Category Archives: Reviews

“The Yellow Lantern” by Angie Dicken is the 3rd book in the True Colors Series. True Colors features “historical stories of American crime.” I’ve been a huge fan of this series starting with “The White City,” and followed up by “The Pink Bonnet.”“The Yellow Lantern” takes place in 1824. It features a ring of body snatchers who steal the bodies from freshly dug graves so that they can be used in medical research. They pull Josephine, the main character, into their schemes, Things get even more complicated when she begins to have romantic feelings for her manager at the cotton Read more…

Henri Nouwen has a gift for expressing the deep truths of an intimate walk with God, in a very accessible way. So I was very excited when I heard that “Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety,” was ready to hit the bookshelves. This is some of Nouwen’s never before published work. It focuses on how loving God and following Him in that love, allows us to feel His peace in the worst situations. This is expressed especially well in the chapter entitled The Cross. At one point I felt almost as if it was written Read more…

After the 1st book in the “True Colors” series, blew me away, I was looking forward to the next offering in the series. I was rewarded! In “The Pink Bonnet,” author, Liz Tolsma, explores the underbelly of Memphis Tennessee in the 1930s when parents dared not to leave their children alone, for fear they may just disappear.Imagine leaving your child with a neighbor so you can go on a job interview. You return home to discover the neighbor has given her to someone who runs an orphanage. What lengths would you go to, to get her back? That’s just what Read more…

“Those People” by Louise Candlish is a mystery/psychological thriller set in England that strikes at the heart of where you live. I found it incredibly gripping, similar to the 1990 film, “Pacific Heights,” about a bad renter. Only this was more disturbing, because you don’t have to become a landlord, but you can rarely control who moves into your neighborhood. What’s your recourse when the new neighbor on the block is a menace?The characters were well written and easy to relate to.I couldn’t stop turning pages to see what would happen next. What would this lunatic newcomer do next? And, Read more…

“The Sentence is Death” by Anthony Horowitz is the 2nd book in the Detective Daniel Hawthorne Series. The first book in the series is “The Word Is Murder.” What makes this series so unique is how “meta”[1] it is. Horowitz places himself in the story as a writer who is following and working with a disgraced detective turned police consultant, Daniel Hawthorne. They don’t particularly get along. Horowitz spends a great deal of time trying to solve the mystery himself, while also trying to find out what Hawthorne is trying so hard to hide about his private life. These characters Read more…

“Shadow among Sheaves” is a beautiful allegory of the story of Ruth and Boaz from the Bible. Naomi Stephens sets this tale in 1857, when there was much anti-India sentiment in England, due to a bloody rebellion in the empire’s colony. Yet, Rena fell in love with a British officer and married him. When she and her mother-in-law, both found themselves widowed and destitute, they returned to England. Yet, England didn’t welcome Rene with open arms.The historical context of this book fascinated me. The characters seemed to come to life on the (digital) page. If you don’t know the story Read more…

“Man of the Year” by Caroline Louise Walker immediately grabbed me with its biting honest narrative. Sag Harbor has just honored Dr. Robert Hart as the Man of the Year. His entire community looks up to him (or at least they act as if they do). It looks like he has it all. How far will he go to keep it? As if sensing things aren’t always what they seem to be, Dr. Hart becomes increasingly paranoid.“Man of the Year”…hammers home the principle that honesty is always the best policy. But what if the truth isn’t what you think it Read more…

“A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson is aptly named. The book isn’t about Dennis Rader (also known as BTK) the serial killer who terrorized Wichita, Kansas. It’s about his daughter and her process of recovering after the trauma of learning that her father was BTK. This might sound like semantics, but for me, it made the book an exceptional read. It’s not for gawkers who want an eye full of the gory details of BTK’s crimes. It is a story of recovery, forgiveness, and the immeasurable grace of God.Karri Rawson…was an adult, Read more…