Tag: Christian thriller

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #271 | Fatal Illusions by Adam Blumer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Fatal Illusions by Adam Blumer, which I recently picked up on sale on Amazon.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Fatal Illusions

Who Will Escape Alive?

An Amateur Magician, an Unassuming Family . . . a Fatal Illusion

Haydon Owens wants to be the next Houdini. He has been practicing his craft and has already made four women disappear. All it took was a bit of rope and his two bare hands.

The Thayer family has come to the north woods of Newberry, Michigan, looking for refuge, a peaceful sanctuary from a shattered past. But they are not alone. Little do they know that they are about to become part of Haydon’s next act.

Time is running out and already the killer has spotted his next victim. Who will escape alive?

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Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

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Was God really going to take me out with a supervolcano? He could have simply let me die.

Book Review | Woman in Shadow by Carrie Stuart Parks

Darby Graham was a forensic linguist, but now works for the mysterious Clan Fenian. She has been sent to the Mule Shoe Dude Ranch, an exclusive art retreat in the mountains of Idaho, both for her own benefit and to investigate a series of accidents.

The story is told in two points of view–Darby is first person and Bram is third person. This felt a little jerky at first, especially at the first switch from Darby to Bram), but I got used to it pretty quickly and it didn’t bother me after that. If anything, the switch from first to third was a subconscious cue that the point of view had changed … because I tended to miss the obvious cue, like the new chapter.

#FastReaderProblems

The retreat is very back-to-nature, with no cell phone reception and no internet access. Also no television, radio, electricity, or modern sewerage. There is no road in, just a trail that’s suitable for horses and the occasional horse and cart bringing up supplies. Other than that, access is by helicopter.

It’s the perfect setup for a suspense novel …

The accidents Darby was sent to investigate keep happening, and there are a couple of instances that seem more like someone trying to frighten her off. Then there are the earthquakes – the ranch is only fifteen miles from Yellowstone, so some degree of volcanic activity is to be expected.

But, as someone who lives within erupting distance of another of the world’s supervolcanoes, I can tell you that you can’t feel most earthquakes. When you can feel them, it’s time to get worried.

The story was effectively a closed room mystery, like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (I haven’t read the book, but have seen a movie adaptation). In typical Christie style, there is a Big Reveal where Darby finally puts together all the clues and uncovers the real evildoer–predictably, the character I least expected, but one who make perfect sense.

Woman in Shadow is yet another excellent thriller by Carrie Stuart Parks, who never fails to impress me with her heroines. #ChristianThriller #BookReview Click To Tweet

I’ve read several other novels by Carrie Stuart Parks, and she never fails to impress me with her heroines. They are intelligent and brave, and usually have a unique skill and fascinating skill or occupation. Darby is no exception. This is backed up by a tight and effective plot, outstanding writing, and the occasional welcome drop of humour.

The real heroes of this story are Holly and Maverick, the “stray” dogs Darby adopts as the story starts and takes to the ranch. They prove all the old sayings about dogs as protectors and friends.

Recommended for suspense readers, especially dog lovers.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Woman in Shadow

A woman off the grid.

Darby Graham thinks she’s on a much-needed vacation in remote Idaho to relax. But before she even arrives at the ranch, an earthquake strikes—her first clue that something is amiss. Then when a cabin on the edge of town is engulfed in flames and problems at the ranch escalate, Darby finds herself immersed in a chilling mystery.

A town on fire.

A serial arsonist sends taunting letters to the press after each fire. As a forensic linguist, this is Darby’s area of expertise . . . but the scars it’s caused her also the reason she’s trying to escape from her life.

A growing darkness.

As the shadows continue to move in, the pieces of the town around her come into sharper focus. Can she trust the one man who sees her clearly?

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We're effectively cut off from the world with a badly injured woman and a homicidal maniac on the loose.

Her choices in men hadn’t always been the best—actually they’d been horrible—but she knew when a man was holding out on her.

Book Review | Pay the Price (Harmony Grove #3) by Carol J Post

I opened Pay the Price to check the file had downloaded correctly, then created my First Line Friday post because the first line did catch my eye. I wasn’t planning to read the novel …

… yet three hours later, I’d finished.

Jessica Parker arrives back in Harmony Grove following her younger sister’s death. She hasn’t got a key and the spare key isn’t in the usual hiding place. So she’s forced to break in through the rear sliding door.

Inside, she finds the house has been ransacked … then she is attacked by a man with a gun. The intruder turns out to be Shane Dalton, an FBI agent working undercover in Harmony Grove, hunting for drug smugglers. And they’ve had a tip that Priscilla Parker might be involved.

It’s a fast-paced start, and it certainly kept me reading.

I liked Jessica, which is always a good start. She’s bright and brave, and has overcome a lot of hardship. I enjoyed reading about her faith journey (one of Carol J Post’s strengths as a writer), and I have to agree with Jessica’s view of snakes:

"She hated snakes. It didn’t matter what kind. Poisonous, harmless, large or small. The only good snake was a dead snake."

Shane is also a strong character, and another who has a troubled past–the death of his wife, and his subsequent avoidance of relationships of all kinds. Despite his loss, he’s retained his faith in God, something Jessica never had. Shane realises the best way to find information will be partnering with Jessica and finding out what happened to Priscilla and why … and was it really a suicide?

The suspense was well-written, with great pace and enough humour to offset the ever-present tension.

I was pleased to get to the end and find a preview for the next book in the series, which means this isn’t the last book. That’s great news, as I’m enjoying the Harmony Grove books and wouldn’t want to see them end yet. After all, there are still some single characters …

Pay the Price by @CarolJPost is excellent Christian romantic suspense, with great pace and enough humour to offset the ever-present tension. #BookReview #ChristianRomance Click To Tweet

All in all, I recommend Pay the Price for fans of Christian romantic suspense.

Thanks to Carol J Post for providing a free ebook for review.

About Carol J Post

Carol J PostFrom medical secretary to court reporter to property manager to owner of a special events decorating company, Carol’s resume reads as if she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. But one thing that has remained constant through the years is her love for writing. She currently pens fun and fast-paced inspirational romance and romantic suspense stories. Her books have been nominated for a RITA® award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award.

Carol lives in sunshiny Central Florida with her husband, who is her own real-life hero, and writes her stories under the shade of the huge oaks in her yard. Besides writing, she works alongside her music minister husband singing and playing the piano. She enjoys sailing, hiking, camping—almost anything outdoors. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of a fat and sassy black cat and a highly spoiled dachshund.

You can find Carol J Post online at:

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About Pay the Price

Sometimes homecomings can be deadly…

Jessica Parker left Harmony Grove with bad memories and a vow to never return – until she is called back eight years later to deal with her sister’s suicide. When all the evidence points instead to murder, she is determined to find the killer and bring him to justice. Her handsome new neighbor is eager to help, but she is sure he’s hiding something.

Undercover FBI agent Shane Dalton is in Harmony Grove investigating the crash of a plane full of cocaine and gets more than he bargained for when he runs into Jessica. He’s not sure whether she’s involved or is just going to get in his way. Soon it becomes obvious that someone wants Jessica gone from Harmony Grove. As the threats intensify, Shane finds himself in a race against time to solve both cases. The closer they get to the truth, the closer the killer gets to making them his next victims.

You can find Pay the Price online at:

Amazon | Goodreads

Dead Silence by Robin Caroll

Book Review | Dead Silence by Robin Caroll

Dead Silence opens with a bang disguised as a whisper when sign language interpreter Elise lipreads a threat against her mother-in-law. She is then contacted to say her deaf son has fallen in the playground, so she rushes to the hospital and forgets what she saw … until the next morning, when the news reports her mother-in-law has been murdered.

There are a couple of credibility gaps.

No matter how concerned you were about your son, would you really forget to tell someone you “overheard” a death threat? Especially a death threat against your mother-in-law, your child’s grandmother, who also happens to be a US Senator. Also, why did no one call Elise to tell her the Senator was dead?

The family spend a lot of time together during the course of the novel, which adds even more to the credibility gap. Okay, so I can perhaps believe that Elise was too stressed to call her mother-in-law. But then neither the father-in-law or sister-in-law call to say the mother-in-law has been murdered. Instead, they allowed her to find out by watching the TV news. And it’s not a big family: the Senator only had two children and one grandchild.

Yes, that bugged me.

But it didn’t bug me enough to stop reading, because the overall premise was unique, and the story was fast-paced enough that I didn’t stop to think. It picks up pace again after Elise receives a “gift” on her doorstep—a dead rat, an obvious message that she shouldn’t share what she knows.

Another “gift” the next day, and Elise is convinced there is a leak in the FBI. After all, the only people she’s told are the two agents. This got a little frustrating as well—anyone with half a brain could work that out, but not the FBI. Again, that does slightly strain credibility (overall, the FBI do come across as less than competent). But, again, I kept reading because I had to. The story was that compelling.

Elise is an excellent character—a determined single mother with a strong desire to protect her only child from whoever is trying to harm them. She’s independent, but not afraid to ask for help, and her background as a trial interpreter gives her an insight into the legal and investigative process that comes in handy.

Overall, Dead Silence is a fast-paced and compelling thriller featuring a main character with a unique occupation. It’s well worth reading for those looking for a straight thriller with no romance.

Thanks to Shiloh Run Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Dead Silence

Political games can be deadly…

Elise Carmichael is a court sign language interpreter who reads lips all the time. As a widow with a young son who is deaf, lip reading is simply second nature, until the day she reads the lips of someone on the phone discussing an attempt to be made on a senator’s life—a senator who just happens to be her mother-in-law. Before she can decide what she needs to do, she receives the information that her son is rushed to the ER and she must leave.

Then she later sees the news report that her mother-in-law has been shot and killed. But when she comes forward, her life, as well as her son’s life, may now be in the crosshairs of the assassin.

Find Dead Silence online at:

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About Robin Caroll

Robin CarollRobin Caroll grew up in Louisiana with her nose in a book. She still has the complete Trixie Belden series, and her love for mysteries and suspense has only increased with her age. Robin’s passion has always been to tell stories to entertain others and come alongside them on their faith journey—aspects Robin weaves into each of her published novels.

Best-selling author of thirty-plus novels, ROBIN CAROLL writes Southern stories of mystery and suspense, with a hint of romance to entertain readers. Her books have been recognized in several awards, including the Carol Award, HOLT Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award, and more.

When she isn’t writing, Robin spends quality time with her husband of nearly three decades, her three beautiful daughters and two handsome grandsons, and their character-filled pets at home in the South. Robin serves the writing community as Executive/Conference Director for ACFW.

Find Robin Caroll online at:

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Who is your favourite Christian thriller author?

Bookish Question #130 | Who is you favourite Christian thriller author, and why?

Who is your favourite Christian thriller author? What do you like most about his/her books?

Tough question!

I’ve read a lot of Christian thrillers and romantic suspense novels over the years (and part of me prefers romantic suspense, because I like the romance element).

In terms of Christian thrillers I’ve read this year, three names spring to mind: Terri Blackstock, Steven James, and Siri Mitchell.

However, Synapse is the first Steven James novel I’ve read, and one book hardly makes a favourite. I’ve read five or six Siri Mitchell novels, and State of Lies definitely my favourite … but it’s also her first thriller. (She also writes historical fiction as Iris Anthony, and historical and contemporary romance as Siri Mitchell). Again, one book hardly makes a favourite.

So that leaves me with Terri Blackstock. I’ve read several of her series, including the brilliant If I Run series (If I Run, If I Hide, If I Live). As well as being great thrillers, the series is an object lesson in how to write Christian fiction that will appeal to general market readers.

I also loved Blackstock’s Emerald Windows, which was more contemporary romance. I didn’t like her Last Light series. Well, I read the first in the series and couldn’t stand the woman who turned out to be the main character. So I didn’t read the rest of the series.

Her latest is Smoke Screen, is possibly even better than If I Run, and I definitely hope it’s part of a series.

What do I like most about Terri Blackstock’s books?

All the things. The writing is excellent, and her plots and characters are consistently original and full of twists and surprises. I’ve read other suspense or thriller authors and got bored when they start recycling their plots or characters. Yes, there are times when recycling is a bad idea.

She’s also not afraid to go into the deep places in her plots. Smoke Screen centres around a pastor’s daughter who has turned to alcohol since her divorce, and her adulterous husband is now challenging her for custody of their two children. It’s perhaps more subtle suspense than If I Run, but it’s real.

I also love the way Terri Blackstock consistently weaves Christianity into her plots. It’s not the icing on the cake—something that’s added to the top to sweeten the Christian reader. It’s something that’s marbled throughout the story. It’s often subtle at first, then gets more obvious as the story progresses.

So that’s why I love Terri Blackstock’s books. What about you? Who is you favourite Christian thriller author, and why?

Neither wealth nor poverty make a parent. Love. Compassion. Kindness. Those constitute a parent, whether blood or not.

Book Review | The Pink Bonnet (True Colors) Liz Tolsma

The Pink Bonnet is part of Barbour Publishing’s new true crime series, which makes this statement from the front matter a little laughable:

This book is a work of fiction … Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.

Um, no. The Pink Bonnet is a fictional story based on the real-life Georgia Tann of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, and her kidnapping and sale of babies and children in adoption between 1924 and 1950.

Tann was aided in as many as 5,000 illegal adoptions by a lawyer, a judge, and a mayor.

Anyway …

I’ve previously read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, a dual timeline story which dealt with one fictional family broken by Georgia Tann’s misdeeds, so I knew The Pink Bonnet was going to touch on the tough subject of adoption. Liz Tolsma was an excellent choice to write this story, as she’s an adoptive parent herself, so understands some of the issues firsthand.

The Pink Bonnet is the story of widow Cecile Dowd, whose three-year-old daughter is handed over to Georgia Tann by her neighbour, who was babysitting Millie Mae while Cecile ran an errand.

Cecile will do anything to get her daughter back, but soon finds that logic and law aren’t on her side.

She needs help—which comes in the form of Percy Vance, one of Georgia Tann’s lawyers. Vance has his own reasons for supporting Tann’s adoption crusade. He begins to doubt Tann’s motives when he realises Mrs Dowd isn’t the uncaring and ignorant mother Tann portrayed.

This turns The Pink Bonnet into what could have been a run-of-the-mill romantic suspense chase to find Millie May. Instead, the author adds a layer of complexity by introducing two families who have recently adopted girls from Tann—girls they soon come to love. Is Millie one of these girls? Which one? And what will happen if and when Cecile Dowd finds her daughter?

There are no easy answers.

I’ve read one previous novel in Barbour’s true crime series, The White City by Grace Hitchcock, the story of America’s first serial killer. In some ways I found that easier to read, because the author had injected touches of humour which kept the book from becoming too dark.

The Pink Bonnet had no such light-hearted moments, which increased the tension almost to the point of being unbearable (especially as I knew Georgia Tann was an evildoer who really did ruin thousands of lives). But it’s also an excellent novel that wasn’t afraid to ask the hard questions about adoption.

The story is timely, given the news stories of ICE officials taking suspected illegal immigrants into custody—including reports of children being taken on their way to or from school … something Georgia Tann was known to do.

Overall, The Pink Bonnet is a well-written and thought-provoking story, but one that might hit too close to home for some readers given the subject matter.

Thanks to Barbour Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Liz Tolsma

Liz TolsmaPassionate might best describe Liz Tolsma. She loves writing, research, and editing. Her passion shone through in her first novel which was a double award finalist. On any given day, you might find her pulling weeds in her perennial garden, walking her hyperactive dog, or curled up with a good book. Nothing means more to her than her family. She’s married her high-school sweetheart twenty-eight years ago. Get her talking about international adoption, and you might never get her to stop. She and her husband adopted three children, including a son who is a U.S. Marine, and two daughters.

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About The Pink Bonnet

Widowed in Memphis during 1932, Cecile Dowd is struggling to provide for her three-year-old daughter. Unwittingly trusting a neighbor puts little Millie Mae into the clutches of Georgia Tann, corrupt Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society director suspected of the disappearance of hundreds of children. With the help of a sympathetic lawyer, the search for Millie uncovers a deep level of corruption that threatens their very lives.

How far will a mother go to find out what happened to her child?

Find The Pink Bonnet online at:

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Read the introduction to The Pink Bonnet below:

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Quote from State of Lies: Not too many employers were looking for quantum physicists. People tended to look at you strangely when you spoke of things like time travel, parallel dimensions, and wormholes as matters of fact.

Book Review | State of Lies by Siri Mitchell

It’s been a while since I’ve read a novel by Siri Mitchell. Her first novels were contemporary Christian romance, and I enjoyed the writing and the humour. She then moved into Christian historical romance. I read a couple and enjoyed Flirtation Walk, but didn’t enjoy the other—I didn’t like the characters, and found the language bloated when compared with her contemporary reads. However, after reading the other reviews, I see mine was a minority opinion.

I then read and enjoyed The Miracle Thief, the first of two general market historical novels released under the pen name of Iris Anthony. I thought it was a wonderful story, and was pleasantly surprised to find it actually had more Christian content than many of the Christian novels I read (and I’m not sure what it says about the publishing industry that the Christian publishers weren’t prepared to publish a novel featuring miracles, but a general market publisher was).

And now Siri Michell is back, and writing in a fourth genre: romantic suspense.

State of Lies is published by Thomas Nelson, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and is like many current Thomas Nelson books: well-written with a great plot and characters, but no overt Christian content. Despite that, it’s a great read.

Georgia Brennan is a physicist in Washington, DC. She’s married to Sean, a historian, is the mother of six-year-old Sam, and the daughter of a US Army general who might just be the next secretary of defence. Life is great.

Sean is killed in a car accident on his way to pick up a part he needed to fix the kitchen sink.

Months later, when Georgie goes to fix the sink, she realises Sean was lying. That starts Georgie following a trail of lies and leaves her questioning everything she knows to be true.

The novel is Georgie’s story, written in first person point of view. She is an intelligent woman, which is something I always like to see in fiction. She is a strong character with a strong voice, a voice which drives the narration forward without slowing the pace.

State of Lies is a brilliant thriller, with political and military links as befits the Washington DC setting. It’s well-written, with excellent characterisation, and just the right balance between red herrings and genuine clues … along with plenty of surprises. I like to be able to figure some things out when I read a thriller or suspense novel, but I also like to be wrong occasionally.

I hope this is the first of many suspense novels from Siri Mitchell. Recommended for fans of the Criss Cross series by CC Warrens, and the If I Run trilogy by Terri Blackstock.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Siri Mitchell

Siri MitchellSiri Mitchell is the author of 14 novels. She has also written 2 novels under the pseudonym of Iris Anthony. She graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and has worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri is a big fan of the semi-colon but thinks the Oxford comma is irritatingly redundant.

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About State of Lies

The secrets of those closet to us can be the most dangerous of all.

Months after her husband, Sean, is killed by a hit-and-run driver, physicist Georgie Brennan discovers he lied to her about where he had been going that day. A cryptic notebook, a missing computer, and strange noises under her house soon have her questioning everything she thought she knew.

With her job hanging by a thread, her son struggling to cope with his father’s death, and her four-star general father up for confirmation as the next Secretary of Defense, Georgie quickly finds herself tangled in a political intrigue that has no clear agenda and dozens of likely villains. Only one thing is clear: someone wants her dead too.

The more she digs for the truth, the fewer people she can trust.

Not her friends.

Not her parents.

Maybe not even herself.

Find State of Lies online at:

Amazon US | Amazon AU | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Kobo icon | Koorong

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