Book Reviews: Fragments of Fear, Formula of Deception, and Carry Me Home

This is not a life update. This is a novel-love update. :D

So, have any of you heard of the Christian fiction author scavenger hunts that happen in the fall and spring? They are tremendous! Probably not the correct adjective, but they really are...insightful. Again, not the correct adjective. They introduce me to new authors, and I discovered one that I LOVE. So. They are tremendously insightful in directing me to new books and authors. There. Click here to learn more.

Through the most recent scavenger hunt, I came across author and forensic artist Carrie Stuart Parks. Forensic artist--I bet she writes interesting stuff, yeah? But then, she said that Frank Peretti was her mentor. He's only my favorite fiction author of all time. His books are riveting. As I was able to find Carrie Stuart Parks' books free on Hoopla (library app--it's amazing), I immediately downloaded and began listening to Fragments of Fear.

As you may have inferred, this is not a slowly-unfolding Christian romance. The first chapter gripped my attention. Here is what the Amazon summary says:

Evelyn McTavish’s world came crashing down with the suicide of her fiancé. As she struggles to put her life back together and make a living from her art, she receives a call that her dog is about to be destroyed at the pound. Except she doesn’t own a dog. The shelter is adamant that the microchip embedded in the canine with her name and address makes it hers.

Evelyn recognizes the dog as one owned by archaeologist John Coyote because she was commissioned to draw the two of them. The simple solution is to return the dog to his owner—but she arrives only to discover John’s murdered body.

The problem is, no one believes her. No one listens. This book will keep you guessing--and fearing for her life--until the very end.

I almost immediately began listening to the other Carrie Stuart Parks' audiobook available on Hoopla (excellent reader, btw).

Formula of Deception is about artist Murphy Anderson who has come to Alaska to find out what happened to her sister who was murdered (or was she?) by a serial killer. But when Murphy's money and ID are stolen, she poses as a forensic artist so she can get a job, and then gets caught up in a long-buried mystery about Ruuwaq Island.

This one was just as riveting, though with a slightly slower start. It also has some funny quips. The romance is definitely on the back burner, though the attraction is stated outright. Death and injury seem to haunt the main character like a hound dog, and you don't know who to trust through the whole thing! I'll admit, when it was over, I thought, "What just happened?" It was a little confusing!

As there were no more Carrie Stuart Parks audiobooks on Hoopla, and as I ran out of book allowances for the month (boooo!), I moved on to another author I wanted to try from the scavenger hunt.

Dorothy Adamek is an Australian author, and her book Carry Me Home is set in Australia. That's what drew me--to read a book set in a place that the author knows intimately! Well, the storyline drew me too. Excerpt from Amazon:

Chasing her dead father’s dreams, the twenty-year-old English bride arrives in Australia in 1875 for an arranged marriage....

But instead of her fiancé, Finella is met by Shadrach Jones, a poor farmer sent to collect her from the busy Melbourne pier.

Carry Me Home is much more like the other novels I have reviewed here. The setting is the Australian equivalent of "pioneer life" along with lots of mud and no "fancies." Finella not only meets Shadrach Jones, she also meets Shadrach's sister Molly, who is a 14 year old with a brain injury that has kept her at a young girl's mental capacity. Finella falls in love with Molly, and perhaps the brother? You'll have to read to find out :-P *chuckle* I will say, there is a huge twist at the end that will have your jaw dropping. No. Seriously. Like, WHAT?! *chuckle* If you read this book, DO talk to me afterwards.

Well, tomorrow my Hoopla allowance restarts with the new month--actually, it's after midnight so it probably starts now! I can't seem to get into any of the books that are on my Kindle, and I'm slowly (though enjoyably) making my way through a paperback copy of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves in the Morning--my first time not listening to P.G. Wodehouse! I also came across an intriguing personal narrative by Henry "Box" Brown that I have only read parts of so far, if you are interested in checking it out here.

Ok, time to scram!

Hoping to fall into another lovely story soon,
Michelle