Back On Murder by J. Mark Bertrand

Greetings Readers!

When Back On Murder opened, I wasn't sure I liked the tone of the book. It felt a bit like I a fell into another open ended episode of Law and Order. What I found though is that Mr. Bertrand is writing in a bit more of the old style that I like in black and white detective movies. With that in mind I settled down into reading the trail of a missing teen-age girl, daughter of a famous evangelists, and the man who is working to find her.  That man is a homicide detective named Roland March.  All March has to do is find her, find the truth, and not get killed in the process.

Very nice read, with a good going pace that sucks you in and keeps you going happily.

Carol

This week, the



Christian Fiction Blog Alliance



is introducing



Back On MurderBethany House (July 1, 2010)



byJ. Mark Betrand


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

J. Mark Bertrand has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. After one hurricane too many, he left Houston and relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota.
Mark has been arrested for a crime he didn't commit, was the foreman of a hung jury in Houston, and after relocating served on the jury that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead. Besides his personal website, visit his Crime Genre website at http://www.crimegenre.com/.

The next book in this series, Pattern Of Wounds will come out in the summer of 2011.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Det. Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out.

A missing girl. A corrupt investigation. They thought they could get away with it, but they forgot one thing:


Roland March is BACK ON MURDER...


Houston homicide detective Roland March was once one of the best. Now he's disillusioned, cynical, and on his way out. His superiors farm him out on a variety of punishment details. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter.

All he has to do? Find the missing teenage daughter of a Houston evangelist that every cop in town is already looking for. But March has an inside track, a multiple murder nobody else thinks is connected. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.

Battling a new partner, an old nemesis, and the demons of his past, getting to the truth could cost March everything. Even his life.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Back On Murder, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206370

Tomorrow We Die by Shawn Grady

Hey Everyone,
This is a gripping one! I not really much of an ER or General Hopsital type fan. Oh, don't get me wrong, in a crisis I tend to be a first responder type. I just have watched enough people pass with out being a paramedic, but I tend to draw to other kinds of books. I am very glad I was drawn to Tomorrow We Die though!
Shawn Grady brought his real life background into this book and started it out on the ground going full tilt.

In Tomorrow We Die, Johnathan Trestle is an emergancy paramedic. His charactor is the kind of people I knew in college, and still know some like today. Johnathan and his friend Bones answer a down the on side walk call which manages to save a man's lfie. Then what could have so easily been a last dying request winds up with Johnathan being given a note to give to "Martin". He has no idea who Martin is, or exactly where to find him, but Johnathan feels compeled to complete this task even though the man was still living when they got him to the hospital.

Johanthan gets there to find the *same man* but this time, he has been murdered! Thus starts The Angel Of Death tracking Johanathan! I refuse to tell you too much, but I will say that this starts a life and death race for Johanathan as he is driven to find the Truth of how he got into this mess, while not having his "number called".

I really enjoyed the work that Shawn Grady put into this book. I love how he poured his real life training, and probably some experiences he can't name by name, into this story for us to read.

Carol

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Tomorrow We DieBethany House (July 1, 2010)


byShawn Grady

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Shawn Grady signed with Bethany House Publishers in 2008. He was named “Most Promising New Writer” at the 39th Annual Mount Hermon Writers Conference. He is the author of the novels Through the Fire & Tomorrow We Die.

Shawn has served for over a decade as a firefighter and paramedic in northern Nevada. From fire engines and ambulances to tillered ladder trucks and helicopters, Shawn’s work environment has always been dynamic. The line of duty has carried him to a variety of locale, from high-rise fires in the city to the burning heavy timber of the eastern Sierras.

Shawn attended Point Loma Nazarene University as a Theology undergrad before shifting direction to acquire an Associate of Science degree in Fire Science Technology as well as Paramedic licensure through Truckee Meadows Community College.

Shawn currently lives in Reno, Nevada, just outside of Lake Tahoe. He enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife, three children and yellow Labrador.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Chase the Angel of Death and You Might Catch Him

Jonathan Trestle is a paramedic who's spent the week a few steps behind the angel of death. When he responds to a call about a man sprawled on a downtown sidewalk, Trestle isn't about to lose another victim. CPR revives the man long enough for him to hand Trestle a crumpled piece of paper and say, "Give this to Martin," before being taken to the hospital.

The note is a series of dashes and haphazard scribbles. Trestle tries to follow up with the patient later, but at the ICU he learns the man awoke, pulled out his IVs, and vanished, leaving only a single key behind. With the simple decision to honor a dying man's last wish, Jonathan tracks the key to a nearby motel where he finds the man again--this time not just dead but murdered. Unwilling to just let it drop, Jonathan is plunged into a mystery that soon threatens not only his dreams for the future but maybe even his life. He must race for the truth before the Angel of Death comes calling for him.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Tomorrow We Die, go to HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076420596X

Nightmare by Robin Parrish

Hi All,

From the same author that brought us Offworld, comes Nightmare! I am really exited to be reading this book. I can't give you a full review just yet. I have had some horrid headaches that are hindering my reading. But be assured, so far this is as good as Offworld! Nightmare has the same catching intruiging pace as I had been looking foward to. I belive that haunted houses are either fake, or have resident demons. That said, we are all haunted by something or someone unless we give that over to God. I am odd, I have been through so many "wild" things in my life that what scares others doesn't scare me always. The "Oh wow, that was a scary movie wasn't it?" is often a "No." from me. The things that are truly scary to me are knowing that I know people who are able to say "Lord Lord" but are not doing the will of the Father and are probably not going to make it to Heaven. How many of these demons of our past and daily lives will keep them from the reality of Jesus?

But back to Nightmare, the opening is just wonderful. Encouterning real demons is  never fun. If you do scare easily, read Nightmare with the lights on, in the sunshine.

Carol

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


NightmareBethany House (July 1, 2010)


byRobin Parrish


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Parrish is a journalist who's written about the intersection of faith and pop culture for more than a decade. Currently he serves as Senior Editor at XZOOSIA.com, a community portal that fuses social networking with magazine-style features about entertainment and culture.

He had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist. In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract with Bethany House Publishers. They contracted him for the rights to The Dominion Trilogy: Relentless (2006), Fearless (2007), and Merciless (2008). His science fiction thriller, Offworld came out in 2009. This summer debuts Nightmare, and he's working on another for 2011. Robin and his wife and children live in North Carolina.
ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Nightmare is Coming...

Ghost Town is the hottest amusement park in the country, offering state-of-the-art chills and thrills involving the paranormal. The park's main ride is a haunted house that promises an encounter with a real ghost.

When Maia Peters visits during her senior year of college, she's not expecting to be impressed. Maia grew up as the only child of a pair of world-renowned "ghost hunters," so the paranormal is nothing new and to her most of the park is just Hollywood special effects. In fact, the ride feels pretty boring until the very end. There, a face appears from the mist. The face of Jordin Cole, a girl Maia knows who disappeared from campus a few months ago.

Convinced what she saw wasn't a hoax and desperate to find answers to Jordin's disappearance, Maia launches into a quest for answers. Joined by Jordin's boyfriend--a pastor's kid with very different ideas about paranormal and the spirit realm--Maia finds herself in a struggle against dangerous forces she never expected to confront on the edge of the spirit realm that try to keep the truth from emerging.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Nightmare, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206079

Refuge On Crescent Hill by Melaine Dobson

Greetings Readers,

This was a book I didn't want to put down. Of course I had to read it since the main character is a photographer, and a female. Camden's adventure was a really good one, and Melaine Dobson did a really nice job a rich history of one old manor, Crescent Hill. Refuge On Crescent Hill is classic in the way a small old town is brought to life. I rather expected a full color photo of it at the end of the book it was so real! A wonderfully entertaining read that you will not want to miss!

Carol

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Refuge on Crescent Hill


Kregel Publications (March 11, 2010)


by


Melanie Dobson



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melanie Dobson is the award-winning author of The Black Cloister; Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana; and Together for Good.
Prior to launching Dobson Media Group in 1999, Melanie was the corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family where she was responsible for the publicity of events, products, films, and TV specials. Melanie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Liberty University and her master's degree in communication from Regent University. She has worked in the fields of publicity and journalism for fifteen years including two years as a publicist for The Family Channel.


Melanie and her husband, Jon, met in Colorado Springs in 1997 at Vanguard Church. Jon works in the field of computer animation. Since they've been married, the Dobsons have relocated numerous times including stints in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Colorado, Berlin, and Southern California. These days they are enjoying their new home in the Pacific Northwest.
Jon and Melanie have adopted their two daughters —Karly (6) and Kinzel (5). When Melanie isn't writing or entertaining their girls, she enjoys exploring ghost towns and dusty back roads, traveling, hiking, line dancing, and reading inspirational fiction.

ABOUT THE BOOK

THE HOMECOMING WASN’T WHAT SHE EXPECTED…

Jobless, homeless, and broke, Camden Bristow decides to visit the grandmother she hasn’t seen in years. But when Camden arrives in Etherton, Ohio, she discovers that her grandmother has passed away, leaving her the 150-year-old mansion on Crescent Hill. The site of her happiest summers as a child, the run-down mansion is now her only refuge.
When Camden finds evidence that she may not be the mansion’s only occupant, memories of Grandma Rosalie’s bedtime stories about secret passageways and runaway slaves fuel her imagination. What really happened at Crescent Hill? Who can she turn to for answers in this town full of strangers? And what motivates the handsome local Alex Yates to offer his help? As she works to uncover the past and present mysteries harbored in her home, Camdem uncovers deep family secrets within the mansion’s walls that could change her life─and the entire town─forever.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Refuge on Crescent Hill, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0825425905

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos

WOW!!! 

I was enthralled and super impressed by this book. I have so many people that I wish would read it! Imaginary Jesus is "in your face" and will knock over "sacred cows" with many people. In this book, the author, who is also a main character faces issues in his life by identifying where he has been following an imaginary Jesus instead of the real Jesus Christ. 

I think Matt did a wonderful job with this book. I didn't come away from it with out praying and asking God to show me any places that I was following any thing that seemed like Jesus, or God, but wasn't or isn't. I grew up in a Christian home and I have watched many many "Christians" follow a Christ that isn't quite right. That point seemed to be well honed in Imaginary Jesus. 

If my Internet works, I hope to post more thoughts soon. For now I will leave you with the thought and wish that this book should be passed out for mandatory reading in most of the churches I have been in. Are you following the REAL Jesus Christ, or one that is imaginary and seems to be real?

Carol 

Product Description

Is the pleasant robed man at the coffee shop really Jesus---or just Matt Mikalatos's conveniently created imitation of Christ? With the help of the apostle Peter and a talking donkey, Matt searches Portland---determined to exorcise the impostor, find the real Jesus, and confront him with the question that's haunted him for years. . . . 288 pages, hardcover from Tyndale.

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos, starring Matt Mikalatos, and published by Tyndale. 

Imaginary Jesus - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1414335636/
Author blog - http://mikalatos.blogspot.com/
Author Web site - http://imaginaryjesus.com/

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.


Participants’ links:
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Grace Bridges
Beckie Burnham
Valerie Comer
R. L. Copple
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Andrea Graham
Tori Greene
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Leighton
Rebecca LuElla Miller
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
KM Wilsher

Maid To Match by Deeanne Gist

Hi Everyone! This was a nice book to read. Deeanne Gist has a style appreciate by so many! I am just not into romance of late, so it is harder for me to give a better review. 

Carol 

                                                             
This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Maid to Match Bethany House (June 1, 2010)


by Deeanne Gist


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

After a short career in elementary education, Deeanne Gist retired to raise her four children. Over the course of the next fifteen years, she ran a home accessory and antique business, became a member of the press, wrote freelance journalism for national publications such as People, Parents, Parenting, Family Fun, Houston Chronicle and Orlando Sentinel, and acted as CFO for her husband’s small engineering firm--all from the comforts of home.

Squeezed betwixt-and-between all this, she read romance novels by the truckload and even wrote a couple of her own. While those unpublished manuscripts rested on the shelf, she founded a publishing corporation for the purpose of developing, producing and marketing products that would reinforce family values, teach children responsibility and provide character building activities.

After a few short months of running her publishing company, Gist quickly discovered being a "corporate executive" was not where her gifts and talents lie. In answer to Gist’s fervent prayers, God sent a mainstream publisher to her door who licensed her parenting I Did It!® product line and committed to publish the next generation of her system, thus freeing Gist to return to her writing.

Eight months later, she sold A Bride Most Begrudging to Bethany House Publishers. Since that debut, her very original, very fun romances have rocketed up the bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere. Add to this two consecutive Christy Awards, two RITA nominations, rave reviews, and a growing loyal fan base, and you’ve got one recipe for success.

Her 2010 books, Beguiled and Maid To Match are now available for order.

Gist lives in Texas with her husband of twenty-seven years and their two border collies. They have four grown children. Visit her blog to find out the most up-to-the-minute news about Dee.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Falling in love could cost her everything.

From the day she arrived at the Biltmore, Tillie Reese is dazzled, by the riches of the Vanderbilts and by Mack Danvers, a mountain man turned footman. When Tillie is enlisted to help tame Mack's rugged behavior by tutoring him in proper servant etiquette, the resulting sparks threaten Tillie's efforts to be chosen as Edith Vanderbilt's lady's maid, After all, the one rule of the house is no romance below stairs.


But the stakes rise even higher when Mack and Tillie become entangles in a cover-up at the town orphanage. They could both lose their jobs, their aspirations...their hearts.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Maid to Match, go HERE.

Join this SPECIAL GETAWAY (Click on the Button):

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764204084 

Deceit by Brandilyn Collins

Hello All!

Wow! Is it just me or does each book I read by Brandilyn Collins get better? I couldn't put this one down, it was wonderful. Not only did I need the distraction just now, but this good paced mystery was good for me. It was not too heavy, nor too scary, it was just right. 

I love how Joanne Weeks eats Jelly Bellies. It was just a wonderful real touch, so much like someone I know. The information on being a Skip Tracer was fascinating to read about. I would imagine skip tracing is a job that has little publicity and tends to be more "mundane" but for Joanne's character it was perfect!

This book had plenty of intrigue so that you didn't completely see the ending coming. Suspect a possibility, but not see it coming way before. I like that in a book because I have a terrible knack of knowing the end of many books or movies before they get to them. :0

Very enjoyable, I am glad I got to read it!
Carol :)

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Deceit


Zondervan (June 18, 2010)


by


Brandilyn Collins


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Brandilyn Collins is an award-winning and best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. These harrowing crime thrillers have earned her the tagline "Don't forget to b r e a t h e..."® Brandilyn's first book, A Question of Innocence, was a true crime published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows. Brandilyn is also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). She is now working on her 20th book.



In addition, Brandilyn’s other latest release is Final Touch, third in The Rayne Tour series—young adult suspense co-written with her daughter, Amberly. The Rayne Tour series features Shaley O’Connor, daughter of a rock star, who just may have it all—until murder crashes her world.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Skip Tracer Joanne Weeks knows Baxter Jackson killed his second wife---and Joanne's best friend---seven years ago. But Jackson, a church elder and beloved member of the town, walks the streets a free man.

The police tell Joanne to leave well enough alone, but Joanne is determined to bring Jackson down. Using her skip tracing skills, she sets out to locate Melissa Harkoff, now twenty-two, who lived in the Jackson home at the time of Linda Jackson's disappearance.

As Joanne drives home on a rainy winter night, a hooded figure darts in front of her car. In her headlight beams she glimpses the half-concealed face of a man, a rivulet of blood jagging down his cheek. She squeals to a stop but clips him with her right fender. Shaking, she gets out of her car in the pouring rain. The man will not let her see his face. Before he limps off into the night he warns her not to talk to police.

As Joanne tries to find Melissa, someone seems to be after her. Who was the man she hit on the road. Is Baxter Jackson out to silence her? Or is some other skip she's traced in the past now out for revenge?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Deceit, go HERE

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310276446