by Jason Joyner | May 15, 2010 | Blog, CFBA, christian fiction, reviews
This week the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is featuring the debut novel by Gina Holmes, Crossing Oceans.
Gina has a great story behind getting published. She kept plugging away at several novels, as many aspiring writers do. But she couldn’t rest there. She founded the blog Novel Journey, to interview authors and talk about the writing process. As she attracted others to work with her, they turned it into one of Writer’s Digest Top 100 websites for writers for a couple of different years. It has been a resource I have enjoyed, so I was excited for Gina when I saw her book on tour.
Crossing Oceans is the story of a young woman, Jenny Lucas, who has a 5 year old daughter Isabella, and finds that she is dying from stage 4 cancer. She is forced to return to her hometown to face her estranged father, who turned cold and distant after Jenny’s mother died of a different cancer, and to reveal her daughter to the father, David Preston. To complicate matters, her father holds David’s father responsible for her mother’s death.
Jenny must deal with her own struggles with these two men as she determines the best situation for her daughter after she’s gone. The choices she must make test her faith and her resolve to provide the best future for her girl.
At first glance, the title Crossing Oceans doesn’t really give a picture of what the book is about. However, it becomes a powerful metaphor for Jenny’s impending death and trying to share her faith to Isabella that they’ll be together again someday. This book is very touching in its realistic portrayal of the process of dying, and in all of the characters’ battles to live in the midst of death.
The characters are rich and well-done. It is said a good book has characters that stick with the reader after the book is put down. I have pondered Jenny and her childhood friend Craig since finishing, so the proof is in the pudding! The only problem I had is that the author must have a thing for toes (but you’ll have to read the book to find out more…).
Gina’s original forays into fiction involved writing suspense, so her knack for keeping the tension up and the pages turning show through, even though this book is more on the literary side of the scale.
My friend Becky Miller has been posting about whether men can enjoy a book with a female protagonist. I suppose this book gives me reason to say, “I’m a man and I enjoyed this fine work of women’s fiction.” I could’ve gotten choked up a couple of times (since I’m not an emotional guy, this is actually high praise!).
Overall there are a few plot points that seem awfully convenient or get skipped over quickly, but the quality writing, characters, and pacing make Crossing Oceans a striking debut by Gina Holmes. Whether you read women’s fiction or not, this is a well-crafted book that deserves a chance.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Crossing Oceans, go HERE.
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by Jason Joyner | Apr 23, 2010 | Blog, CFBA, christian fiction, human trafficking, reviews
The CFBA is featuring the new book
Blood Ransom by Lisa Harris. She lives in Mozambique where her family works as missionaries, so this story set in the fictional African country of Dhambizao has a real authenticity to it.
Natalie Sinclair is an American working with the health ministry to encourage vaccinations, wellness, and tracking of tribal groups to monitor their health programs. The country is on edge due to an impending election, and even though the UN is monitoring this one, the history of violence in past voting has left its scars.
When young Joseph Komboli escapes from his village with a tale of “Ghost Soldiers” taking all the people, including his family, Natalie is not sure how to get involved. However, Joseph’s explosive pictures force her to find help from Dr. Chad Talcott, another American expatriot who is volunteering at a nearby clinic.
As Natalie, Chad, and Joseph try to get their information into the right hands, there are others in power who will stop at nothing to bury the truth that could change the whole country. Will they succeed in saving Joseph’s family, or will they share a tragic fate as well?
—
There’s a lot to like about this book. It can be classified as a “romantic suspense,” and Lisa’s knowledge of Africa adds a certain flavor to it. There is plenty of action, and there are a lot of surprises for the main characters. It is easy to get into the story and root for Natalie and Chad.
The plot hinges on the idea of human trafficking, the modern day slave trade. Many people don’t realize there are more slaves in the world RIGHT NOW than at the height of the African slavery during colonial times. This is an issue that is dear to my heart, and I am excited to see entertaining fiction that can also educate about an important issue of justice in our world today.
Blood Ransom has some flaws as well. I never felt that the characters had a distinctive voice – Chad and Natalie act and think alike, as well as other secondary characters. Some of the plot points get a little muddled, as the scope of the book switches from Joseph’s home village to the whole country and an international shadowy corrupt tycoon. It does all tie together in the end, but the premise gets a little strained.
Overall, Blood Ransom is obviously a work of love by Lisa Harris for a continent and people she loves, and issues she is passionate about. It is an enjoyable story that should satisfy fans of romance with suspense or action thrown in. I’ll be interested to see what comes in the future from this author.
If you would like to read the prologue and first chapter of
Blood Ransom, go
HERE.
—
by Jason Joyner | Apr 23, 2010 | Blog, CFBA, christian fiction, human trafficking, reviews
The CFBA is featuring the new book
Blood Ransom by Lisa Harris. She lives in Mozambique where her family works as missionaries, so this story set in the fictional African country of Dhambizao has a real authenticity to it.
Natalie Sinclair is an American working with the health ministry to encourage vaccinations, wellness, and tracking of tribal groups to monitor their health programs. The country is on edge due to an impending election, and even though the UN is monitoring this one, the history of violence in past voting has left its scars.
When young Joseph Komboli escapes from his village with a tale of “Ghost Soldiers” taking all the people, including his family, Natalie is not sure how to get involved. However, Joseph’s explosive pictures force her to find help from Dr. Chad Talcott, another American expatriot who is volunteering at a nearby clinic.
As Natalie, Chad, and Joseph try to get their information into the right hands, there are others in power who will stop at nothing to bury the truth that could change the whole country. Will they succeed in saving Joseph’s family, or will they share a tragic fate as well?
—
There’s a lot to like about this book. It can be classified as a “romantic suspense,” and Lisa’s knowledge of Africa adds a certain flavor to it. There is plenty of action, and there are a lot of surprises for the main characters. It is easy to get into the story and root for Natalie and Chad.
The plot hinges on the idea of human trafficking, the modern day slave trade. Many people don’t realize there are more slaves in the world RIGHT NOW than at the height of the African slavery during colonial times. This is an issue that is dear to my heart, and I am excited to see entertaining fiction that can also educate about an important issue of justice in our world today.
Blood Ransom has some flaws as well. I never felt that the characters had a distinctive voice – Chad and Natalie act and think alike, as well as other secondary characters. Some of the plot points get a little muddled, as the scope of the book switches from Joseph’s home village to the whole country and an international shadowy corrupt tycoon. It does all tie together in the end, but the premise gets a little strained.
Overall, Blood Ransom is obviously a work of love by Lisa Harris for a continent and people she loves, and issues she is passionate about. It is an enjoyable story that should satisfy fans of romance with suspense or action thrown in. I’ll be interested to see what comes in the future from this author.
If you would like to read the prologue and first chapter of
Blood Ransom, go
HERE.
—
by Jason Joyner | Feb 24, 2010 | Blog, books, fiction, reading, Rene Gutteridge, reviews
Are you ready to Listen?
I don’t usually burn through a book in a day. I’m too busy, and I’m ADD enough to get tired of reading all day, unless it is really good.
Listen is one of those books.
This is the latest book from Rene Gutteridge, who writes both comedic and suspenseful novels. After finishing her Occupational Hazards series (hopefully not forever!) and releasing a humerous book with a co-author last year, she has turned her attention back to suspense. This is a good thing.
Marlo seems like the perfect little town. Nothing bad happens, and it is a picturesque example of what America should be. Until private conversations start ending up on an anonymous website entitled Listen to Yourself. Now people are finding out what is really said behind their backs, and it isn’t pretty.
As paranoid citizens start fighting each other, Damien Underwood and his wife Kay are dealing with the disconnect they feel from their teenage kids, Jenna and Hunter. As a newspaperman, Damien believes strongly in the power of words. He may be proved right, as life in Marlo unravels from the power of the tongue to hurt people. It may get very personal for the Underwoods before it is all over.
As I thought about this book, I realized comedy and suspense are not far apart. Both rely on setting the proper mood to be able to unleash a surprise. The difference is whether the surprise causes laughter and smiles, or goosebumps and shock. Rene has a wonderful gift in setting the mood and plot in such a way to unleash either effect. This book has humor interlaced with a twisting, suspenseful storyline that kept me hooked early on.
She sets sympathetic characters up throughout town, but they aren’t always clearly marked at first. One character may be disliked at first, only to turn out to be one of the “good guys” later on. The trouble with the Underwoods seems believable and drives the story. You care about them even as you see trouble coming, and you want to see how they will make it.
However, the book is more than an entertaining read. The theme of the power of words is well-crafted, and it invites anyone to take a thoughtful look at their own use of language to hurt or heal. Some books try to beat you over the head with a message – this story takes you along for the ride but leaves you pondering it afterwards. It is not preachy, but it is a valuable part of the whole message.
No book is perfect, and to me the ending was so twisty-turvy that I got a little lost at the end. There were also some consequences that seemed a little too convenient as well. Still, it was like an exciting amusement park ride with a little bumpy landing at the last.
Rene Gutteridge is one of CBA’s best authors, and I encourage any fan of suspense or clever writing to check out her work. You can also find out more at her website for the book, Listen to Yourself. Also, at her blog she’s doing a video blog explaining the process of writing the book, for those who have already read it – interesting!
Do yourself a favor, and Listen…
—
by Jason Joyner | Feb 24, 2010 | Blog, books, fiction, reading, Rene Gutteridge, reviews
Are you ready to Listen?
I don’t usually burn through a book in a day. I’m too busy, and I’m ADD enough to get tired of reading all day, unless it is really good.
Listen is one of those books.
This is the latest book from Rene Gutteridge, who writes both comedic and suspenseful novels. After finishing her Occupational Hazards series (hopefully not forever!) and releasing a humerous book with a co-author last year, she has turned her attention back to suspense. This is a good thing.
Marlo seems like the perfect little town. Nothing bad happens, and it is a picturesque example of what America should be. Until private conversations start ending up on an anonymous website entitled Listen to Yourself. Now people are finding out what is really said behind their backs, and it isn’t pretty.
As paranoid citizens start fighting each other, Damien Underwood and his wife Kay are dealing with the disconnect they feel from their teenage kids, Jenna and Hunter. As a newspaperman, Damien believes strongly in the power of words. He may be proved right, as life in Marlo unravels from the power of the tongue to hurt people. It may get very personal for the Underwoods before it is all over.
As I thought about this book, I realized comedy and suspense are not far apart. Both rely on setting the proper mood to be able to unleash a surprise. The difference is whether the surprise causes laughter and smiles, or goosebumps and shock. Rene has a wonderful gift in setting the mood and plot in such a way to unleash either effect. This book has humor interlaced with a twisting, suspenseful storyline that kept me hooked early on.
She sets sympathetic characters up throughout town, but they aren’t always clearly marked at first. One character may be disliked at first, only to turn out to be one of the “good guys” later on. The trouble with the Underwoods seems believable and drives the story. You care about them even as you see trouble coming, and you want to see how they will make it.
However, the book is more than an entertaining read. The theme of the power of words is well-crafted, and it invites anyone to take a thoughtful look at their own use of language to hurt or heal. Some books try to beat you over the head with a message – this story takes you along for the ride but leaves you pondering it afterwards. It is not preachy, but it is a valuable part of the whole message.
No book is perfect, and to me the ending was so twisty-turvy that I got a little lost at the end. There were also some consequences that seemed a little too convenient as well. Still, it was like an exciting amusement park ride with a little bumpy landing at the last.
Rene Gutteridge is one of CBA’s best authors, and I encourage any fan of suspense or clever writing to check out her work. You can also find out more at her website for the book, Listen to Yourself. Also, at her blog she’s doing a video blog explaining the process of writing the book, for those who have already read it – interesting!
Do yourself a favor, and Listen…
—
by Jason Joyner | Feb 3, 2010 | Blog, books, CFBA, fiction, reviews
My wife was “Beguiled,” will you be?
In the shadows of Charleston, someone is watching her…
Rylee Monroe, a dogwalker in Charleston’s wealthiest neighborhood, never feared the streets at night. But now a thief is terrorizing the area and worse, someone seems to be targeting her.
Reporter Logan Woods is covering the break-ins with the hope of publishing them as a true-crime book. The more he digs, the more he realizes this beguiling dogwalker seems to be at the center of everything.
As danger draws ever closer, Logan must choose: Chase the girl, the story, or plunge into the shadows after the villain who threatens everything?
—
I have Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand to thank for taking my wife away for a day. I “met” both of these authors when the faith*in*fiction blog and forums were active. Deeanne was the first acquistion from that eclectic group, and Mark was the philosophical heart.
When Deeanne’s first books came out, I bought them for my wife (I’ve actually ALWAYS wanted to read them too, but I forget to grab them in my large stack of to-be-read books). She became an instant fan. When I saw that she teamed up with Mr. Bertrand, I knew I couldn’t resist.
I wondered how my wife would like this blending of the styles (since Mark fancies crime/mystery novels).
She loved it.
She finished it in one day. I have to get up quite early to get to work, but she wouldn’t come to be with me (“I only have 30 pages left!”). And before I could get my hands on it, she lent it out to a friend.
Thus, I don’t have my own opinions on the book yet, but she shared her thoughts. She loved the characterization, feeling that she really knew the characters in the pages. The suspense really drove her to stay up late and finish, as the twists and turns had her hooked. She especially enjoyed the hook at the end. Her final words to Deeanne and Mark: write another one!
Deeanne Gist, the bestselling author of A Bride Most Begrudging and The Measure of a Lady, has a background in education and journalism. Her credits include People magazine, Parents, and Parenting. With a line of parenting products called “I Did It!® Productions” and a degree from Texas A&M, she continues her writing and speaking. She and her family live in Houston, Texas.
J. Mark Bertrand has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. After one hurricane too many, he left Houston and relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota.
If you’d like to read the first chapter of Beguiled, go HERE
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Jenny must deal with her own struggles with these two men as she determines the best situation for her daughter after she’s gone. The choices she must make test her faith and her resolve to provide the best future for her girl.