Thursday, September 30, 2010

Robin's Suspense Recommendation

Here's a great suspense by the "Seatbelt Suspense", "Don't Forget to Breathe", Brandilyn collins!



From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Collins and her trademarked "Seatbelt Suspense" will find her usual blend of good storytelling and notable mystery in this standalone tale of murder and suspicion wrapped in a cloak of deceit. Joanne Weeks is a skip tracer-someone who looks for deadbeats, a profession worth reading the book to learn more about-and knows that Baxter Jackson killed his wife, who was Joanne's best friend. The investigation stalls until Jackson's second wife turns up dead and frightening events begin to unfold in Joanne's life. Who is the man who jumps in front of her car on a rainy night? Why is he urging her to find Melissa Harkoff, a foster child long gone from the scene? Did someone break into Joanne's home? What does the Jacksons' foster daughter know about Linda Jackson's murder? Collins provides an enticing read while posing tough questions about truth and lies, power and control, faith and forgiveness. This will cause readers to look for the deceit in their own lives, and give them a fine summer read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Jul 2010. 320 p. Zondervan, paperback, $14.99. (9780310276449). Six years ago Joanne Weeks' best friend mysteriously disappeared, later to be declared dead. Her husband, a bigwig in the California town of Vonita, remarried, and now his second wife has died in an unlikely accident. Joanne, a skip tracer by trade, is convinced that Baxter Jackson murdered both his wives, maybe to collect on the insurance, maybe for other reasons. One thing she's sure of: if she intends to prove the man is a murderer, she'll need to find someone who saw something important, six years ago. The author is known for fiction that blends mystery with Christian themes (and for not hitting the reader over the head with the latter: it's there, but it's subtle). Here her primary focus is the mystery, and it's is solidly constructed. Joanne is a strong and immediately likable protagonist, and the book's ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel, which wouldn't be a bad idea at all. -- Collins, Brandilyn (Author) (Collins, Brandilyn (Author) )

Robin's Thoughts: Get the book. If you love a good suspense, you won't be sorry!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Robin's Recommended Reading for Wednesday

Okay, looking for the ultimate love story? Try reading this amazing story of Eve by an amazing woman.



From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Lee surprised the evangelical Christian literary world with her acclaimed Demon: A Memoir. Her fans will be equally pleased with her newest, a passionate and riveting story of the Bible's first woman and her remarkable journey after being cast from paradise. Havah, Adam's chosen name for Eve, recounts her life from a singular vantage point. From having known only blissful innocence, she must struggle through every post-Garden moment. Frustration compounds her plight as she repeatedly attempts to regain her former idyllic existence and repeatedly fails. Havah's life becomes a fight for survival once she and Adam are cast from the Garden, and Lee's poetic prose beautifully depicts the couple's slow surrender to a world tending to destruction. Havah gives birth, raises a brood of children, watches one son kill another, observes disease and death. Yet all the while, she waits for the fulfillment of "the One" (God) who will bring reconciliation and redemption through her seed. Lee's superior storytelling will have readers weeping for all that Havah forfeited by a single damning choice.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
Lee surprised the evangelical Christian literary world with her acclaimed Demon: A Memoir. Her fans will be equally pleased with her newest, a passionate and riveting story of the Bible's first woman and her remarkable journey after being cast from paradise. Havah, Adam's chosen name for Eve, recounts her life from a singular vantage point. From having known only blissful innocence, she must struggle through every post-Garden moment. Frustration compounds her plight as she repeatedly attempts to regain her former idyllic existence and repeatedly fails. Havah's life becomes a fight for survival once she and Adam are cast from the Garden, and Lee's poetic prose beautifully depicts the couple's slow surrender to a world tending to destruction. Havah gives birth, raises a brood of children, watches one son kill another, observes disease and death. Yet all the while, she waits for the fulfillment of "the One" (God) who will bring reconciliation and redemption through her seed. Lee's superior storytelling will have readers weeping for all that Havah forfeited by a single damning choice. --Publisher's Weekly Review

My thoughts? Read the book...enjoy the story of Eve, from a different point of view!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Robin's Recommendations for Today

I'm here today to recommend a great book, by a really great guy:


Heard of it? From Publishers Weekly
Debut author and professional marketer Rubart has created a suspenseful tale in the vein of Ted Dekker's House, in which inexplicable happenings take over and direct a character's life. Twenty-five-year-old Micah Taylor receives a mysterious letter from a great-uncle he never knew informing him of a home built for him by said uncle. His interest piqued, Micah, a wealthy software company owner, takes off for the Oregon coast to visit his newly acquired 9,000-square-foot house. What he finds is a shape-shifting, mind-boggling revisiting of his past that jeopardizes his future. With only a handful of letters as his guide, Micah tries to summon up the courage to face old wounds that somehow are connected to various rooms in the house itself. As soon as Taylor opens one door, in floods a sea of memories that he must choose to face or run from. Rubart's work clips along nicely, and his premise is compelling. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend.

When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.

My thoughts: Jim Rubart explodes onto the publishing scene with a book that will thrill readers and leave them anxious for his next book. ROOMS is a book that will make readers think, analyze their own lives, and will stick with them long after they've finished reading the book. Rubart crafts deep and complex characters who are so real, you feel as if you know them. Highly recommend this book...it's a must-read!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Home From ACFW

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the recent ACFW conference in Indy. Upon return, however, it was apparent that I brought home a cold with me. Still battling the misery. I'll be posting more about the conference later, when I feel more like myself. Until then, here are a few random photos from the conference.

With Heather Tipton
With Dineen Miller & Ronie Kendig
With Jeanne Wynn
with Pam Hillman
With Cheryl Wyatt