Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Line of Duty by Terri Blackstock (Review)

Series: Newpointe 911 #5
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Zondervan
Released: October 8, 2003
378 pages
About the Book:

At the request of her many fans--Terri Blackstock revisits the heroic cast of characters in this fifth book in her best-selling Newpointe 911 series In Line of Duty, a bomb explodes at the Icon International building in New Orleans while lawyer Jill Clark Nichols is in the top floor boardroom. The thirty-story building goes up in flames and fire departments from all around the area are called in. The firefighters from Newpointe are especially concerned since they know Jill is inside the building. Dan, her husband, rushes in to save her. But as firefighters work to evacuate the upper floors of the building, a second and third bomb explode, causing the lower floors to cave in. Firefighters and civilians are buried beneath the rubble. When the smoke finally clears, a count is taken. Jill narrowly escapes the chaos of the explosions and fire only to find Dan missing. Were the bombs the act of a terrorist, or a scheme coming from a heart of greed? Can Jill's faith carry her through these long days of pain and uncertainty? And will Dan survive this tragedy . . . or sacrifice his life in the line of duty?



My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Action pack for sure. A bombing at a 30-story building happens very early on. We are following characters both inside the building trying to get out and emergency personnel we've met in the previous books of this series. The beginning feels very reminiscent of the Sept. 11th events - people trying to escape the building and workers trying to save people. For the majority of the story, we are following Dan & Jill but are introduced to new characters we haven't met before as well. I liked how Jill embraced Ashley at her time of need. Clara was exasperating at first, but she changed over time, and I was rooting for her and Dan to repair their relationship. There is a lot of faith discussions throughout, and it felt natural within the context of the situation. It provided quite a bit to think about. Dan and Ashley's pain felt raw and real, I hurt for both of them. I liked how Jill responded to both of their questions, and the way she challenged Dan's comments about his situation was perfect. Some of my favorite characters were around for the first half of the book, but then they disappeared into the background and I missed them. The emergency personnel has been through so much over the course of the series. The ending provides a nice conclusion to the events and hope for the future, but I am also left wanting to know what that future looks like.

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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Monday, June 10, 2024

The Confession by Robert Whitlow (Review)

Genre: Legal Fiction 
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: August 5, 2014
416 pages
About the Book:

Confession is good for the soul, but it could mean death to an ambitious young lawyer.

Assistant DA Holt Douglas has made a career of getting confessions from criminals. With a confession in hand, he knows a guilty plea is soon to follow.

In the midst of professional success, Holt is haunted by a secret—a lie he buried in the grave of his best friend. Holt’s crime is hidden from all eyes—family, friends, police, and his soon-to-be fiancé.

But the truth has a way of coming back to life.

With obsessive prosecutorial zeal, Holt reopens a cold case involving the death of the town’s wealthiest citizen. The man’s death was ruled a suicide, but Holt suspects murder. Facing fierce opposition, he is determined to expose the killer. Holt slowly begins to unravel the facts.

And comes face-to-face with his own guilty conscience.

With his job, his relationship with the woman he loves, and his future at risk, Holt skirts the boundary between truth and lies, confession and hypocrisy, redemption and ruin. Can he survive long enough to finally make the right choice?


My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐


The prologue hooked me, and let us know what secret Holt is keeping. Then it jumps in time, and Holt is now the assistant DA in a small town. Even though I knew what his secret was I liked him and enjoyed following his day to day life. A cold case comes across Holt's desk and something about it bothers him, so he begins digging to find out more details. This reveals secrets that have been kept hidden, but what's the right way to deal with it? I enjoyed how Bishop Pennington befriended Holt even though he didn't attend his church. He provided Holt a listening ear and pointed him to God. I wasn't a fan of Trish's character, she had a crush on Holt even though she was a Christian and he wasn't, and she was also seeing someone. The fact that Holt shared his secret to someone who was practically a stranger felt unrealistic. Holt's secret is revealed but the question is how will it affect the life he had made and how will he respond? The focus of the story is forgiveness. There isn't a ton of action in this one it seemed more like regular life. I thought I knew where it was going to go relationship wise but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't and prefer the way it went.

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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Sunday, June 9, 2024

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (Review)

Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publisher: Tyndale House 
Released: January 1, 1971
About the Book:

The Hiding Place is Corrie ten Boom’s personal story of faith, forgiveness, and love for the persecuted Jewish community during the World War II Nazi invasion and occupation of Holland. Part of an underground resistance movement, Corrie and her family risked their lives to hide Jewish friends within a secret wall space of the Beje, their beloved clock shop and home in Haarlem, Netherlands. Her heroic actions eventually led to her arrest and imprisonment at Ravensbrück, the German Reich’s largest concentration camp for women.






  

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐


The book was both enlightening and disturbing to read what Corrie and her family experienced during this time in history. How can anyone treat other humans this way? The faith and dedication to God demonstrated by the family was inspiring. I enjoyed that the book covered her growing up years, the resistance work, and time spent in prison and then a bit of her work after her release. I learned so much from this book, and it challenged me to think about how I would respond if I were in her situation. I did struggle with the writing style at times as it would jump within a chapter. I knew a bit of this story before reading it and was shocked to discover how old Corrie was when the imprisonment happened. The ending was a full circle moment when Betsy's vision became a reality for Corrie.

Two particular parts stick out to me - 1. Corrie seeing how Besty transformed her jail cell into a place that felt more comfortable just by the way the coats and mats were arranged. 2. How Betsy would thank God for everything around them, the good and the bad.

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)
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Saturday, June 8, 2024

One Little Lie by Colleen Coble (Review)

Series: Pelican Harbor #1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: March 3, 2020
352 pages
About the Book:

When Jane Hardy is appointed interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama, after her father retires, there's no time for an adjustment period. He is arrested for theft and then implicated in a recent murder, and Jane quickly realizes she's facing someone out to destroy her father.

They escaped from a cult fifteen years ago, and Jane has searched relentlessly for her mother—who refused to leave—ever since. Could someone from that horrible past have found them?

Reid Bechtol is a well-known journalist who makes documentaries, and his sights are currently set on covering Jane's career. Jane has little interest in the attention, but the committee who appointed her loves the idea of the publicity.

Jane finds herself depending on Reid's calm manner as he follows her around taping his documentary, and they begin working together to clear her father. But Reid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross.

It started with one little lie. But Jane Hardy will do everything in her power to uncover the truth.


My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐


I loved the prologue and was immediately invested to find out where this story was going to take me, but then when the time jumped happened it felt like the writing style changed and I struggled to connect with the characters. Jane has just been appointed the interim police chief and now has two murders to solve along, a couple missing people and her dad being arrested. Jane is determined that someone is framing her father, but due to her role has to be careful how she handles the case. What is going on and does it all tie together and if so how? Meanwhile Jane has been ordered by the mayor to allow Reid, a journalist who is known for video documentaries, to follow her around with a video camera. Reid is keeping a pretty big secret and I found it a little hard to believe that Jane did not figure it out sooner. Explanations were provided to explain why Jane didn't figure out but it felt forced and a little unbelievable. There is so much happening in this story and quite a few characters introduced (some who have very little impact on the story) that at times I struggled to keep up. I appreciated that there was very little romance in this as I felt that with all the situations and emotions Jane was dealing with was enough. The main case of the story does conclude in this book, but the personal relationships of the main characters will be carried over into book two.

(I borrowed this book from the library; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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