Suspense

The Edge of Recall By Kristen Heitzman Review by Shari Van Baale

A whisper in her ear... A voice in her head... A dream...or a recurring nightmare? From unconscious thought to conscious shock, our story begins, at first in regression, and then - Smith Chandler, now a design architect with his own team, calls on an old college friend (who was also a previous girlfriend), Tessa Young, hoping to recruit her to help him complete a special new build. It requires the reconstruction of an authentic 17th century labyrinth on the grounds where Smith is designing a mammoth custom home for his clients. Read the full review

Skizzer By A. J. Kiesling Review by Deborah Khuanghlawn

Claire's sister has gone missing. With barely any clues to go by, she and her brother-in-law go in search of Becca trying find the reason why she disappeared. Family secrets become revealed in their search, causing many closed wounds to open again. Among their travels, Claire is taken back to memories of her childhood trying to remember what could have caused Becca to leave so suddenly. These secrets cause her to rethink about her past and makes her wonder if the truth would be better off buried forever.  Read the full review

The Voice By Bill Myers Review by Cheri Clay

Jazmin’s parents have created a program that allows them to hear the Voice of God, a program that they have been kidnapped for. Jaz is only thirteen years old, a very grownup thirteen-year-old and has run to the one place her parents always told her to go if there was trouble: to her Uncle Charlie.  Read the full review

America the Beautiful By Laura Hayden Review by Deborah Khuanghlawn

Emily Benton is on the verge of becoming the first female to be elected President of America. Her campaign manager Kate Rosen is doing whatever it takes to make Emily's lifelong dream come true. This means making Emily look to be the best candidate possible and proving to the voters that she has what it takes to run the nation. However, there are those that want to stop Emily with threats and shootings. Kate also has to face the dilemma of what to do when her faith conflicts with the dark side of politics.  Read the full review

BLOOD BROTHERS By Rick Acker Review by Nora St. Laurent

Reading this fast legal suspense story, Blood Brothers was like being buckled into an intense thrill ride.  You know the kind. The extremely amazing roller coaster ride with all its surprises, twists, turns, ups and downs.  I just couldn’t put this book down.  I kept reminding myself “This is just Fiction” (breathe)! What was so unnerving to me was the story line about the pharmaceutical companies and how they rule the world! (or would like to). It was fascinating and scary all at the same time when Rick Acker describes the internal workings of a large pharmaceutical company and how they interact with the FDA.  All the court room drama in the story was just as powerful. It reminded me of the TV show Law and Order “Criminal Intent” on steroids, very vivid and deep.  Read the full review

Fossil Hunter by John B. Olson Review by Karen Higson

Katie James is a Paleontologist from the University of New Mexico, and she is also a Christian, the daughter of a Baptist minister. When the scientific community gets wind of this fact, they all but excommunicate her. Katie has proven herself and her facts many times over, but the fact that her last artifact was destroyed before she could get it out has left many to assume that she was destroying it to hide the data that it would have uncovered, data they think may have proven evolution rather than creation—and they believe that as a Christian, she couldn't let that happen.  Read the full review

White Soul By Brandt Dodson Review by Roseanna White

Ron Ortega is an undercover cop in a world of drugs and violence.  He’s infiltrating one of the most dangerous gangs in Miami, and things are going according to plan.  The boss trusts him. He begins to learn the secrets he needs to bring them down.  And that’s when things start to go wrong. Read the full review

The Warriors By Mark Andrew Olsen Review by Roseanna White

Dylan Hatfield is back in action, in a place he never thought he’d be—a stronghold of evil so powerful it can kill.  Abby Sherman is summoned to Israel to receive the last words of a respected Watcher, only to be told to search for an ancient document that will help her call up Warriors.  And all around them, a new terrorist threat bears down on the U.S. with a fury no one is sure they can stop. Read the full review

Nobody By Creston Mapes Review by Cheri Clay

Chester Holte has been gunned down, and in a pool of blood is where Las Vegas Review Journal reporter Hudson Ambrose finds him. From all outward appearances Chester seems to have been a homeless man, but, not waiting for the police, Ambrose decides to search the dead man for an ID. What he finds astonishes him: a bankbook with a balance of almost a million dollars and what looks like a bank key. In a split second Hudson decides to take the items, and bizarre and strange twists of events sets him on a course that will change his life forever. Read the full review

Solemnly Swear By Nancy Moser Review by Sarah Katie

Pattie McCoy’s boyfriend is dead. Will the members of the jury find her guilty… or innocent? The jury members all have their own point of view. Are they able to put aside their differences and come up with a verdict? Read the full review

Never Look Back By Kathy Herman Review by Cheri Clay

Twenty-nine-year-old Ivy Griffith is starting over, just released from a six month stay in prison for keeping quiet about a murder in high school. Yes, she could have chose community service instead of prison, but she knew she had to pay for the past. Totally clean from the drugs and all that was in her past, she begins for the first time to raise her seven-year-old son Montana on her own.  Read the full review

The Seeing By Bill Myers Review by Cara Putman

An evil presence looms over the desert community. Native American legend calls it Tahquitz. The new casino operators call it an opportunity to make money…Luke Kauffmann can see things others can’t – thanks to a pair of strange goggles that give him glimpses into dimensions around him. Read the full review

Fuse of Armageddon By Sigmund Brouwer & Hank Hanegraaff Review by Roseanna White

I’ve read a lot of books about the eventual second coming of Christ—the fiction, and a few of the nonfiction.  I’ve studied Revelation, I’ve spent long hours thinking about what it all might mean.  I’m not alone in that, I know.  Millions of Christians, of Americans, are preparing themselves for the End.  But not until I read Brouwer & Hanegraaff’s novel Fuse of Armageddon did I stop to wonder who I might be hurting with my beliefs. Read the full review

Fearless By Robin Parrish Review by Cara Putman

Fearless is the second installment in the three-part Dominion trilogy. The author describes Fearless as chapter two of three, and I agree. All the characters and plotlines from Relentless continue here, but don’t end. The story builds to a crescendo and left me wanting more.   Read the full review

The Cure By Athol Dickson Review by David White

The Cure is an intricate, well-written story full of twists and subplots what lead to an unexpected but fulfilling conclusion. Read the full review

The Dead Whisper On by T.L. Hines Review by Jake Chism

Canada MacHugh’s life is about to change in ways she never imagined. As far as Canada is concerned though, a change would be nice. She has lived her whole life in the mining community of Butte, Montana, and once upon a time she even worked as a miner. These days she is biding her time as a garbage collector, all the while wondering if life has more in store for her.  Read the full review

Deception By Randy Alcorn Review by Cheri Clay

Oliver Justice Chandler, Ollie for short, Portland Oregon detective. A modern day Sherlock Holmes, Mike Hammer, and Sam Spade all rolled into one. Even calls his house the old brownstone, referring to Sherlock Holmes, and wears a trench coat and a fedora hat to match the classics. Someone who goes against the flow, rubs people the wrong way, but always follows the evidence to solve the crime.  Read the full review

Sorcerer by James Byron Huggins Reviewed by Jake Chism

All Michael Thorn wants is to peacefully retire and enjoy life with his wife and children. Life as a detective has taken its toll, and Thorn and his family are ready for a change in their new home in New England. Unfortunately the old house they are moving into is harboring an ancient evil that is waiting to be unleashed.  Soon Michael Thorn finds himself battling an evil, insurmountable foe that threatens his family and wants him dead. With the help of a secret sect of clergy warriors Thorn must summon all his strength and courage as he fights to the death.  Read the full review

Veil of Fire By Marlo Schalesky Review by Laura V. Hilton

September 1, 1894 started out as any other day in Hinckley, MN—except it seemed abnormally hot for a Minnesota September, and it was hard to breathe. Ellie Jean’s mother is finishing up a dress she’s making as a gift, when they happened to look outside and see a wild fire racing out of control toward them. They grab the horse and attempt to outrun the fire, hoping to catch the train. But the train is leaving the burning station when they arrive. Someone reaches from the train and grabs Ellie Jean, but her mother is consumed by the fire.   Read the full review

Tribulation House By Chris Well Review by David White

Tribulation House is a fast paced, entertaining, often funny, and always illuminating little book. Divided into short, punchy chapters, it’s an easy read, and each set of characters accomplishes different tasks. Of course we have Mark Hogan, our main character, though it would be difficult to call him a hero. His sections are written in first person as he tells police detectives about his life, his religion, and, of course, his crime: the murder of one Reverend Daniel Glory. Read the full review

The Watchers by Mark Andrew Olsen Reviewed by Jake Chism

Abby Sherman’s spiritual visions have seemingly come from nowhere and are about to lead her on the greatest adventure of her life. When she decides to share these visions on her blog, she has no idea that she will soon become a world-wide internet celebrity. Dylan Hatfield is an ex-military assassin for hire, and his latest mark is this young woman whose visions are causing global ripples of colossal proportions. Soon their paths will collide on a journey that will lead them around the world as they strive to uncover the mystery and origins of the Watchers, a unique group of women blessed with spiritual sight. All the while they must rely on God to lead and deliver them as spiritual and physical forces seek to destroy them from all sides. Read the full review

 

Waking Lazarus by T.L. Hines Reviewed by Jake Chism

T.L. Hines has crafted a stunning debut novel that is not to be missed. Jude Allman has died three times, only to miraculously rise from the dead each time. Doctors have no explanation for Jude’s unique ability and he is reluctantly thrust into the spotlight for the public eye. Jude retreats to Red Lodge, Montana and changes his name and identity, hoping for a fresh start and escape from celebrity status. As Jude settles into his new life, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of trouble once again. Someone is kidnapping children, and whether Jude likes it or not he is the only who can stop it.  Read the full review

 

The Root of All Evil By Brandt Dodson Review by Cara Putman

When I picked up The Root of All Evil, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It is the third book in the Colton Parker series by Indiana author Brandt Dodson. When you read Colton Parker think one of the FBI agents from NUMB3Rs ten or fifteen years down the road. They’ve lived a little, lost a lot, and are now trying to find footing without the FBI. In Colton’s case, he’s a recent widower with a teenage daughter and a fledgling – read struggling – PI firm. Read the full review

DEAD OF NIGHT By Brandilyn Collins Review by Laura V. Hilton

A serial killer is on the loose in Redding, California. The city is terrorized. Five murders in as many months. The killer is stealthy, cunning. When forensic artist, Annie Kingston, discovers the sixth body almost in her backyard, the police feel that the serial killer is taunting her.  Read the full review

 

Life Support  by Robert Whitlow Review by Roseanna White

If I had to tell you my opinions of Robert Whitlow’s Life Support in the way of a movie critic or a Roman emperor, it would be as two thumbs way up. As anyone who has read my reviews can attest to, I’m a big fan of the real-life characters who exist in this world, not a rosy picture of it. So I really, really appreciated that this novel presented the hard choices of life that are universal, not the ones the just strike Christians. Indeed, through the first chunk of the book, I actually wondered how any Christian aspect was going to be thrown in, since all of our characters were as closed-off to faith as they could be. And when it did enter, it was gracefully, subtly, and so beautifully that it was really no wonder it caught hold. The Lord moves in many ways, and Life Support gives us a picture of several of them, both the gentle and the sudden. Read the full review

SHOWDOWN By Ted Dekker  Review by Vanessa Ng

Paradise: a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight  Evil is about to visit Paradise, Colorado.     When Marsuvees Black arrived in Paradise offering the residents Grace and Hope, no one expected what was about to happen to their small community. No one except Johnny Drake. Read the full review

 

Secrets, Lies & Alibis by Patricia H. Rushford and Harrison James Review by Roseanna White

Finally! I don’t know about you, but I love the CSI type of stories, the problem-solving, clue gathering kind of mystery. Rushford and James deliver in a big way, giving the action and crime solving I love with an integrity that is often missing in them. Secrets, Lies & Alibis takes us along on the first homicide investigation to which new detective Mac McAllister is assigned–and it’s a doozy. He and his veteran partner, Kevin Bledsoe, have the interesting problem of too many leads and not enough evidence to know which one to follow up. From page one, this narrative grabs you and doesn’t let go until you’re biting your nails in an attempt to figure out whodunnit.Read the full review

 

Self Incrimination By Randy Singer Review by Vennessa Ng

I love a good legal thriller, so when I found this book at the local bookshop, I snapped it up. Having heard how great it was, how could I not?  Read the full review

Silenced by Jerry Jenkins Review by Roseanna White

Let me begin by saying I have a low tolerance for stupidity. A random way to start talking about a good book, I know, but bear with me. Thanks to that low tolerance, I have on more than one occasion put a book down to keep the idiotic characters from frustrating me out of the delight I usually have simply picking up a book. While reading Silenced, I almost put it down for that very reason several times. The characters and their native intelligence came through for me, but there were a couple close calls there when I was really gritting my teeth. The salvation of their silliness, I think, was the fact that those scenes in which they portrayed it were short, hence granting us some relief. Read the full review

 

Soon by Jerry Jenkins Review by Roseanna White

Readers around the globe have become familiar with Jenkins’ writing though the best-selling Left Behind series he coauthored with Tim LaHaye. In Soon, Jenkins begins a new tale of a time before the rapture, a time in many ways just as frightening for believers everywhere. In this world, following a Third World War, the consolidated government reacts to extreme destruction around the earth by outlawing religion–the cause, in their eyes, of all the trouble. We’re brought into the story over thirty years after the fact, when "subversive" sects of Christianity are once again beginning to sprout up and "cause trouble." This trouble usually manifests itself in literature and peaceful, secretive gatherings that manage to get the upper levels of the government tied in knots. Read the full review