COLD PURSUIT by NANCY MEHL

Publication date 11/7/23

Not only is COLD PURSUIT by NANCY MEHL an “unputdownable” thriller with a great plot and unforgettable characters, but it is also rich with character analysis and is based on  a strong Christian message of redemption, God’s protection and the importance of forgiveness. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough to anyone who enjoys this genre.

The story starts with River Ryland and Tony St Clair, behavioural analysts with the F.B.I, being attacked  by the Salt River Strangler. The results of this trauma lead them to leave the F.B.I. and move to St Louis where they open Watson Investigations, a private detective agency. Their first client is Amy Stover whose son Chris disappeared four years previously when he went to a concert with two of his friends. Amy wants to know what happened to her son so she can have closure……

I like to see the friendship between River and Tony and the way they make each other  laugh and are always “there” for each other. I also like to see how Tony relates to River’s mother, who is in the early stages of Altzeimers.

There is so much more to this book but I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling the read for you. I do hope there will be more novels in this series.

I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

THE WOMAN FROM LYDIA by ANGELA HUNT

Publicatio date 11/7/23

THE WOMAN FROM LYDIA by ANGELA HUNT is biblical fiction at its best, with solid bible truth showing God’s mercy and redemptive power, together with His protection and deliverance from evil. The characters are beautifully portrayed and I love the way the author has rounded out their stories and has made them seem more real, without in any way interfering with the truth of God’s word.

It is the first novel in the Emissaries  series and starts our in Philippi in AD 50. We come across well known characters such as Paulos (Paul), Silas, Euodia (known as the woman of Lydia), Syntyche  and  the young gitl wtho had a spirit of divination. We see how Euodia and her household, and the body of believers, treated slaves as their brothers and sisters, and how Euodia and her two helpers followed Sabina when she was abducted by Hector, one of her former owners. Ariston, Euodia’s freed steward, is a great addition to the book……

I like the way the author shows us how alike people of AD 50 were to people today and how the ungodly still need deliverance and a relationship with the Lord. I like to see the zeal and courage of the early believers who truly believe, as we should too, that they are slaves to Christ, and are willing to face death to bring people into His kingdom.

The Woman from Lydia is a wonderfully inspirational read, with plenty of excitement and suspense. 

I cannot recommend this lovely book highly enough and am looking forward to more novels in the series.

I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are compleely my own.

VENGEANCE IN THE MIST by ROBIN PATCHEN

VENGEANCE IN THE MIST follows after Courage in the Shadows in the Coventry series by ROBIN PATCHEN, but it can easily stand alone. It is a fast paced legal thriller in which assistant district attorneys, Misty Lake and Tate Steele, are asked by their employer, District Attorney Leland Humphrey, to work together to clear Misty’s workload. Misty has recently been kidnapped for the second time, and she is now traumatised by her apartment having been broken into and bugged. She feels it could be the work of Freddy Parks who she prosecuted and put in jail, and who has now been let out. He has disappeared, which seems very suspicious.  Misty has always been very independant and starts out resenting Tate as they have to work together, but ends up being very glad for his protection. These two prosecutors have very different ideas about their cases, with Misty wanting to make sure that criminals receive the longest sentences to keep them off the streets, while Tate tends to offer plea bargains and shorter sentences in order to please his boss.  Tate is ambitious whilst Misty is passionate about justice, protecting the weak and putting away violent offenders. Will they be able to put aside their differences and suspicions and become more than friends?…..

I like the way the novel is based on a strong Christian message - the importance of forgiveness and showing mercy and unconditional love, and letting go of the past. I also like the way we feel the characters’ emotions. 

There is murder, the disappearance of suspects, and the fraudulent appropriation of funds, with several of the cases they are dealing with seeming to overlap.

We are taken on a real roller coaster ride and are kept guessing right to the end. 

I have  enjoyed every novel I have read by this author and Vengeance in the Mist is no exception.

I cannot recomend this thrilling and inspirational read strongly enough.

FACING THE ENEMY by DIANN MILLS

Publication date 5/9/23

I have enjoyed all the novels I have read by DIANN MILLS and FACING THE ENEMY is no exception. This brilliant romantic thriller is also inspirational as the author deals with such topics as unconditional love, forgiveness, courage, and the importance of never separating oneself  from God, who is the “only source of life and healing.” I particularly like the way we are given insight into the characters’ emotions as they battle with grief, guilt and sometimes confusion, as is the case with Carson Lowell, one of Risa’s most talented students.

On the dark side there is murder, human trafficking and the abduction and selling of babies, with crooked lawyers and adoption agencies taking advantage of the most vulnerable.

Risa Jacobs and Gage Patterson are special agents and partners in the Houston FBI but when Risa’s brother Trenton is killed in a hit and run, after pushing her to safety, she feels guilty and leaves the FBI and works as an English professor, pulling away from Gage and her parents to keep them safe…….

There is a great deal more to the story but I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling things for you.

I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Tyndale House Publishers. The opinions in this reiew are completely my own.

FINDING US by TRACIE PETERSON

Publication date 25/7/23

FINDING US is the second novel in the Pictures of the Heart series by TRACIE PETERSON but it can easeily stand alone. The book is full of excitement, suspense, beautiful descriptions, wonerful characters and romance, and also has a strong Christian message.

Bill Reed with his preacher brother Wallace and Wallace’s pregnant wife Amelia are on the City of Canton when it sinks and are separated. The two brothers hear that Amelia is dead and she hears the same of them. We see the very real struggle that Wallace has with God in his grief, and how Bill tris to encourage him.

Eleanor Bennett is working as a Camera girl for Fisher Photography at the Alaska-Yukom-Pacific Exposition and Bill is giving lectures at the Alaska exhibit. They meet and find they have a common interest in plants and become friends over the re-writing of Bill’s book on Alaskan vegetation. 

A photogtraph of a young widow with a baby taken by Eleanor sets things in motion - not all of them good…….

I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling things for you.

I cannot recommend Finding Us strongly enough.

I was given a freecopy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

THE HEART’S CHOICE by TRACIE PETERSON and KIMBERLEY WOODHOUSE

Publication date 16/5/23

THE HEART’S CHOICE is a beautifully written historical novel by TRACIE PETERSON and KIMBERLEY WOODHOUSE which will really stay with you long after you have finished the last page. Full of wonderful characters whose relationship with the Lord undergirds the story, and with the inevitable villain with his lies and betrayal, a slow moving romance, family love and friendship, you will find all you need for a most enjoyable and inspirational read.

In 1904, Mark Andrews, lover of books and education, obtains the position of a lifetime as head of the brand new Carnegie library in Montana, near the family ranch, which is his father’s pride and joy. Someone else who moves into the area to pursue her dream job as the first female court stenographer in the whole of Monrana, is Rebecca Whitman, also a lover of books.

I love old Angus Andrews, once he mellows, and Judge Milton Ashbury and his feisty wife Marvella who are like parents to Mark and pretty soon add Rebecca to their “family”.

Added to all this there is courtroom drama and a desperate race to save an innocent man’s life.

I cannot recommend The Heart’s Choice (such a fitting title by the way) strongly enough.

I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.