A MEMORY BETWEEN US BY SARAH SUNDIN

A MEMORY BETWEEN US
by SARAH SUNDIN
The second romance novel in the Wings of Glory series takes place during the second world war.  Walt's older brother Jack meets his match when he meets nurse Ruth Doherty.  Major Jack Novak is different to his brother Walt in that he is very sure of himself, ambitious and rather full of pride.   He has trained as a pastor but his heart is not in it and he  would love to make the air force his career.  He is an ace pilot and loves being in command.  He is a strong Christian but feels he hasn't been called to follow in his father's footsteps pastoring a church.  He has never had to struggle at anything, but he struggled at seminary for three years and only just passed.
He meets Lieutenant Ruth Doherty when he is hospitalized after getting shrapnel in his behind during a mission over enemy territory.  She is beautiful, but because of her past  
she refuses to date and makes a point of keeping to herself.  She is a good nurse and takes her job seriously. She grew up in the slums of Chicago, and after the death of her parents she spends every cent she earns on her four underage brothers and sisters.  She has no friends except May, who makes a point of befriending her.  She finds out that May is also an orphan and has known rejection and poverty and has lost her husband in the war.  She gets on well with Jack as a friend, but because of her past she feels that she will never be able to have a real relationship with him. She is very fond of him and relies on his friendship.  
Charlie de Groot is Jack's best friend in the air force and they have been flying together for three years.  Charlie and May become friendly and fall in love.  Charlie sees that Jack is overly ambitious and full of pride and he says that Jack sees winning Ruth's love as a contest.  Jack doesn't listen to Charlie and Charlie moves to another flight for his last two missions as he feels that Jack's pride will be his downfall.  When Charlie's plane is shot down and he is missing in action May never gives up on him.  She trusts God implicitly and knows that He is in control.  Jack is devastated as he feels responsible for Charlie's death (he feels he could not possibly have survived) and finally realizes where he is going wrong.  He has a secret fear which led him to make the decision that led to unnecessary loss of men and planes.  He realizes he is not such a hero after all!
Ruth and May become flight nurses and they both love flying.  The training is strenuous but they both get through it.  It is when she is flying back in a cargo plane after dropping off patients that Ruth faces her worst fear and overcomes it with God's help.  She realizes that she needs to rely totally on God and not man for her family's provision and for her safety - in fact for everything.
Jack also faces his worst fear when on D-day he is forced to ditch his plane at sea.  He realizes that he can no longer rely on his own strength, which leads to pride, but must give his whole life to the Lord.  There is a strong theme of forgiveness in the novel.  
Their love story follows closely the story of Ruth and Boaz.  I really enjoyed this book and have ordered the third book in the series.

A DISTANT MELODY BY SARAH SUNDIN

A DISTANT MELODY by Sarah Sundin is a love story that takes place during the second world war.  Both Allie and Walt play the piano, and there is a music theme right through the novel.  
Allie, who was named Allegra by her mother, has never been able to meet her mother's standards and always feels she has disappointed her by not being beautiful like she is.  She is close to her father who she feels is on her side.  Her parents are very wealthy and she is expected to take over Miller's Ball Bearings one day and to marry Baxter Hicks who is her father's right hand man in the business.  Her mother has made it quite clear that Allie is fortunate to find someone who is prepared to marry her seeing she is so homely, and her father wants her to marry Baxter to carry on the family business with him.  She is an only child, and apart from a brief spell at college where she was very happy and made friends, she has always lived at home.  
Her parents are very snobbish and feel that their attendance at the rather stuffy St Timothy's church makes them Christians.  When Allie hears about Jesus from her friend Betty at college she realizes what true Christianity is and makes a commitment to the Lord.  She longs to serve Him and to belong to a church that preaches the truth and honours Him, but she is afraid of being disobedient to her parents.  She also longs to do something more useful than staying at home with her mother to clean the silver and longs to do something worthwhile to help in the war effort.  Underlying everything is the desire to obtain her mother's approval.  She doesn't love Baxter but feels that she may be the instrument the Lord will use to lead him to the truth, and  she also feels that she will be honouring her parents by marrying him and in this way she will be pleasing to the Lord.  Baxter is very cold and condescending towards her, and is more a friend of her parents than hers.  
Things change for Allie when she goes to her friend Betty's wedding and meets Walt, an airman, in the train.  Walt is a friend of Betty's and the two of them have a wonderful time during the week they are together over the wedding.  Walt is shy and has never had a girlfriend, but he finds Allie very easy to get on with and he thinks she is lovely.  She feels so special with him that she doesn't tell him about Baxter.  She makes the excuse to herself that she is sure that Betty, who talks a lot, must have told him she had a boyfriend.
Walt's father is a pastor and is not impressed that Walt chose engineering rather than following in his footsteps.  Walt is the youngest of three sons - all of whom are in the air force.  Whilst his mother is equally loving and supportive of all of her sons, and his grandfather encourages him, his father is always comparing him unfavourably with his brothers.  He is also not goodlooking like his brothers.
There is a strong theme of truth running through the book.  Walt, whilst being a very committed Christian, is inclined to tell the odd white lie and even to make up a story when he feels it will help a situation.  Allie hasn't been honest with Walt or with her parents or even with Baxter.
There is a theme of obedience and sacrifice running through the book.  In his letters Walt helps Allie to break away from her parents' stranglehold and become the person that God has made her to be.  He is very caring and understanding and becomes her very best friend.  They become very close, and Allie even wakes up at times to pray at exactly the same time that Walt is in danger.
We see Allie standing up for herself and getting involved in the war effort and also in her new church and with her new friends.
We see how they each deal with the situation they are in, how they encourage one another in adversity, and how they each learn to trust in the Lord instead of trying to do things in their own strength.
It is a lovely story, full of real people trying to make sense of life at a very difficult time in history.

AGAINST THE WIND BY BODIE & BROCK THOENE

AGAINST THE WIND by BODIE & BROCK THOENE is the second book in their Zion Diaries series, but it can be read as a stand alone book.  I enjoyed it as it ties in with the Zion Covenant series and tells us more about Elisa and Murphy and their work during the second world war.  Elisa is involved in evacuating children, especially Jewish children, to America as Hitler is bombing England mercilessly and they are afraid that England will be invaded soon.  Some of the children that are on the same ship going to America are choirboys from the cathedral and the ones she is directly responsible for are girls whose parents are letting them go away to save them from the Nazi bombs.  Murphy can't go with her as he is a reporter and needs to stay in London to report the news to the world, hoping that America will step in before its too late.  They have sent their children ahead to the States with Murphy's parents and Elisa is looking forward to being with them again.  We see how the Nazis catch up with Elisa again when the ship she is on is torpedoed and we see her bravery and trust in God on a lifeboat on the Atlantic.  Instead of being overcome with fear she does her best to encourage those she is with.
Throughout the novel there are excerpts from her diary at the time she and Leah were in Austria playing their instruments at the Musikverrein, and how she meets and marries Murphy.  She also writes of her escape from Berlin and her father's capture by the Germans.  Murphy says of women that "they are like teabags, you never know how strong they are until they are in hot water!"  This is certainly true of Elisa.

THE ROSE CONSPIRACY BY CRAIG PARSHALL

THE ROSE CONSPIRACY by CRAIG PARSHALL is his latest legal suspense novel.  
J.D. Blackstone is a lawyer in Washington D.C. and professor of law at the university.  His partner in his law firm is Julia, a former student of his.  After his wife and daughter are killed in a car crash he has a stormy relationship with her which is over by the time the story begins.  J.D. has also studied psychology, but didn't finish his PhD in psychology.
After his family's accident he suffers from terrible insomnia.  He is rather pompous and patronizing towards those who work with him, and this upsets Julia, who is also a very clever lawyer.
The story starts with the theft of the missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary from Horace Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and with his murder.
J.D. is to defend Vinnie Archmont who has been charged with murder, and if found guilty will get the death penalty.  Vinnie is a very colourful character and comes on very strong to J.D. who she seems to find very attractive.  He is wary of her as he feels she is hiding something.
Vinnie is an artist, a sculptor, who has been making a bust of Horace Langley.  Her art studio is sponsored by a very strange Englishman, Lord Magister Dee, who is deep into Freemasonry and other spiritual cults.  He is also paying Vinnie's legal fees.
J.D. goes to England to meet this man and stays in one of his castles.  
J.D. has an uncle who is a retired Anglican minister who has just written a book on the Freemasons which is a great help to J.D., although he finds his uncle's Christianity a waste of time.  He is quite condescending towards his uncle, who is also a lecturer at the University.  His uncle lectures in comparative religions and speaks to J.D. about the Freemasons and gnosticism, which irritates J.D. to start with.
There are two ways of looking a certain piece of evidence in the case - from the religious point of view or from the historical point of view.  The religious side comes from the secrets of Freemasonry and the historical side is tied in with the murder of Abraham Lincoln and stolen gold.
There is quite a turn around in the end - with the case and with J.D.'s beliefs.  I found the book very interesting.

PREDATOR BY TERRI BLACKSTOCK

PREDATOR by TERRI BLACKSTOCK is an exciting thriller.  
Krista Carmichael has lost her sister Ella and she and her father David are determined to find her killer.  It seems as though she has been targeted by a predator who has joined her friends' list on GrapeVyne, a social network used by a lot of young people.  In their "bubbles" they give away far too much information, including their whereabouts practically every moment.  Krista confronts Ryan, who started GrapeVyne which he still runs, and tells him he himself is a predator by allowing such things to happen!  She is outspoken about the dangers of the site and speaks to young people at school to warn them.
When Ryan gets involved in trying to help catch the killer and wants to warn youngsters of the dangers of giving out too much information, he is warned by the board at Willow, who are afraid that he will cause their business irreparable harm.  He has been bought out by Willow, and when he and his friend Ian  start digging into Willow, they are both fired.
Ryan used to be a believer, but when he became totally involved in his work, working long hours, and also became very rich, he seemed to have forgotten about the Lord.  Krista, on the other hand, is very involved with helping young women in dangerous areas, leading them in Bible study, counselling them and generally encouraging them.  When more young girls become victims she begins to doubt God, wondering where He was when terrible things happened. 
Megan is a young girl who is targeted by the killer and who manages to escape with her life.  Krista, Ryan and the police run  lots of mug shots from the GrapeVyne data base and from the police files, but she cannot recognize her killer in any of the photos.  It is very sinister, as the predator could be posing as anyone on her site.
David, Krista's father, is devastated by what happened to Ella and doesn't trust anyone.  He is ready to kill the person responsible for his daughter's terror.
The story is very relevant in these days of cyber friendships. The plot is fast-moving and exciting and the book is very hard to put down.

AT THE SCENT OF WATER BY LINDA NICHOLS

AT THE SCENT OF WATER 
by LINDA NICHOLS is one of the loveliest books I have read.  It is beautifully written and has a wonderful theme of forgiveness and redemption.  We see how various characters deal with tragedy, grief, guilt and unforgiveness.  The main characters, Annie Dalton/Truelove and her husband Dr Sam Truelove come from Gilead Springs.  Their families have been close friends and they grew up together, especially as Annie lost her mother very young and spent a lot of time at the Truelove home.  We see the tragedy of the loss of their daughter, Margaret, who drowned in the creek when she was being looked after by Mary Truelove, Sam's mother.  Mary finds it impossible to forgive herself and she is even angry with God for allowing it to happen.  Her old friend Elijah Walker, who has been a medical missionary in Africa for years, helps her to forgive herself and to come back to trusting the Lord again.  There are wonderful Scripture verses throughout and there is a very strong emphasis on the importance of water, especially as the land has been suffering a severe drought for three years.  The same drought is in Annie and Sam's hearts and they are both working hard at keeping their emotions in check.  We get the feeling that the floodgates are about to open any moment!  Annie's father, Carl,  trusts in God and keeps hope alive.  He waters the Balm of Gilead trees which he has planted in his and Annie's gardens.  His wife, Diane, is very down to earth and  very loving, and also walks very closely with the Lord.
When Sam hears of his daughter's drowning, he doesn't rush to Annie's side in the hospital where their little girl is lying, but he carries on with a heart operation on Kelly Bright.  He is a brilliant children's cardiac surgeon and totally dedicated to his work, but he makes a mistake and Kelly ends up a vegetable.  Annie cannot forgive him for operating on another child when they have just lost their daughter.  She is a reporter and had just gone back to work part-time and had asked him to look after Margaret while she was following a story.  He is called away to operate on Kelly as he is the best cardiac surgeon in the hospital, and leaves Margaret with his mother.  Mary is called to the phone and doesn't notice that Margaret is not napping but has gone down to the creek to play, as she loves water.  
Sam and Annie are separated.  Every year on their wedding anniversary he waits for her at a restaurant where they used to go for special occasions.  There is an old lady there who goes there every year with her friends to celebrate her birthday.  She prays for Sam as he looks so sad, and he always goes away devastated when Annie fails to appear.  The last time he goes there, she speaks to him and says she has a word from the Lord for him, that he mustn't give up.  She prays for the woman he is waiting for as well.
Sam used to pray when he operated and to minister to the parents of the children that he operated on.  He was very dedicated to his job and felt the Lord had given him a special gift.  He did his work as unto the Lord.  Since Annie left and Margaret died he is no longer passionate about anything.  He just works and his colleagues are worried about him. 
Annie decides to divorce him as she has no feeling left.  She feels dead inside and also has turned away from the Lord.  She is offered a job at the L. A. Times and decides to move there, far away from everyone and everything she has loved.
I'm not going to tell you the end of the story as I don't want to spoil it for you.  I found it very inspiring and full of so much biblical truth.  The characters are very well portrayed and the language is beautiful.

PRAGUE COUNTERPOINT BY BODIE & BROCK THOENE

PRAGUE COUNTERPOINT by BODIE & BROCK THOENE is the second book in the Zion Covenant series.  It is especially meaningful for me as I have been to Vienna recently, and been to the Judenplatz where the Jews lived before the second world war, and where they were brutally attacked by the Nazis when Hitler took over Vienna in March 1938. We then see Hitler making plans to take over Czechoslovakia, while Britain and France passively stand by and watch, in spite of Churchill's warnings and Hitler's diabolical acts against the Jews and the weak - anyone who didn't fit his Arian mould.  I have read all the books in the Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles series several times each.  They are wonderfully realistic - not only are the character studies excellent, but we get an incredible insight into how things really were in those days.  We also get to see the horrors of the Holocaust and of war in general.  Brock Thoene is a historian, and his contribution is evident throughout.
Leah Feldstein is a Jewess who plays the cello at the Musikverrein with Elisa Lindheim/Murphy who plays the violin.  Elisa is also Jewish, the daughter of Theo Lindheim, once a well known businessman of Berlin, who has just escaped from Dachau.  While Elisa is blond and doesn't look Jewish, she has married Murphy to get an American passport and for Murphy to help in her father's escape from Dachau.  Theo is a Jewish believer in Christ who was imprisoned and he and his wife live in Prague now, where they hope to be safe from Hitler's advance.  
Eliza's husband Murphy is an American news reporter who is trying to get the truth about Hitler's atrocities to Britain, France and America.  He meets with Churchill, as does Thomas von Kleistmann, who is in the German army and is secretly in opposition to Hitler.  Messages are passed through a bookseller in Vienna and one in Paris.
Walter Kronenberger, a German news reporter, has lost his wife in an enforced sterilization operation, and he is afraid he will lose his five year old sons, Louis and Charles as well.  Charles was born with a very disfigured mouth and Hitler is determined to kill this "vermin".  Walter sends the two to Leah at the Musikverrein, and she and Eliza  help in their escape.  Murphy gets possession of Walter's "testament" which he is determined to publish so that people hear the truth of what has happened to the Kronenberger family.  It is very exciting and we see the incredible selflessness of people who literally lay down their lives that others may live.
The Thoenes' love for God's chosen people is evident, and we see the true love of Christ in those who choose to love the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  I feel it is important to read the books in sequence, and I have found it really worthwhile to do so.