You can read the whole blog post at Craving the Supernatural)

Sara, I’m praying for you and your children.

About the books:

Miss Fortune (book one)

They call her the P.I. Princess.

Allie Fortune is the only female private investigator in New York City and she’s one of the best.

When there’s a knock on her office door at four in the morning, Allie’s first inclination is to ignore it. Someone out on the streets in the middle of the night is usually trouble, either causing it, or being chased by it, and Mary Gordon is no exception.

You can read more here or read the first chapter here.

Miss Match (book two)

FBI agent Jack O’Connor receives a letter from Maggie, a woman he used to love, saying she’s in trouble in Berlin. The FBI refuses to get involved, so Jack asks Allie Fortune to help him investigate. Allie and Jack pose as a missionary couple who want to bring orphans back to the United States.

Youcan read more here or read the first chapter here.

Both books should be available in your local bookstore or online at Chapters, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com or Christianbook.com.

Review: Dawn’s Light, by Terri Blackstock

Review: Fossil Hunter, by John B. Olson

Leave a reply

Fossil Hunter, by John B. Olson (Promise Media Novel, Tyndale House Publishers, 2008)

Paleontologist Katie James, working solo on a fossil dig in Peru, escapes bandits and then goes back to protect her fossil. And that’s just the prologue.

One reviewer tagged Katie as “a female Indiana Jones.” I liked her from the outset, this resourceful young woman who can single-handedly capture villains but is physically unable to face a crowd.

The first few pages inspired me to give myself fully into the story – a risky thing when reading a new-to-me author. John Olson didn’t let me down. I enjoyed Fossil Hunter more than any book I’ve read in a long time. It’s a fun adventure that keeps the reader guessing. The characters are great. It’s emotionally satisfying. And the author’s choice of language is refreshing. In one tense scene, waiting to be shot, Katie counts out “120 nervous alligators”. A secondary character refers to rival scientist Nick Murad’s New York girlfriend as “Miss Guccier-Than-Thou”.

The story of Katie and Nick’s fossil hunt, racing both terrorists and a deadline, keeps tension high. John Olson’s writing lets us hear the multinational accents through word choice and sentence structure, without any clumsily-spelled dialect. And his descriptions had me feeling enough of Iraq’s climate that I’ll never need to visit.

I don’t enjoy “issue stories” and one of Fossil Hunter’s subplots is the evolution/creation/intelligent design controversy, but it’s a natural complication of having a Christian character working in this field. Any discussions and/or explanations fit well into the dialogue without the dreaded information dump or feel of propaganda. I didn’t get any sense of authorial hostility or judgement.

Katie’s father pastors a church on a Native American reservation, and her mother lived there her entire life, yet the cover photo makes Katie look Caucasian to me. Aside from mention of growing up on the reservation, the story shows her as a general, melting-pot American. I don’t often ask for extra back-story, but a bit more here would be nice.

Nick Murad is almost unbelievably non-competitive and sweet. And he doesn’t seem threatened by Katie’s take-charge actions. Even her team-mates struggle with that, and they have past experience to prove her capability. Nick, however, is a fine character and my “realism” doubts did nothing to keep me from enjoying the tale.

The pace, characters, story and writing make one of those rare novels that catch my imagination and renew my sense of wonder and adventure. For that, out of five stars, I have to give Fossil Hunter a five-point-five. And I’ve added the author’s previous books to my Christmas wish list: Shade and Adrenaline, plus Oxygen and The Fifth Man (co-written with Randall Ingermanson).

Janet Sketchley

Writing Christian Mysteries & Suspense