thriller

Book Review: Signs of Life

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Signs of Life
by Creston Mapes

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Christian thriller

Investigator Wayne Deetz has the distinction of interrogating the perpetrator of a mass shooting, trying to get the answers about why, how, and possibly with what help. Months after the shooting, Tyson Cooper, whose wife was killed during the event, struggles to move on with his life and begins to question what right the shooter has to live. Deetz’s and Cooper’s stories are told in alternating chapters, with Deetz diving into the interrogation mere hours after the event and Cooper’s starting 10 months later.

I wasn’t entirely sure what the core of this story would be—a psychological dive into the mind of a mass killer, a look at the aftermath of his victims? I didn’t really see how it could be an action-packed race to stop a terrible event from happening, considering that the synopsis makes it clear the mass shooting has already happened. In the end, though, there was some of that as well as the look at the aftermath of the victims, in the form of more than one person who lost someone that day. I can’t really say there was much psychology on the killer’s side shown, which is not a problem, partly because it would have made the book much darker than I would prefer and also because it’s not really said to be about that. The story starts out pretty slowly and continues that way for more than half of the book. Then suddenly, it’s super tense and hurtling toward a major climax. The pacing could have been better, but I’ll admit that I was pretty caught up in the book in the last third.

A lot of my problems came in small bits and pieces here and there. I didn’t have any issues with the writing style (other than the aforementioned pacing), though there were several places that I’m certain a proofreader should have caught an extra comma here or there, or one spot where a couple of sentences at the beginning of a chapter were literally repeated at the beginning of another, 2 chapters later (this book was self-published, fyi). But for example, why, in a book set in pretty modern times especially, did the author choose to have one of the characters make the distinction that his son’s girlfriend was black (but he and his wife have decided they’re are okay with it) and that he worried what family and friends might think? Why was there such a large focus on violent video games as the catalyst for the shooter’s rampage, when literally a quick search online shows that there really isn’t any correlation (maybe unless the perpetrator is already mentally unstable). I have a few other examples that I marked in my notes, but I don’t want to unbalance the review.

The Christian angle in this book is overall pretty good. Cooper and his late wife were Christians, but he has decided that God is not what He claims to be in the Bible, if he could let such a wonderful woman as his wife die (actually, I think he’s in danger of putting her on a pedestal, unless she really is as perfect as his reminiscences would have us believe). Deetz is an unbeliever but is introduced to Christianity by his son, who attends what sounds like a mega-church. Two different starting points lead to some interesting conversations about God. In the end, I wish I had liked this book more, but I didn’t dislike it either. It’s clear that plenty of fans of the genre liked it more than I did, so if you’re interested, definitely check it out. I have another Creston Mapes book on my shelf, given to me by a friend, so I’ll be interested to read another book by this author.

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Book Review: A Fire to Kindle

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A Fire to Kindle
by Daniel Dydek

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Christian fantasy thriller

Rae-Anna’s left-handedness has made her something of an outcast in a time when it’s seen as a curse. Finding refuge, such as it is, amongst the Sisters of a local convent seems to be her only recourse. But even they aren’t entirely comfortable with her, and that’s before a mysterious, supernatural blue flame that she encounters at a crypt filled with evil men enters her and begins to appear on her cursed hand. Whether the fire is friend or foe, she can’t say for sure…at least, not until the battle comes.

I knew going into this that there was going to be some kind of fantasy or supernatural element to it, given the premise of the fire with the mysterious force behind it—though that mysterious force wasn’t nearly as much of a mystery to me as it seems to be to everyone else in the story. With some time and context eventually given, it became apparent that Rae-Anna wasn’t terribly well-versed in the Bible. In the end, though, what I realized is that this book is quite a bit more fantasy/supernatural than I was expecting, and quite a bit different in those elements than I prefer.

The story moves fairly slowly for maybe half the book, as Rae-Anna tries to understand what the fire wants from her and the Sisters treat her terribly because of it. Then it takes a sudden sharp turn into more of a horror story. I don’t want to give too much away, but I think it’s fair to warn any potential readers that there’s some zombie/skeleton action in this book, especially since it is not billed as that kind of story whatsoever. It’s really not my preference in fiction, and especially not something I look for in Christian fiction. In the end, (I think) I understood the underlying message the author wanted to get across with this book, but it felt a lot like two completely different stories were mashed together here—the fire that roots out the evil hearts of seemingly pious people and the undead battle that doesn’t really have a message at all, that I could see. And then after the climax of the battle is over, we have a longer wrap-up than felt necessary and an ending to the story that, again, felt like it worked with the fire plot but was completely unrelated to the minor zombie apocalypse we went through.

The author does a good job with the writing, making the story and characters sound and feel like they’re set in some vague historical time before cars, though I could not tell you where the story was meant to have taken place, even in the broadest terms. I don’t know if that mattered much, though. There are a few moments where the dialog sounds a bit more modern, but overall, I could easily imagine Rae-Anna living in this convent with nuns. This is also not something that is familiar to me, though, so it’s another reason that I felt like I wasn’t quite the right audience for the book. I mostly found myself wondering why it seemed like the characters had never heard of the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire in Acts. But in the end, I believe there is an audience for this book and any that follow it; I just don’t think I’m that audience. If it sounds interesting to you, though, please do check it out.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

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Book Review: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (re-read)

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The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
by Stuart Turton

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Mystery, thriller

See original review here.

I don’t normally write a new review when I read a book I already reviewed on my blog. But this is a special case. The first time I read this book, I gave it 3.5 stars. I like it, but had enough issues to lower the rating. This time, though, I enjoyed the ride so much more! I think that’s partly because I already knew the ending was going to be not only really interesting, but also contain more of an explanation than I had originally expected. It allowed me to enjoy the journey more. Similarly, with a better understanding of how the narrator’s 8 days were going to unfold, I wasn’t as impatient for it to get going. And because I knew it was going to have some brilliant time-travel mechanics, I loved watching out for those and seeing the plot play out. I can’t imagine what the storyboarding for this book must have looked like.

I also knew enough to start skimming the somewhat lengthy descriptions much earlier, which I think made for an easier read for me. The manor is old and crumbling, rain makes things wet, got it. Let’s get to the action! And even though I’d read it before, I’d forgotten the couple of twists along the way—and this time, I was more invested, so they got me even more than they probably did the first time (I doubt I’ll forget about them after this, but that might just depend on how long I wait to read it again, which I do expect to do someday).

I think there’s another reason that I liked it more this time, though, and that has to do with me, not the story. I read this book at the very beginning of my push to getting back into reading regularly, after losing the habit for close to 20 years. I’ve now been reading daily for over 3 years, and I think my own tastes and how I enjoy a story have changed. I don’t even normally have much desire to re-read a book that I rated below 4 stars, but since my original rating was based as much on the book’s atmosphere as anything, while I did really like the plot, it still made my re-read list. And I’m sooo glad it did, because it’s now one of my favorites!

Find out more about The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle*
*This is the US title. The book is elsewhere titled The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

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Book Review: The Lost World

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The Lost World
Jurassic Park #2
by Michael Crichton

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Science fiction thriller

Up front, I will say that I’ve seen the Jurassic Park movies (original 3) many, many times, so if you’re looking for an unbiased opinion, you may want to go elsewhere. Jurassic Park is one of my top 3 favorite movie franchises, if not the top. I did read this book once, back in high school, most likely because of how much I already liked the first couple of movies then. However, unlike the first book, which I couldn’t help but compare to the movie as I read, this one is so different from the movie that very early on, I had to try to push the movie out of my mind. And in doing that, I am probably able to review it more for itself than based on my love of the movies. Though I can’t pretend that love didn’t still possibly make me enjoy this more than I might have otherwise.

I didn’t love this book quite as much as the first, but I did enjoy it, and it kept my attention throughout. Malcolm’s arrogance and loquaciousness takes a back seat to a new character, Richard Levine, though we do get almost a repeat of an injured, drugged Malcolm rambling on that also happened in the previous book. I don’t know why Crichton insists on putting kids in harms way in these books, but I did like the kids in this one more than the two in the first book (it was mostly Lex that was annoying in the first book). One of my biggest frustrations while reading is probably fair enough for Crichton to have included, but it frustrates me to have an intelligent character say that evolution may not tell the entire story of existence up to now, that there may be more that modern scientists haven’t uncovered, yet without a doubt, creationism is just wrong. To be so absolutely sure that one model is wrong, though there is plenty to confirm it, even while saying we may not know all the answers smacks of willful ignorance. Sadly, this is absolutely the world we live in.

Though, as I said, I didn’t compare the book to the movie as much this time around, one thing that I realized is that Sarah Harding is quite the strong, courageous woman. She’s mostly portrayed that way in the movie too, but I don’t understand why the movie makers decided to flip the script when the trailers are being pushed over the side of the cliff. In the book, Sarah does the saving, while in the movie, she has to be saved by Malcolm. I’m not a feminist, but that seems fairly deliberate to me. Though, I suppose, it could have just been more about giving Jeff Goldblum the save than anything to do with gender roles. Overall, I do think that fans of the first book and/or the movie franchise will enjoy this book.

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Book Review: Lightning

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Lightning
by Dean Koontz

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Science fiction thriller

Laura Shane’s life has been marked throughout by lightning events, both figurative and literal. During some of the hard times she’s experienced, a mysterious man has shown up to help her in some way—her guardian angel. As she gets older, though, her guardian slips into myth in her mind. When he appears again, it’s on the worst day of her life, and Laura’s life becomes one of fear and paranoia. Even as she begins to understand the depth to which her guardian has been involved in her life, she wonders if she’ll ever be safe again.

I never cared about Koontz when I was younger, probably thinking he was all horror, and I have never cared for horror. My husband (maybe my boyfriend at the time, I don’t recall…it was around 20 years ago) recommended this book, and I remember being pleasantly surprised. I’ve never read another Koontz since, but that just left this to keep a special place in my heart. I don’t know why it took me so long to read it again, but I’m so glad I did! The suspense is really high at certain points in the book. Laura’s guardian, Stefan, is a sympathetic hero, especially when you learn more about him and where he comes from. And though Laura herself isn’t my favorite main character, I can appreciate the way that the various difficulties in her life shape her into the person she becomes as an adult.

Time travel isn’t exactly original, but not everyone does as good a job as Koontz did here. The things that could and could not be affected, the way there are natural limitations to avoid paradoxes, it all makes sense. And what is done by characters to try to get around that can be a little mind-twisty, but it makes for a great read! I know there were a few points when I wondered if it was really necessary to see so much of Laura’s life that don’t really relate to the grander story. I think it was mostly there to build up our connection with Laura. Whatever the reason, it never made me bored. As a stand-alone sci-fi thriller, Lightning definitely worth reading! I know I’ll re-read it again in the future.

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Book Review: Jurassic Park

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Jurassic Park
Book #1
by Michael Crichton

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Science fiction thriller

Up front, I will say that the movie probably influenced my reaction to the book, so if you’re looking for an unbiased opinion, you may want to go elsewhere. Jurassic Park is one of my top 3 favorite movie franchises, if not the top, even though I can certainly admit that there are some duds in there. I just don’t care; I love them anyway. I did read this book once, back in high school, most likely because of how much I already liked the first couple of movies then.

Now reading it again, I think I appreciated it even more than I did back then. Yes, the science gets a little long-winded, as do Malcolm’s speeches, so I might have skimmed a little. But that doesn’t keep me from enjoying a book. Outside of that, there is a lot of excitement, and even though Malcolm won’t shut up, I really liked his character. The race against time caused by the juvenile raptors on the boat headed for the mainland adds even higher stakes. And the book doesn’t make quite as many huge leaps about dinosaurs that paleontologists couldn’t possibly know for sure, but rather the characters have to learn about them and deduce what they can expect as they go.

I have seen the movie too many times to not have been constantly comparing the two as I read, and I even made some notes to help myself keep both the similarities and differences straight (some were things that were used in the 2nd movie, even though there’s also a 2nd book). But I do think the book stands on its own and should be read by fans of the movie, which is more famous than the book, but does owe its existence to the book.

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Book Review: Nightmare Academy

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Nightmare Academy
Veritas Project #2
by Frank Peretti

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: YA Christian thriller

The Springfields are a family of investigators—Dad, Mom, and twin siblings Elijah and Elisha—for the Veritas Project, which seeks to find the truth behind strange mysteries and crimes when others are unable or unwilling to see past the surface. When a teenage boy shows up on a highway in Idaho with no idea who he is or why he’s there and can only answer questions with “I don’t know,” the Springfields are brought in to investigate. Elijah and Elisha go undercover and are soon enough caught up in a world with no absolutes and no way to escape.

For as much as I liked the previous book in this series, I like this one even more. I always have, I’m pretty sure, since I read these several times soon after they came out in the early 2000s. While the warning presented within this book might seem extreme to some, I think it’s an insightful look at what happens to society when truth is left up to the individual. When one rejects God and the Bible, upon what foundations can “right” and “wrong” be based? Only one’s own feelings, beliefs, assumptions, desires, etc. And when that person’s version of right and wrong clashes with someone else’s, who wins? That is what this book examines in a somewhat true-to-life setting. Though some of the mechanics involved in the book are certainly beyond what technology can do these days, the study of “what if” is again the focus in this book, like it was in the previous.

If you read this book and don’t see any parallels to what is going on in real life, you might not be paying very close attention. I know this approach isn’t for everyone, but I do truly believe that the only truth that can really be known is found in the Bible, and the more we get away from that, the more dangerous it can be. Peretti has a way of cutting to the heart of things that I have always loved, and I really wish he had written more in this series. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Christian thrillers, whether you’re a teenager or adult.

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Book Review: Fan Fiction

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Fan Fiction
by Brent Spiner

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Autobiographical fiction, thriller

After a few seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner (Data on the show) and his fellow cast members are enjoying the success of a hit series. However, being a celebrity poses its own set of challenges, and Spiner finds himself the target of a deranged fan or two who don’t seem to be able to separate reality from fiction.

The inability to separate reality from fiction is exactly what this book does to its readers, as it’s not always clear what is autobiographical and what is invented. I tend to think that details about Spiner’s own life, from his childhood to his time on TNG, are real, whereas the plot about the crazed fan is mostly fiction. Again, this is just my guess. Unfortunately, as a mystery or thriller story, the plot about the crazed fan is only okay. In fact, I think it’s a stretch calling it a thriller. Multiple suspects are dangled in front of us, but in the end, there’s no real surprise about who the stalker turns out to be. I take that back—I was surprised, but only in that the reveal was pretty anticlimactic. I kept expecting a twist that never came. I take that back too—there was a little twist at the end of the climax. It was bizarre, though, and really never explained satisfactorily.

As for the rest of the book, which is a good amount in itself, the possibly fictionalized view of Spiner’s past and present life was a lot more interesting to me. The book is meant to be funny, but I think it’s a kind of humor I don’t really get (and not the first time that’s been the case). Not that I never got a chuckle, but mostly I felt fascinated and sometimes even sad at the author/narrator’s reminiscences. I actually think I wouldn’t mind giving this book another try, but the audiobook this time. I think that knowing how the mystery part of the story is going to go might give me more of a chance to enjoy the rest of it, especially when read by Spiner himself and including contributions by most of the main cast of TNG at the time that the story takes place.

As for whether or not you will like the story, I would say that if it sounds like something you’d be interested in, give it a try! If you’re a fan of TNG, you might enjoy it for that reason alone. As for me, it mostly gave me the urge to watch the whole series again.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Hangman’s Curse

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Hangman’s Curse
Veritas Project #1
by Frank Peretti

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: YA Christian thriller

The Springfields are a family of investigators—Dad, Mom, and twin siblings Elijah and Elisha—for the Veritas Project, which seeks to find the truth behind strange mysteries and crimes when others are unable or unwilling to see past the surface. They’re sent to a high school in Washington where kids are falling mysteriously ill with symptoms of fear and paranoia. As the family begins to assimilate into the school, they’re shocked to discover how certain students are treated, both by other students and by the faculty. Can they discover who—or what—has the school’s most popular kids seeing a ghost?

This book and its sequel, both of which I read several times back when they were new, are a large part of why Peretti has been my favorite author since high school. This is the first time in at least 10 years that I’ve read it, and it did not disappoint. The core issue in this book hit me a lot harder this time, maybe partly because I’m older now, but also because I read Peretti’s semi-autobiographical book The Wounded Spirit last year for the first time, which describes heavy bullying in his adolescence, and that really put this book into a new perspective for me. While it certainly does not excuse the kids who have been bullied and then retaliated, it sheds a light on the incredible injustice that can be prevalent in schools.

One thing that I think could trip some people up about this book is that the very premise of the series isn’t realistic. The fact that it’s the president of the United States who establishes this investigative group specifically with a Judeo-Christian perspective, as well as the teenagers of the family being investigators themselves, it’s not believable in this day and age. However, like with others of Peretti’s books, I think it’s perfectly okay to not think of it as meant to be completely realistic, and think of it more as a “what if” scenario. And in that way, it’s very insightful. I also question the likelihood of a high school teacher at that time actually teaching kids that there is no right or wrong…seems pretty foolish, since at a school, they’d most likely want kids to believe that the rules are right and that breaking the rules is wrong. Otherwise, they’re inviting anarchy. In today’s society (only 20 years later), though, I would buy this a lot more.

One last thing I should mention is definitely a spoiler, so highlight the black text at your own risk. If you have an issue with spiders, you may need to be careful reading this book. My own phobia is pretty bad, but I was able to push through. I don’t know if that’s an indication of how much I like the book or how un-intrusive the issue was, but it’s there. I do love this book, though I don’t know how well I’ll be able to watch the movie. I own it and have definitely watched it more than once in the past. I’m not sure if that means my phobia has grown over time or if the movie just isn’t too bad. There is one sequel to this book (man, do I wish Peretti had written more of these), and I remember liking it even more than this one, so I’m pretty excited about it. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Christian thrillers, whether you’re a teenager or adult.

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Book Review: Obsessed

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Obsessed
by Ted Dekker
My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Historical thriller, Christian

It’s 1973, and Stephen Friedman is a realtor in Los Angeles. He has no family, no history, no roots, but that doesn’t bother him–or so he claims. When he finds out that a Jewish Holocaust survivor who died recently might have been his mother, it doesn’t affect him–or so he tries to convince himself. But then he learns that she may have left behind a vast treasure…and some very real danger, both of which are now his to uncover.

This book is quite captivating, as basically a conjunction of many different people’s obsessions. Shown in dual timelines, love, hate, hope, thirst for power–all of these combine into a story that spans almost 30 years. The second time period shown, besides Stephen in 1973, is that of 2 women in a concentration camp in 1944-45. And while their lives are threatened by the man who runs the camp, Stephen’s life is threatened by that Nazi’s serial killer son. It’s really interesting to go back and forth and see the story play out, but also see how the son, Roth Braun, was shaped into a psychopath by his equally sadistic father.

The biggest downside in the story, in my opinion, is right there in the title. It’s not the obsession, per se, but how unrealistically quickly it’s developed by Stephen. And the jump from being obsessed with getting his hands on what his mother might have left to being in love with a woman he’s never met, simply because he’s told they were born for each other, doesn’t stir any emotion in me. Except eye-rolling. Is that an emotion? Plus, too many people in the story seem to have the same take on love and obsession, which is fairly unrealistic.

I also think suspense could have been built a little more without some of the scenes shown from Braun’s perspective. And there was one particular major action he took that did not really add anything to the plot.

Overall, though, I enjoyed the book a lot. It’s not my first time reading it, but it is my first time in 10+ years. I’m really glad it held up as the book I remember loving, and I would recommend it for all fans of Christian suspense or thrillers (understanding that it’s fairly light on a Christian message).

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