Circumvent by S.K. Derban

Apr16

Seeking The Lost

Circumvent by S.K. Derban is a contemporary Christian suspense that will intrigue you and keep you guessing.

The characters are well drawn and realistic. The setting is exotic in Hawaii moving to Lyon in France. With comprehensive descriptions we can view the scenes in our mind’s eye.

We witness that even when a character can remember very little, they can still remember that they love God. This highlights the importance to really know God, so that even if all else fails, we will remember Him. We are reminded that God has our name engraved on His hands. He will never forget us. We see this symbolised in the novel as a bracelet is engraved with a name.

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The Therapist by B.A. Paris

Apr15

Secrets And Lies

The Therapist by B.A. Paris is a marvellous contemporary psychological thriller that had me gripped from the start.

The novel is written in the present but there are also voices from the ‘past’. I tried to work out whose they were but failed miserably (again!)

As a new resident moves into the square, she is determined to find out the truth about what really happened in her house and who the perpetrator is.

Traumas in the past have far reaching consequences in the present as lives are stuck at a moment in time.

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The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan

Apr15

Secrets And Lies

The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan is a compulsive psychological suspense that I just could not put down and I read it in just one sitting.

The reader is aware from the start that something has happened in the past to destroy a close friendship of four girls. As the novel begins, the four friends are about to embark on a holiday to rekindle their friendship. It is a dream scenario but the nightmare is just beginning.

The novel is written from the point of view of the four individuals and has two time periods – ‘now’ and ‘before.’ As the story progresses the reader tries to join the dots – and we all know how good I am at that, I failed (again!)

As the action unfolds, the atmosphere becomes creepier. Suspicion and suspense are all around. The reader realises everyone is hiding something and all is not as it seems.

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Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey

Apr15

Unique And Horrifying

Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey is a heart wrenching historical tale that looks at the Holocaust in a different way.

The book alternates between four voices – the former camp commandant in 1954 looking backwards, his wife in the form of an imaginary diary, a Jewish doctor writing to his daughter in 1946 looking backwards and eye witness accounts from the local town. Together these voices piece together life at Buchenwald.

We witness the commandant making excuses for what he does, trying to justify what can never be justified. We see his wife as she has cancer looking backwards to her life in Munich and also discovering a forbidden faith in God. The doctor is looking for news of his wife and daughter in Theresienstadt as he operates his cancer curing machine. And the townspeople deny what is happening on their doorstep.

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