Archives

Daughter Of Genoa by Kat Devereaux

Sep16

Extraordinary Acts Of Bravery

Daughter Of Genoa by Kat Devereaux is a comprehensive tale set in Genoa between April-July 1944.

This is a powerful story that is grounded in facts as the author has taken actual historical figures and re-imagined a fictional tale.

By 1944 Germany was losing the war but the Nazis and the Fascists in Italy were still clinging on to power. Their regime was a cruel one. Kat Devereaux has included back stories of persecution within her tale.

There were brave souls who helped those in need. “Every person we manage to help is a victory. We cannot change our situation, but we can do our best to improve it.” Ordinary men and women worked underground to move people to safety.

The leading lady is one such person. Having been helped, she wants to pay it forward.

Continue reading →

Mercie’s Secret by Michael Garrett

Sep16

Evil Walks Amongst Us

Mercie’s Secret by Michael Garrett is an exciting and chilling Christian suspense. It is a book that will consume you. And not one to be read alone and in the dark!

Michael Garret explores the theme of evil walking amongst us. Evil is not always readily recognised. Sometimes a smiling face hides a black heart. Evil can take many forms. It walks silently amongst us, waiting to devour its next innocent victim.

How do we defeat evil? By faith. Shine the light of God and watch the darkness flee. “The light doesn’t fear darkness – it exposes it.”

God ‘speaks’ to His children. We would be foolish to ignore Him. She “ignored the still, small voice of her heavenly Father, who had whispered warnings into her conscience that she was drifting too far, too fast.” We need to be rooted in Christ, and keep our eyes firmly fixed on Him.

When we mess up, we need to tell our heavenly Father. “Mercie wanted to tell her father everything… but fear kept her silent.” Just as her earthly father would want to help Mercie, how much more would her heavenly Father want to? We mustn’t let fear stop us from seeking help. No matter how far down the wrong path we have travelled, it is never too late to make a U-turn.

Fear and faith cannot co-exist. “I let fear overtake my faith.” When we look at sin and not at our Saviour, we are in trouble.

Continue reading →

The Liar by Louise Jensen

Sep12

Superb

The Liar by Louise Jensen is a totally gripping psychological thriller that I read in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep.

Louise Jensen is masterful at the psychological suspense. Whenever I pick up one of her books, I know that I will be highly entertained.

The action is seen through various alternating points of view, in both the first and third person. The time periods are present day, recent past, and significant past events. Apart from the watcher paragraphs, the reader is told whose voice it is.

We join a social worker, her daughters, and her elder daughter’s friend and small son. They are a close unit, knitted together by a mother’s love. “Families aren’t always perfect and that doesn’t matter. It’s love that counts.”

The women in the novel are strong characters. They are closely woven together, standing united in the face of cruelty, abuse or indifference from various male characters.

Continue reading →

The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green

Sep4

The Power Of The Story

The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green is a powerful historical novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The action is set on the American home front in Maine in 1942. It is seen through the eyes of four women, each with different life experiences and united by a book club. We see that there is power in stories. They bring people together, provoking discussion, out of which, friendships are formed.

You are never too old to begin to read. We see that whereas some have enjoyed books from childhood, others have been reluctant readers, well into adulthood. Books will open hearts, minds and imaginations, uniting the old and the young.

There is power in our stories too. We ‘hear’ of a character’s backstory from 1918. It helps us to understand why a character behaves as she does. We also see that her nursing skills never leave her.

Part of the book is set out in the form of minutes from the book club. This helps to involve the reader in the story as we feel included.

At times of war there are prejudices against those of foreign descent. “Spaniards, Portuguese, and especially Italians, all tarred with the same racial slur. Marked as something different, distasteful, un-American.” A family of Italian origin has to work hard in order to earn trust and to fit in.

Characters long to trust God. “Martina prayed as she ran, but it had been months since she’d attended Mass. What if no-one was listening?” God hears all our prayers. There is no tally of attendance or non-attendance in heaven.

Continue reading →