Lights Out - A Review

 

Lights Out

by

Natalie Waters

A Review

The President is traveling to Egypt, terrorists are on the lose throughout America, and private defense contractor SNAP is stymied in it search for those out to destroy the country before the President walks into his own assassination.

Brynn Taylor, CIA Analyst, finds herself unexpectedly assigned to work with SNAP. She would prefer to work the case in Egypt, but Director Frank Peterson has made his decision - now she will need to work alongside her ex-boyfriend or not work the case at all. The story will take the reader from Washington DC to Houston to California to Guam to Egypt. This well-written faith-based thriller will keep the reader’s attention from beginning to end.

Only two concerns prevent me from giving this a five-star review. First is that though promoted as a faith-based book, it is only moderately so. This might make it more saleable to a secular book market, but not as appealing to a Christian audience. Secondly, the conclusion of the book seemed to sneak up on this reader - it was stumbled on rather than discovered through the usual deductive techniques one would expect in an international thriller. I am giving this book four-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Trace of Doubt - A Review

 

Trace of Doubt  

by

DiAnn Mills

A Review

Why do I remember

The sins that stalk my soul?

Why can’t I hold on to the

Forgiveness that makes me whole?

Ashes rise to steal my breath.

I choke from downing fear.

Help me, Lord, to cling to You

In never-ending prayer.

When I pick up a new book by DiAnn Mills, I expect to experience the best in Romantic Suspense. Trace of Doubt is no exception. Marissa is the epitome of evil; even the fifteen-year prison sentence had not changed her. Now she would kill her sister and her daughter and break her father’s heart.

Two narrators trade places throughout the book as Shelby Pearce and Denton McClure take turns telling their stories and how those stories interact with Marissa’s malignant behavior. It would not be easy as they each had to deal with lies and misconceptions that wounded their lives and the lives of those around them. They each would need to experience far more of God’s forgiveness and grace than they thought they needed. But He would provide.

The book was intense at places and held my attention. My only concern was the implication that a pastor can provide the level of counseling needed by two of the main characters. Unless the pastor had at least a MS in Counseling, the kind of support needed by Aria and Shelby should normally be done by a professional counselor. Seminary training is not sufficient for the consistent therapy these two women needed. I would suggest that an appropriate warning be added as part of the front matter or immediately following the book’s epilogue. Despite this oversight, the book is worthy of 5-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Hostile Intent - A Review

 

Hostile Intent

by

Lynette Eason

A Review

Families begin to disappear across the US - lined up on their sofa, shot one-by-one. FBI Special Agent Caden Denning and his group of talented friends (FBI Agents, Private Investigators, retired Navy personnel, and the CIA) will be tasked with finding those responsible for the deaths.  

It is a story that has its roots in events that occurred 17+ years earlier in Russia prior to implosion and the dismantling of the KGB. Today it was affecting the lives of men and women that Special Agent Denning knew and loved. It was not only a matter of National Security; it was also personal.  

Though written as a faith-based story, Faith plays a less significant role than the characters and plot in making this a worthwhile story. The story is intense and could not be put down even for TV and dinner. This reader wanted to know what would come next. And for that reason, the book receives four-stars.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

 

The Escape - A Review

 

The Escape

By
Lisa Harris

Lisa Harris presents the first book of a series focusing on two US Marshals stationed in Seattle WA. The two US Marshals, Madison James and Jonas Quinn, are charged with transporting two fugitives from Seattle to Denver; but mid-way, the small plane they are on runs into a storm that brings the plane crashing down into the tree tops of the Rocky Mountains somewhere in rural Idaho. The two pilots and one of the fugitives dies; James and Quinn will spend the next week tracking the remaining fugitive, Damon Barrick, across much of the western US.

Their search will take them to Salt Lake City UT and to Houston TX, among other stops along the way. Their search will also allow the two US Marshals to become familiar with each other’s skills and gifts. A romance is possible - but not in this book. That is one of the hints that suggest another book or two is in the offing. The other hint is the unexplained death of Madison James’ first husband and subsequent threats against her life.

The story itself is a mixed bag of exciting and patient reading (i.e. sometimes slow). Lisa Harris has done a great job of describing the rural Rocky Mountain environment offering an inviting description of the area - leaving this reader wishing that he had the time and energy to explore a part of the country to which he has not been. As she weaves a bit of faith into the story, the reader begins to understand how God can meet people wherever they are or in whatever circumstances they find themselves.

I could easily see the story serving as the foundation for a TV series (CBS, are you listening). But it could just as easily belong in the church library or on the reading list of anyone who enjoys law enforcement thrillers. Though the book is faith-based, the reader does not feel that he has been drenched in unneeded spirituality, proving amble reason for also making room for it in the public library.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Airborne - A Review

 

Airborne

by

DiAnn Mills

FBI Special Agent Heather Lawrence’s marriage is on the rocks. She is not quite ready to admit it, to herself or to those around her. Deciding to take a vacation to the Salzburg Music Festival and to visit the community in which it is held - giving her time to sort out her life - she boards the plane that will take from Houston to Frankfurt Germany. But two hours into the flight she is required to shift from vacationer to FBI agent when people throughout the flight begin to get sick - headaches, fevers, vomiting, bleeding noses, all contribute to what quickly becomes a crisis.

Working with the FBI, FAA, CDC, and her husband on the ground, Heather will need to narrow down the source of the illness that attacks more than half of those onboard the flight.

DiAnn Mills has written another great faith-based thriller that holds the reader’s attention from page 1 to page 385. As Heather involves herself in the lives of those in isolation after the plane lands in New York City, brushing shoulders with the four or five potential suspects. As a trained FBI Agent and a Behavior Analyst, she is in a unique position to watch and observes the suspects - she is also in a unique position to put life on the line.

The book will find a welcome place on the reading lists of Christians who enjoy suspense and thrillers. It also has a welcome place on the shelves of public and church libraries.
______________ This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Deadly Intentions - A Review

Deadly Intentions 

by

Lisa Harris

Three suspicious deaths, one company, one project; and he did not believe in coincidences. Josh Solomon had not seen the problem, but his wife’s colleague, Caitlyn Lindsey did and together they would need to pull together the evidence to demonstrate the very real, not theoretical, issue of bioterrorism in Houston, Texas.

Lisa Harris has written a faith-based, romantic, thriller, that this reader could not put down. The mix of science, mystery, and bioterrorism, make the author’s latest book one of her best.

Whether one is looking for a great fall read, a book to add to the church or local public library, or as a gift for an avid reader, Deadly Intentions may just fill the bill

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Burdom of Proof - A Review

Burden of Proof

by

DiAnn Mills

A Review

DiAnn Mills has written a compelling and (mostly) believable story The books begins with FBI Special Agent April Ramos trying to talk Benson off the ledge from which he is threatening to jump. Before she can recover from that experience, a young woman thrust a baby into her hands before disappearing into a parking lot. Minutes later a man accousted April, claiming that he is the child’s father. Not knowing who to believe — she keeps the child and arrests Jason for kidnapping. Big Mistake. But would take most of the book to figure that one out.

What follows is a well-written story that twists around a variety of families — some to be trusted, some not. But of course, that is what makes for an interesting story.

The book will be appreciated by those who are fans of romantic thrillers — I did. The author did a good job showing how the faiths of both April and Jason grow as they work together to separate those who can be trusted and those who cannot be trusted. But one issue routinely presents itself in the typical romantic thriller. This pastor remains concerned about why a book from a Christian author and publisher would model a healthy romance developing in a week or two. Though the relationship grows too quickly given real people, the issues that face two people falling in love are not ignored. Given the confines of a single novel, it is the compromise that must be acknowledged.

Despite that concern, the story is fun and worth the time spent reading. The book will be well received by the church library. The elements of faith are not overwhelming; the book will also appeal to the general public. Thus, it would be worth purchasing for one's personal use or as a gift for other readers.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

Deadly Encounter - A Review

Deadly Encounter

by

DiAnn Mills

A Review

There are a number of things that draw me into a fiction book.  A number of them are obvious: the quality of writing, the realism of the characters, the well designed setting of the story. One of the less obvious characteristics of a fictional story that I appreciate is its use of historical or real life settings that I call for me to search even deeper into the history or setting using Google or other internet resources.

Deadly Encounter was such a book.  My attention was drawn to a Google search before I finished page 1 of the book: “Who or what are the Houston Airport Rangers?” The book did answer the question a few pages in, but I found myself in Google within minutes of starting the book.  Sadly, Google provided little more details than the book - but enough to get me further into the book while I waited for the author to offer more own description.

The book dealt with themes that have attracted me in the past - Addiction/dysfunctional families, terrorism, and romance (but not too much). Mixing these themes with an underlying Christian faith, and we have a story that is both exciting and satisfying. We see individual’s faith being challenged and growing. We see faith being lived out. We also see the various conflicts that must be faced by modern law enforcement as they face the 21st century culture found in the USA.

Looking for a book with a positive Christian focus, with the right blend of suspense, danger, and romance? Deadly Encounter may be that book.   

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This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Deadlock - A Review

Deadlock

by

DiAnn Mills

A Review

DiAnn Mills is a good author - I have enjoyed her earlier books. However, though definitely Christian, the current book seems more like a Harlequin Romance than an FBI thriller. FBI Special Agent Bethany Sanchez and her new partner, FBI Special Agent Thatcher Graves, would need to work together to find the Scorpion Murderer and those accomplices that made his crimes so brutal.  The mystery, thriller was very much there and held my interest - especially as it moved further into the book.

The book did seem, as I said earlier, more like a Harlequin Romance, than the usual FBI thriller I had come to expect from the author. For example, in the first chapter alone, we find the following:

On this gray morning, she was beginning a violent crime assignment and would meet her new partner, Special Agent Thatcher Graves, the man who’d sent her brother to jail. …

Beyond there she’d find Special Agent Thatcher Graves. Her gaze pulled ahead. She wanted the partnership to work so badly that her blood pressure flared at the thought of it. She moved through the room to the kitchen. Thatcher bent behind the crime scene tape, where the body had been found. He glanced up, his earth-colored eyes stormy.

Neither the mystery nor the romance slows down for the remainder of the book. I recognize that many readers will want this somewhat fairytale style of romance, but this pastor felt that the picture painted by the author in this book was an unrealistic and unhealthy picture of a growing relationship between two believers. The book was not written to provide advice to the lovelorn, but it sets an unhelpful example for believers young in their faith.

Thus, the mystery was enjoyed, the romance less so. If the reader can set aside the fairy tale romance as a fairy tale, he or she might just enjoy this FBI thriller.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Double Cross - A Review

Double Cross

by

DiAnn Mills

A Review

Double Cross is the second book in a series based on the staff of the FBI stationed in Houston, TX.  There is  little to connect the two books other than that minor theme - different characters, different plots, different lessons.

The current book left this reader a bit frustrated.  He generally does not mind a good mystery with a hint of romance, but this book seemed to reverse that relationship, in that it appeared to be a romance with a thread of mystery running throughout the book.  The mystery was well-developed with enough turns and triggers to make the book of interest - but there were few points where romance did not distract from that story.  

The story focused on the teamwork between an experienced FBI agent (Laurel Evertson) and a Houston Police Officer (Daniel Hilton).  At first their work is strictly  professional, but each must explore the possibility that something more is drawing them together.  And, even as the case comes to a close, it is not clear how their relationship can grow - perhaps in six months.

A couple of questions might help another reader know whether this book is for them:

1. Would you recommend this book to a  friend?  If that friend enjoyed romance novels.
2. Would you recommend  this author?  Yes, since I have enjoyed other books by the same author.
3. Would you purchase this book for yourself?  Probably not - it focused too much on the romance between two major characters to make it a favorite book of mine.
4. Will you be reading another book from this author?  Absolutely!

And I hope others will as well.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.