‘The Clouds Roll Away’ by Sibella Giorello – Book Review

One of my favorite book genres is Christian suspense. The latest book I have read in that category is ‘The Clouds Roll Away’ by Sibella Giorello.

Here is the synopsis of this suspenseful book:

Raleigh Harmon’s life seems as impossible to solve as the high-profile case she’s pursuing. Closing her assignment with the FBI’s Seattle office, forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon returns to her hometown of Richmond, Virginia, expecting a warm welcome. Instead she finds herself investigating an ugly cross burning at a celebrity’s mansion and standing in the crosshairs of her boss at the Bureau. And the deeper Raleigh digs into the case, the murkier the water becomes…until she’s left wondering who the real victim might be.

To make matters worse, Raleigh’s personal life offers almost zero clarity. Her former confidant is suddenly remote while her former boyfriend keeps popping up wherever she goes. And then there’s her mother. Raleigh’s move home was supposed to improve Nadine’s fragile sanity, but instead seems to be making matters worse.

As the threads of the case begins crossing and double-crossing, Raleigh is forced to rely on her forensic skills, her faith, and the fervent hope that a breakthrough will come, bringing with it that singular moment when the clouds roll away and everything finally makes sense.

Here is the biography of this author:

Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. Her novel The Stones Cry Out won a Christy Award. She  lives in Washington State with her husband and sons.

Sibella is a wonderful writer. The book is written in the first person. Here is Raleigh describing her boss at the FBI, Victoria Phaup. It is a wonderful combination of a physical description and character study:

She was a stocky woman with short brown hair threaded with gray. She must have been pretty at one time, but twelve years of clawing her way through Bureau management had compressed her small features into a persistent expression of defensiveness, her eyes like fractured gray pebbles. Thin mouth locked, loaded for counterattack. And her office smelled like dry ice. (p. 15)

It seems as though most people that are members of the FBI grow cynical. In contrast, Raleigh is a devoted Christ follower. Here she is discussing her faith with Hale Lasker, a member of the Ku Klux Klan who is serving a sentence at Meckleburg prison:

         “Do you care what’s next?” I asked.

         “What?”

         “Heaven. It exists.”

         He almost laughed. A dry sound at the back of his throat.

“Eight years I been in here, eight years with nothing but questions. You’re not going to hear my answers.”

“But your group believes in God.”

“My group? The Kiwanis?”

“I thought those crosses were supposed to put the fear of God in a man’s soul.”

“It’s right there in the Bible, God doesn’t want the races mixing.”

“And you believe the Bible.”

“Course I believe it. Heard of Job? That’s me. Festering wounds and all.”

“With one difference.”

“Job was a Jew.”

“God said Job was blameless.” (pp. 31-32)

This book is set in Raleigh’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Although I have never visited Richmond, Sibella provides so much detail that I felt as though I had been there. Here is an example, as she and her mother, Nadine, and housemate, Wally, head to St. John’s Church for the first time since her father’s death four year before:

He glowered out the side window as we passed downtown’s old department stores. Thalhimers and Miller & Rhodes, closed years before, abandoned for free parking and food courts at the suburban malls. On either side pawnshops sprouted up and furniture stores rented sofas for 20 percent interest monthly. Steel bars covered the windows.

But this was my city. Richmond. Noble and sad. Heroic and fallen. Forever on the verge of turning around. So much potential it hurt.

I glanced over at my mom. “You’re not nervous?”

“Whatever for?” she chirped.

For the memories, I wanted to say. For the anticipatory ache I already felt ten blocks away. My father’s church, the church for generations of Harmons, all the way back to 1775, when Patrick Henry stood up and delivered his ultimatum on liberty and death. St. John’s was also where we had his funeral.

After that, I couldn’t go back. Neither could she. (p. 45)

In addition to her mother, Raleigh had a sister. Here is our introduction to Helen and her partner, Sebastian:

Helen lived in bohemian splendor on Oregon Hills with an abstract artist named Sebastian Woodlief. Spawned by prestigious British boarding schools, Sebastian considered himself a passionate supporter of the workingman, despite never having a job himself. My dad prayed Helen wouldn’t marry someone like this. Unfortunately, his prayer was answered. There weren’t married; they lived together. (p. 67)

I love how Sibella intersperses Raleigh’s faith and worldview throughout the novel. Here is another example of that:

…[N]ot for the first time, I wondered about people’s attitudes, whether half the world’s agony would evaporate if each person discovered the talent God gave them instead of squandering days painting by numbers laid out according to someone else’s preference. Parents. Peers. Pastors. We read books bursting with self-help, about roads less traveled and finding bliss and all these so-called secrets to life. But they all left out the most crucial factor. We fought an enemy, invisible yet definite, who diligently worked to block us from our intended purpose, keeping us from the one thing that brought joy, that connected us from each other and to our Creator. Condemned and resentful, miserable and uncertain, we filled our minds with chatter from talk show hosts, always hoping for the answer, when all the while one simple supernatural prescription awaited: “Come to me.” (p. 105)

And here is how Raleigh interprets the theory of evolution:

When chimney smoke joined the darkening sky, I settled into the carriage house’s claw-footed bathtub for bubbles and Scientific American. Soaking in the suds, I read a good story about DNA, marred only by the author’s assumption that our double helixes of nucleic acid were the product of chance.

Quite an assumption. It was like saying blueprints could write themselves.

And not just any blueprints. Our DNA contained three billion complex sequences – for each living creature. The statistical probability of this happening by random selection was laughable. It was like saying tornadoes can rip through junkyards and create jumbo jets. Never mind that the second law of thermodynamics proved that over millions of years we grew closer to entropy than order, the opposite of what evolution claimed.

Scientifically speaking, evolution was whacked.

But try telling that to the smart people – the people who believed fish scales turned into feathers and sludge somehow squeezed out higher life forms. Try explaining the degree of planning and order and creative genius necessary for just one hundred working sequences, let alone three million.

Try it. They’ll call you delusional. Go figure. (p. 115)

That is a brilliant section of the book!

Although I have not focused on the plot to a great extent in this review, suffice to say that the storyline is suspenseful and wonderfully well-written.

I really loved this book; I read it in one day – I could not put it down! This is the first book I have read by Sibella. She is my friend on Facebook, and I had a feeling that I would love her writing; I definitely do! This is the second in the series featuring the Raleigh Harmon character. The first book is ‘The Rivers Run Dry.’ I have not read that one; this book stands alone from that book. I really loved this book, so it makes me want to go back and get the back story on Raleigh. The third book in the series, ‘The Mountains Bow Down,’ will be releasing March 1, 2011. I look forward to reading the continuing adventures of this strong and intelligent Christ follower!

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishers and provided by Thomas Nelson and the LitFuse Publicity Group for review purposes. I am happy to be participating in the blog tour with these others bloggers.

‘Certain Jeopardy’ by Captain Jeff Struecker with Alton Gansky – Book Review

I am normally not a reader of military-themed books. However, the latest book in my ‘to read’ list is ‘Certain Jeopardy’ by Captain Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky.

Here is the synopsis of this amazing novel:

Six American men live behind a protective façade; their real work hidden from neighbors and friends. Different in countless ways, they are intimately the same in one; at any moment their lives can be altered with a phone call, and their actions may change the world. They are Special Ops. And one team’s mission is about to hit certain jeopardy status when the discovery of an Al Qaeda base in Venezuela becomes secondary to thwarting the transport of a nuclear weapons expert from that training camp to Iran. Informed by the true combat experience on Captain Jeff Struecker and finessed by award-winning novelist Alton Gansky, Certain Jeopardy is an immersing and pulsating fictional account of what really happens at every level of a stealth engagement; the physical enemy encounter, the spiritual war fought within a soldier, and the emotional battles in families back at home.

Here are the biographies of these two authors:

Chaplain (Captain) Jeff Struecker is a decorated member of the United States Army’s most elite fighting corps whose personal experiences in Mogadishu, Somalia, were written about in the New York Times bestseller and major motion picture Black Hawk Down. In thirteen years of active duty, he also fought in Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Iris Gold in Kuwait. As a chaplain Jeff has done multiple tours in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He uses his personal story of survival on the battlefield to tell others how they, too, can be prepared for any circumstance life may bring.

Alton Gansky is a Christy Award-nominated and Angel Award-winning author who writes to stimulate thinking about spiritual matters. He served as a pulpit minister for twenty years and has published nearly thirty books. Alton and his wife, Becky, have three children and five grandchildren and live in the High Desert area of Southern California. 

Here is the book trailer for this action-packed novel:

The Prologue gives us an idea of what the book will provide – a little bit of humor and a lot of action. Here is a scene in Afghanistan introducing us to the six main characters:  

Sgt. First Class J.J. “Colt” Bartley and Master Sgt. Richard “Shaq” Harbison were paired a dozen yards away, almost invisible in their white camouflage and hunkered in a shallow trench. A few yards beyond them were Jose Medina, the team medic, and Martin Caraway. Caraway was the cause of all of this – Caraway and the goats.

Moyer wondered at the irony of it all. Years of training, the best intelligence, the finest equipment, a score of missions under their belts, and they get upended by goats. He could see the writing on his tombstone: TRAINED BY THE ARMY. BETRAYED BY A GOAT. KILLED BY THE TALIBAN. (p. 2)

Here’s another example of the humor and humanity of the men in this book. Here’s an exchange during a precarious predicament:

“I don’t recall reading about this in the recruitment brochure, Boss.”
It’s in the fine print, Caraway. You with us, Doc?” 
“Shaken and stirred but still in one piece.”                               
Relief flooded Moyer. “Injuries?”                                                        
“I could use a nurse, Boss.”                                           
“You’re hurt, Caraway?”
“No, I just like nurses.” (p. 10)

I really appreciated the fact that the authors focused on not only the six main characters, but their families back in the States. That made the book more appealing to me; I had more empathy for them. Here is an example of including the family in the story, as St. Major Eric Moyer thinks about his loved ones:

He saw his wife, strawberry blonde hair tickling the tops of her shoulders when she wore that yellow sundress he liked so much. Her image faded, replaced by Gina, his twelve-year old daughter. He had no free will with her. She could ask for the moon to be painted pink and Moyer would grab a ladder and have a go at it. Rob was a different matter. Sixteen years old and pushing every border and pressing every button Moyer had. They had argued just the night before, and Moyer lowered the boom. Odd, he was having trouble remembering what the argument had been about. (p. 17)

Despite that, I still am surprised how men who join the military, especially in a career Special Operations capacity, marry and have a family. The women (and men) who marry these people have to have a special constitution; it is not a situation in which I would be comfortable. I am not selfless enough to allow my husband to risk his life like that. It is a good thing Fred was in the Navy long before we met!        

One of the primary characters, J.J. Bartley is a strong Christian. He has gotten a lot of grief from his colleagues for his faith. Here’s a conversation between him and his commanding officer, Moyer; Moyer:

“I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t do this work and be a Christian. I’d have to give up one.”
The words soured J.J. “I couldn’t do this without being a Christian. It’s how I keep my sanity. It keeps me human.” He studies Moyer’s expression. “I’m talking about me and no one else, you understand.”
“Yeah, I got it.” After a moment, Moyer said, “You had me worried. I thought the team was going to lose you.”
“Lose me? Why would you think…oh, Afghanistan.”
“You looked pretty shook – no, not shook – troubled. You looked troubled at the end.”
… “I won’t lie to you, Boss. It bothered me. Still does. I helped kill a couple of men who did nothing more than follow their sheep into the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, we made the world a slightly better place by defeating a terrorist cell. No worries. I’m not going anyplace the Army doesn’t send me.”
“That’s good. The Army spent a ton of money training you. I’d hate to think my hard-earned tax dollars went for nothing.”
“Hey, I pay taxes too.” (p. 75)

The majority of the action in this action-packed book takes place in Venezuela. The main protagonist is Antonio Santi. Here is a peek into his mindset:

Antonio Santi had headed home for the day. Although the day’s activities would have tired most men, Santi felt energized. Juggling his duties as foreign minister with business dealings even President Chavez didn’t know about provided him the intellectual thrill he longed for. Younger men might bungee jump, ride a kayak over churning rapids, hunt big game in the jungle or cheat with other men’s wives. Santi got his adrenaline rush from working behind the scenes. The danger he faced was discovery, pure and simple. Chavez was not a man of scrupulous honesty, but he was a priest compared to his own foreign minister. (p. 177)

Fortunately, I like all different types of books; I am not strictly a ‘chick lit’ kind of gal! This book will probably be enjoyed more by men than by women. Having said that, I really liked it! It kept me riveted throughout, and I was interested in finding out what was going to happen to these six men and the people who love them. This is the first book I have read from either of these authors. I am assuming it was a real collaboration, with Captain Struecker writing from his military experience, and Mr. Gansky tweaking the book and giving it more finesse. However it was done, they did a great job with it! Since the release of this book, there has been a second novel by these two authors, ‘Blaze of Glory.’ I trust that that one is just as suspenseful and riveting as is this one. If you like Christian suspense and are a fan of the military, these books are right up your alley!

You can order this book here.

The book was published by B and H Publishing Group and provided by the Suspense Zone for review purposes. The copy I have is an Advance Reader’s Copy; the page numbers included with the quotes in this review may not correspond with the page numbers in the final printed version. 

‘Don’t Look Back’ by Lynette Eason – Book Review

In my neck of the woods (the Metro Detroit area), it is starting to get cold; we are having our first freeze warning around here. This is perfect weather to curl up with a good book that gets the spine a tingling. The latest book for me of that ilk is ‘Don’t Look Back’ by Lynette Eason.

Here is the synopsis of this book:

One Man Lives to See Her Dead – The Other is Fighting to Keep Her Alive. Twelve years ago, forensic anthropologist Jamie Cash survived a brutal kidnapping. After years of therapy, she has made a life for herself – though one that is haunted by memories of her terrifying past. She finally lets herself believe that she can have a close relationship with a man, when signs start appearing that point to one frightening fact – her attacker is back and ready to finish the job he started all those years ago.

Can she escape his grasp a second time? And will she ever be able to let down her guard enough to find true love?

Filled with heart-stopping suspense, gritty realism, and a touch of romance, Don’t Look Back pulls you into its twists and turns to hold you there until the very last page.

Here is the biography of this author:

Lynette Eason grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. She graduated from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and then obtained her master’s in education at Converse College. Author of ten inspiration romantic suspense novels, including Too Close to Home, she is a  member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). In 1996, Lynette married “the boy next door,” and now she and her husband and two children make their home in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

It was clear from the beginning of the book that there were some sparks between the two main characters – at least on the male side of the aisle:

FBI Special Agent Dakota Richards stared down at a pile of bones unearthed by the backhoe. Jamie would have her hands full with this one.

He looked up to see her coming toward him. She was dressed in a Tyvek jumpsuit she’d donned to avoid contaminating the scene. Underneath, he’d bet she had on her standard khaki capris and white long-sleeved t-shirt. In her right hand, she carried a pair of blue booties she’d placed over her red tennis shoes before entering the area.

As always, Dakota’s heart gave that extra little beat in response to her presence. And as always, she held herself at a distance even as she came closer. (p. 7)

A couple pages later, we learn the feelings are mutual:

Jamie ignored the thumping of her heart that Dakota’s presence always seemed to incite and turned her attention to her job. His dark curly hair, keen blue eyes, Stetson, cowboy boots, and Texas drawl combined to make him one attractive man. The problem was, she didn’t know what to do with her reaction to him, so she pretended it wasn’t there. (p. 9)

Fortunately for Jamie, she developed a closer relationship with God after her kidnapping twelve years earlier (as opposed to rejecting God, blaming Him for her ordeal). Here is her prayer after some odd occurrences:

“I don’t know what’s happening, God, but you’ve gotten me this far and I know you won’t leave me…no matter what. Please let there be a reasonable explanation for what’s going on and that I haven’t finally snapped and lost my mind.” (p. 27)

Jamie made the decision that she was going to turn her nightmare into an opportunity to help others:

Drawing in a shuddering breath, she berated herself for dwelling on the past. “You can’t change it, but God can use it. Let him.”

Just saying the words out loud brought her a measure of peace she’d never been able to explain. So she didn’t try to analyze it. She just accepted it for the gift that it was.

Her Savior. Her Lord. Her strength.  (p. 39)

I was really grateful to see that Jamie did not harbor bitterness over the events of the past – something so many people do so easily- but instead allowed it to grow her relationship with her Lord.

At several points in the book, we are given a glimpse into the mind of Jamie’s attacker, who resurfaces in her life after twelve years. He called himself ‘The Hero.’ The passages are chilling:

The Hero laughed softly to himself as he studied the pictures in the album. His treasure, his keepsake. One by one, he flipped the pages. His first damsel in distress, then the second, the third – the one that got away.     

He’d gotten careless with her. She’d begged him not to slit her throat. “Anything but that,” she’d wept. “I know you’re going to kill me, but do it any way you want, just don’t use a knife.” (p. 63)

Although some people might be offended by reading these types of passages, I personally think it is instructive to us to see how a psychopathic mind operates, so that we can be aware what abuse (as one example) can wrought.

Jamie’s testimony touched Dakota deeply. Here is their exchange prior to Jamie’s meeting with a victim of a traumatic incident:

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Silently, she prayed. Lord, you brought me here to help this young woman who’s experienced a terrible trauma. I need you to give me the words, the right thing to say. I need your peace. I need to feel your presence and your unconditional love. And she needs to know that you’re the only one who can fully heal her.

As she prayed, she felt her breathing slow, her thumping heart calm, and her desire to fidget lessen. For several more moments, she just sat as she let God flood her with his presence. Finally she was ready.

She opened her eyes. “Okay. I can do this now.”

Dakota stared at her, his blue eyes narrowed, a look she couldn’t define shining from their depths.

“What?” she asked.

“What just happened?”

“I prayed.”

“I know that. But something happened while you were praying. I watched it.”

She frowned at him, not really understanding what he was asking. “I just asked God to cover me with his presence and love. Plus I asked for peace, to be calm, and have the right words to say.”

“But you changed physically.”

“Yeah, it was like…something just…came over you. All the tension and anxiety that were coming off of you on the ride over here just…dissolved.”

Jamie shrugged and grinned. “Cool.”

He blinked. “Yeah. It was.”

Hesitantly, she asked, “You want to talk about it later?”

A slow nod. “Yes, I think I do.” (pp. 142-143)

Here is another spiritual exchange later in the book between Dakota and Jamie – further evidence of Jamie’s strong faith, and its impact on Dakota:

“‘For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.’”

“What?”

She’d whispered the words to herself so quietly, he hadn’t understood her. She looked at him with deep, soul clenching sorrow and clarified, “First Peter 2:21. I have to quote it when the desire for revenge takes over.”

Curiosity stared at her. “And it’s wrong to want revenge?”

“It’s not wrong to want justice, the desire to right a wrong or help put away the bad guys. But revenge, that’s not right. It’s not healthy and I won’t have it in my heart.”

She’d managed to render him speechless, she could tell. When he found his voice, he asked, “How?”

“How what?”

“How do you keep trusting him?”

“Because I can’t not trust him. Because he is who he says he is and he hasn’t let me down yet. Even when his ways aren’t my ways, he hasn’t failed me.” (p. 233)

That is powerful!

I really enjoyed this book! It was full of sympathetic characters and action that had a lot of twists and turns – perfect for the romantic suspense genre! I guessed who the protagonist was about two-thirds of the way through the book, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Lynette made it easy! She is a very talented and creative writer, and I was intrigued enough to keep reading even when life didn’t necessarily allow me that luxury (life always gets in the way of our reading, doesn’t it?!). This is the first book by Lynette that I have read – and it will not be my last!

I was really appreciative of the way in which Lynette wove so much scripture into the book. The Word of God is powerful, and it is so common for books that are considered to be ‘Christian’ not to have any scripture references at all in them. This one has enough to get the point across that Jesus is the answer, and there is no other!

This is the second book in Lynette’s ‘Women of Justice’ series; the first book was ‘Too Close to Home.’ My research uncovered that Jamie’s sister Samantha and her husband, Connor, who are secondary characters in this book, are the primary characters in ‘Too Close to Home.’ The fact that I felt such a connection to this book makes me want to go back and read that book. And I look forward with great anticipation to reading the third book in the series – and any subsequent books after that!

You can order this book here.

Available October, 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Books. This book was provided by Revell for review purposes.

'Fatal Burn' by Roxanne Rustand - Book Review

‘Fatal Burn,’ by Roxanne Rustand, tells the story of Kris Donaldson.  She is starting a new adventure in the beautiful mountains of Montana, her place of birth.  She has just inherited a piece of land from an aunt – an aunt she was not aware of prior to her death.  Kris has had some rough patches in life, primarily through the ill-advised marriage of a bad seed while she was still a teenager.  The choices she made – and the ones he made that impacted her - continue to plague her years to this day. 

Other main characters in the book are Trace and Carrie Randall, brother and sister, who live next to Kris.  Trace is a cowboy, fire fighter and arson investigator – and Kris finds him to be very attractive.  Carrie is a vivacious Jesus follower who allows the Holy Spirit to guide her and shine through her.

I appreciated how all of the main characters prayed when they needed guidance and illumination from God, and thanked and praised Him afterward.  They heard and followed an inner voice – the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit – that never steered them wrong – and will always guide and direct us on the right path as well.

Another strong theme in the book is accepting God’s forgiveness, and not getting stuck in the constant loop of replaying old sins and regrets.  As stated by Trace:

“ I've been so caught up in the past.  Guilt.  Regret.  Anger at myself… I guess God was sending me a wake-up call.  I always knew that He’s forgiven me, but I still needed to hand all that baggage over to Him and forgive myself.” (p. 209)

This is the second book in Mrs. Rustand’s  ‘Big Sky Secrets’ Trilogy.  The first book is ‘Final Exposure.’  The third book, ‘End Game,’ will be releasing in June 2010. 

I found this to be a sweet – yet suspenseful – story.  I look forward to learning what happens to these characters in the final book of the trilogy. 

This book was generously provided to me by the author for review purposes.