Archive | January 2019

Tell Me A Secret by Jane Fallon

Jan11

True Friends

Tell Me A Secret by Jane Fallon is a contemporary tale surrounding the theme of relationships that will certainly have you glued and guessing.

The book is about friendships. It seems like a pleasant chick lit novel at first but then the psychological element kicks in and it is definitely the bunny boiler delivered with a smile. The action soon becomes menacing and the reader, like the main character, wonders which way to turn.

Friendships should be the place where we go to feel safe and loved. What do you do when the rug is pulled out from under you?

Truth and lies run throughout the story. Can you separate them?

There is the theme of manipulation, so expertly done, will you spot it?

Friends emerge in the most unlikely of places. The heroes and heroines are not always instantly recognisable.

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Zero Sum by Jan Thompson

Jan11

One More Piece Of The Puzzle

Zero Sum by Jan Thompson is a Christian suspense surrounding the topic of cyber-crime. It is the first book in the Binary Hackers series.

Not being particularly good at all things technical, I found some of the action blinded me. I wasn’t always sure what was happening, however it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Zero Sum was a tense thriller that had me questioning who could be trusted? No one except God. Suspicion lurked around every corner. There were also themes of healing, friendship, grace and new beginnings. There were plenty of Godly lesson to be learnt. The past is gone. We cannot wallow in it but we can learn lessons from it. How do you break free from your past when it seems to keep chasing you?

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The Murder Pit by Mick Finlay

Jan10

Not All Superheroes Wear Capes

The Murder Pit by Mick Finlay is a historical crime novel set in 1896. It was a time of poverty, fear and darkness as Jack The Ripper loomed large in the thoughts of people. This is the second instalment in the Arrowood series but can be read as a stand-alone.

An unlikely pairing of super sleuths fight injustice and search for the truth. Where they see hurt and pain, they seek to bring security and safety. They fight for the under dogs, the people whom society would rather forget.

The novel has the disturbing topics of cruelty and neglect of the mentally handicapped. Asylums in Victorian England were places of neglect and exploitation. There were few checks of those running them.

The novel portrays a fight against evil. Wrongs need to be righted as some really do suffer hell on earth.

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Secrets Of The Pastor’s Wife by Christina Ryan Claypool

Jan9

Brokenness

Secrets Of The Pastor’s Wife by Christina Ryan Claypool is a powerful and thought provoking Christian novel that will aim straight at  your heart and emotions.

The novel has the themes of secrets, betrayal and hurts. If we keep secrets eventually they will weigh us down. “Haunted by old secrets.” God does not want us to live under a burden. He will send people across our paths to help us to release our deepest sorrows.

There is also the theme of forgiveness. “The same forgiveness you extend to others, you must extend to yourself.” Often the hardest person to forgive is the face in the mirror.

In our pain we may turn away from God, believing ourselves to be abandoned by Him. “So many times we don’t know why, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care.” If we focus on our pain, we are not looking to God and we cannot see Him through our pain.

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