Phoenix's new book will stir you up

"Of Stillness and Storm" by Michele Phoenix follows a married couple Sam and Lauren on his journey to Nepal to work in God's ministry.  Notice I said "his."  Sam feels a calling to spur of the moment take his wife and son, Ryan, to Nepal and live, sacrifice, and struggle with the Nepali's, sharing God's word.  While there, Sam leaves his family alone for 3 weeks out of the month to minister to the poor in surrounding impossible to reach villages.  Meanwhile, Lauren must work to keep Sam's visa.  The job he insists she have is an hour walk away.  Why?  Because she must struggle.  She supports the family and cares for the son alone.  Somewhere along the way, Sam comes to think of himself as a god and drags Lauren along with him. When Lauren refriends an old schoolmate on Facebook and starts to reconsider her relationship with Sam and God, Same continues to spiral out of control in his obsession with the natives and the family rapidly falls part.  Though I hate Sam and most of the characters tick me off, this book stirred a lot of passion in me.  The reader will not read idly; the reader will read with fervor!  Be prepared to have this book really make you reconsider you life and your relationship with God.  I received this book in exchange for a review from litfuse Publicity.  Please see the giveaway button on the side!

Newsmakers series

"The Candidate" by Lis Wiehl is the second in the Newsmakers series that came out this fall.  Erica Sparks is the top news reporter for fictional station GNN.  She's a single mother with a "past" and has a knack for solving the unsolvable and reporting it to the masses.  In this novel, the Ortiz's are running for president, yes that was plural.  Mike Ortiz is the man officially running for office and his wife Celeste is running the show.  Nothing gets by her or in her way.  When a bomb goes off killing the competition, Sparks smells something fishy and is off to investigate.  Putting herself and child in danger while she is at it. 
Though I probably like this series the least of Wiehl's books, it is still a really good book.  I haven't read the first in the series and I highly recommend it.  At times the reader may not be able to follow "The Candidate" unless you read the first, but it isn't entirely mandatory.  There are lots of twist and turns and it is a lot of fun to try to figure it out before Sparks does.  I received this book in exchange for an honest review from www.booklookbloggers.com

Newest Pike novel

"Ring of Fire" is Brad Taylor's newest Pike novel.  In this one, Pike and the team are trying to stop another 9/11 terrorist attack.  The terrorist are trying to attack ports around the US to shut down the inport-outport system in the US to seize our economy.  The team is globetrotting to capture the criminals and stop the attacks. 
I really like the Pike novels.  I will certainly be going back and reading the ones that I haven't gotten to.  I would highly recommend this series if you are interested in lots of action and Intel.  I received this book in exchange for an honest review from www.firsttoread.com. 

Mehl's new series

"Fatal Frost" is the first book in the new series "Defenders of Justice" by Nancy Mehl.  Mehl has steered off into a completely new direction.  The new series though still in St Louis, centers around Mercy, a US Marshall, and her two crime fighting friends Tally and Mark.  The plot is what if the police/black shootings were not so shall we say, black and white.  What if it were a conspiracy to appear that way to keep both the public and the authorities attention else where while another party were taking control?  Mercy and her men are about to find out. 
I like that Mehl is trying something new.  I think the new series is good.  I don't especially like Mercy.  She's a bit of a cold fish.  I do like Tally and Mark.  I received this book in exchange for a review from Bethany House. 

saffire review

"Saffire"  is the newest novel by Sigmund Brouwer.  This novel is about a Dakota cowboy, James Holt, during his time in Panama during the building of the Panama Canal.  Roosevelt has sent him there to do some investigating in exchange for the money to pay off the ranch which is close to foreclosure. 
This book is a mystery; however, instead of the usual where the reader and main character try to solve the mystery, both spend the majority of the book trying to figure out what the mystery is.  He is sent to investigate, but what?  This book is very well written, the characters are great, but the mystery within a mystery grows a little old by mid book.  The parts about the building of the canal and the culture and politics of the time are fascinating.  Good novel, but not one of my favorites by Brouwer.  I received this book in exchange for an honest review from www.bloggingforbooks.com.