The Last Word by Kathy Herman

Vanessa Jessup returns home from her sophomore year of college with a dreadful secret that she must disclose to her parents. She is pregnant by her psychology professor, who disappeared off the face of the earth after she told him she was pregnant. Now Vanessa is forced to put college on hold and think about what she's going to do with the life growing inside of her.

Brill Jessup, on top of learning of her daughter's untimely pregnancy, is investigating a difficult case that could threaten her career as the Sophie Trace sheriff. A maniac killer has been stabbing police officers, putting them in the hospital, and killing most of them. Brill suspects he is targeting her, so she puts her entire family on lock down in their own home. She can only imagine who will be stabbed next...

At first I didn't think The Real Enemy needed a sequel, but I thoroughly enjoyed Vanessa's subplot. However, her subplot was the only good part of the entire book. Brill's case was only slightly better than the case in The Real Enemy.

The cast of characters is virtually the same as that in The Real Enemy, only they have improved. Most of them have actually developed personalities and are imperfect. This gives me hope for Kathy Herman in the future because good characters can overshadow a mediocre plot.

Brill's subplot, another "big case" is the only thing keeping the book off of the Elite List. Though the showdown was better than the showdown in The Real Enemy, it was still rather predictable. I think this series would have done better with a normal, character-based book, and not another "suspense" plot.

I loved Vanessa's subplot because it has a very original end, one that I did not expect. I've never even seen an author end a pregnant college student plot like Kathy ended Vanessa's. I can now happily expect more original things like this from her in the future.

Even if Kathy had eliminated Brill's unnecessary case, it still would not have been five stars because the Jessups have gone from being the broken family in The Real Enemy to being the nearly perfect family. Kurt and Emily are downright annoying characters, even though they are the only bad ones.

All in all, if Kathy keeps this up, she'll have an Elite book in no time.

3 stars

Women's Intuition by Lisa Samson

When Lark Summerville's house burns down in a freak fire, she is forced to go live with her mother, daughter, and their housekeeper, the very people she has been lying to about her husband over the years. Since she was a hermit in her former life, these three women attempt to re-introduce her into the real world. But Lark resists and continues to live the same old lifestyle as a church organist and the owner of the hot line 1-800-IPRAY4U.

If anyone could write a book about nothing, then Women's Intuition is the book. It follows the lives of four slightly unusual females from different age groups as they carry out their activities. Each one has a first person point of view, so it gets confusing hearing the stories told by four females who are virtually the same. But in my opinion this book is literally about nothing.

Unfortunately I didn't really get anything out of the book. It has no point and barely a plot. The best thing Lisa Samson did with it was capture real life. This is a book of everyday activities; nothing more, nothing less. It's raw Lisa Samson material, and frankly, this isn't a good thing.

The characters don't have personalities that I can pin down, but at least they all have their flaws. Their dialogue and thoughts are littered with nonsensical, offhand comments that mean nothing. I would have liked it better if these four women would have each had a different personality. As it is, it's like talking to the same person over and over again, only in different age groups.

I befuddled when I came to the end of the book. It took me a while to gather what I was going to say about this book. In short, it's a snapshot of life. It comes in a random spot, and then it cuts off a random spot. But like I said, the book has no point.

Unfortunately, I can't put it on the Elite List for this reason. But I can see that this is an older work of Lisa's, so I believe she has grown out of this type of immaturity with her recent novels. I hope Lisa never returns to this stage of her writing.

3 stars

Lunatic by Ted Dekker

When Johnis, Silvie, and Darsal return to Middle after their strange adventure in our world, they find that the followers of Elyon have diminished and the Horde has grown in their absence. Nothing is as it was, since five years have passed. The trio splits up, Johnis and Silvie going into the desert, and Darsal going to the Horde. Each of them encounter their own trying circumstances. Johnis is seduced by a strange woman who seems to be able to get inside his head and control him. She wants him to destroy Shataiki for her, so Johnis deems it a worthy endeavour. Silvie is skeptical the entire time and follows only to keep Johnis out of trouble. Darsal is captured by the Horde and is taken prisoner. There she hear Elyon tell her of His mission for he-to love the Horde.

Lunatic

is the best Lost Book yet because Dekker has abandoned the search for the seven special Books of History. Their finding a book under every rock was getting really old. It takes the series on a whole new track because it makes the great Johnis an imperfect character. Is this done?

Apparently it is. The positions of the characters change in this installment in the series. Where Johnis and Silvie were the leaders who knew what to do, they are now the followers who don't know what to do. Darsal has also turned into a different character because of her circumstances.

Dekker has also used his own licence to create a new type of creature in Other Earth-one that no one but a select few has heard of. It seems that Ted has no long-term planning for the extensive Circle series; he just writes whatever comes to his mind. This gives him freedom to do whatever he wants to his limitless world. This can be good at times, and it can be unprofessional at times.

The book is directly continued in Elyon, the final Lost Book, so it's hard to tell what Dekker might do. There are several things that could very easily be fixed in the last book.

The only problem with Lunatic is the lack of personalities among the characters. They all act stereotypically according to their circumstances.

All in all, the Lost Books is one of the rare series that has actually improved with each book. I didn't think any of these would make the Elite List, but this one has. That goes to show you that you should never prejudge.

4 stars

White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner

The Janviers live the perfect life. Amanda and Neil both have good jobs, and their teenage twins are doing well in school. They feel good about their stable family life, so that's why they take in their niece Tally to live with them-so she can see how a good family functions. Since her grandmother died and her father is traipsing all over the world in search of a treasure, they think she deserves it. But what the Janviers don't know is that in the midst of their perfect family, things are not right. Discord has been sneaking in right under their noses, ready to tear them apart.

Their son, Chase, has been struggling with the memories of a house fire he thinks he started as a four-year-old. Every time he sees fire, he thinks it's calling him, wanting revenge for the time he escaped from it. He tries to forget this as he and Tally work on a school project-interviewing two Holocaust survivors living in an assisted living establishment.

As is her new trend, Susan Meissner has been paralleling true history with a fictional present to make for an interesting story. But contrary to my previous beliefs, White Picket Fences is nothing like The Shape of Mercy. They are entirely different books, and it is a good thing to see that Susan can write with such diversity.

As usual, the characters of White Picket Fences are realistic because they are imperfect and they have personalities. This is such a welcome addition to Christian fiction because authors often overlook the importance of characters having personalities. I'm glad Susan understands that.

The Holocaust story actually plays a very small part in the plot. Most of the book is about Chase's struggles with fire and Amanda's struggles at her workplace. Susan captured the frequent denial of imperfection so many "perfect families" have throughout their lives in a very realistic way through these two subplots.

Tally's strange family life also plays an important part in the book. Sporadic letters from her father and flashbacks to her former life help the reader understand what she's been through. It's not only realistic, but intriguing.

This book came so close to being five stars. Two things kept it from receiving this honor. First, Chase's subplot ends perfectly, and second, there is a strange convenient connection at the end of the book that serves no purpose whatsoever. Susan could have easily removed these two things and it would have been five stars.

All in all, there were several imperfect things that occur ed at the end that I am very pleased with. I know Susan Meissner has a deep-seated originality within her, but sometimes it gets covered up.

4.5 stars

DragonFire by Donita K Paul

Amara is in trouble. Paladin is on his sickbed. Crim Cropper and Burner Stox are wreaking havoc on Amara with fire dragons. The quiss are threatening to rampage the countryside. Wizards have come together in a conclave in order to decide a plan of action. Kale and Bardon, now married, are ready to do whatever it takes to save Amara-as long as they are together. But things get interesting when they hear they are going to be separated.

While Bardon stays behind to defend the land against quiss using a strategic plan, Kale and her father, who she barely knows, travel around Amara, in search of dragons to use for war. As Cropper and Stox build their army to destroy Amara, they must work quickly to save their land.

Dragon Fire

is the best chronicle yet because it is not full-fledged quest. It is an abnormally complex plot for an alternate world, one filled with ambiguous characters so that not even the reader knows who is good and who is bad. None of them are perfect, and most have personalities. The superb character development has set Donita K Paul apart from other fantasy authors, however, she has yet to write a five star ending.

Near the middle of the book, things start to look toward the five star direction, as it was in Dragon Knight. However, ends are not Donita's strong point because she fixes too many things. Several realistic things happened that ended up being fixed in the end. I became frustrated because this book had so much potential. Only one aspect of the plot is unresolved, but never fear; there is a fifth book.

The best part about the plot is the three villains-Burner Stox, Crim Cropper, and the Pretender. None of them are typical villains. Stox is overconfident, Cropper is lazy, and the Pretender is exactly like his name. He acts just like Paladin in many ways, making him my favorite villain ever. This is realistic because even Satan masquerades himself as an angel of light.

Although I have enjoyed every Dragon Keeper book so far, I don't want Donita to fall short of five stars any more. She needs to go ahead and take the leap into complete originality.

4.5 stars

Dragon Knight by Donita K Paul

When Bardon is called into the service of Paladin to train as a knight, Sir Dar gives him his first assignment-to go live in solitude in a cabin on the shores of a lake. Bardon looks forward to this because he craves solitude. But when he arrives, he finds that Dar left out some important details-three women already live in the cabin. However, Bardon forgets about his frustration when he hears that they have a common goal with him-to find the sleeping knights of Paladin that were enchanted by Risto. Using the journal of a famous Amaran explorer, they search for the cave at all costs, for they need the knights in order to defeat Crim Cropper and Burner Stox.

Dragon Knight

is divided into two unequal parts. The first part is five stars because it's realistic without Fenworth, Cam. Lyll, Kale, and her entourage of dragons to get anyone out of any pinch. Bardon and the others actually have to work to do certain things instead of having someone make it using their "gifts". However, in the second part, Kale and company reappear to make life easier.

The characters remain to be realistic, complete with imperfection and personalities. Donita also goes against one of her own cliches and makes an emerlindian granny imperfect. Bardon, in my opinion, is a better lead than Kale because he doesn't have so many tools to get him out of scrapes.

Even though this book is another quest, Donita is getting more and more professional and mature with every book. She has stayed true to her setting and has resisted the impulse to create more and more fantastical tools and powers as some authors would. She does add new creatures with every book, but the glossary in the back is very helpful.

The location method of the sleeping knights was one of the more original I've ever read. It's more realistic than simply walking right into the cave. And even when the knights are located, there is still more work to do.

But the Dragon Keeper series does still have more work to do, even though Donita keeps writing Elite books. I have a feeling she has a five star somewhere in this series.

4 stars

Bye Bye Bertie by Rick Dewhurst

Joe LaFlam is a private detective who specializes in working with Christians because his ultimate goal in life is to marry the perfect woman. He wants to marry so bad he's committed to fasting for twenty-one days. The perfect match walks through his office door one day during his fast. She claims that her sister Bertie has run off to join a cult. Joe takes the case immediately with hopes to win her heart.

Bye Bye Bertie

is not very long at all. My copy was large print, and it was only 234 pages long at that. Not only is the mystery really bad, but there many surrounding plot points that make for a very unusual read.

The characters aren't even imperfect or realistic. They are downright strange. They act and talk abnormally, yet everyone around them thinks that it's normal. Among these characters are a woman who speaks gibberish, claiming that it is a special language given to her from God that she can't understand, and a cult that believes the god of the earth will clone Bill Clinton and raise him up as a great leader.

If this wasn't enough to make you frown or scratch your head, than the mystery is sure to do you in. I understand why it ended the way it ended, but if it had not ended that way, it would have been extremely cheesy. The clues are obviously bogus and something that you would find in a children's movie.

All this plain weirdness is only masking typical plot devices such as romantic subplots and convenient connections. There's nothing new about the plot concepts Rick Dewhurst uses in this book.

To top it all off, the end is one of the weirdest ends I have ever read. It's far from original as it tries to explain some of the nonsense that has occured but falls on its face. This was supposed to be the first book in a series, but I am very sure that Rick's publisher dropped him like a hot potato since I can't find the rest. How the book was even published I have no idea.

Basically, if you've never heard of this book, there is definitely a reason.

1 star

Adam by Ted Dekker

FBI agent Daniel Clark is obsessed with apprehending a serial killer they are calling Eve, because he always writes "Eve" on the bodies he kills. So far Eve has killed sixteen women. Daniel teams up with medical partner Lori Ames to catch the criminal before he kills any more. But Daniel's obsession comes at a price; his wife has already divorced him because of the case, and now he is about to face Eve himself-and die in the process. When Daniel revives in the hospital, he becomes even more determined to catch Eve at all costs.

A magazine article subplot helps develop Eve's past and helps the reader understand where he's coming from. It also develops his character, a strange but good addition to the book.

The characters are up to usual Ted Dekker par, only they have personalities. It's clear that Daniel is not a perfect male lead, and this is a step in the right direction for a seemingly mediocre serial killer plot.

But this serial killer plot has the Ted Dekker philosophical spin on it. The end of the book perks the reader's interest and hopefully makes him think more about the spiritual realm. I'm glad Ted Dekker always attempts to make his suspense have a purpose instead of fall in line with all the other meaningless suspense on the market.

However, Adam is not without its flaws. One would be hard-pressed to find a five star serial killer plot, anyway. The exorcism scene at the end is a bit much for me, even though it was better than most exorcism scenes I've read. Also, there is a convenient connection at the end that is highly improbable and unrealistic. These two things really ruined an otherwise great read.

There are many realistic aspects that can only come from good research. Dekker covered his bases on FBI cases, medical studies, and real-life demon possession. The sources on demon possessions help bring the plot a little more down to earth than other supernatural titles do. One can usually expect quality fiction from Dekker.

The serial killer genre might not be closed after all if authors continue to produce meaningful suspense. Books like Adam are a refreshment to the suspense market.

4 stars

Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury

Brad Cutler has it all-a promising career as an advertising agent, an upcoming marriage to his beautiful fiancee; no worries about anything in life. God is good. But why does Brad keep having flashbacks of a relationship with a high school girlfriend? Isn't his fiance enough? What is this nagging at him? Something from his past is calling him back to Holden Beach, North Carolina, where he did something he needs forgiveness for.

I said there was no way Karen couldn't end this originally, and I was right. However, the end wasn't the one I was expecting. I mean that in a good way. Though it seems like at first that the end is predictable, it is also very realistic. Karen ended the book in the most realistic way she could, and it worked.

Besides the realistic end, there is an original end to a subplot that I did not expect her to do. This shows that even when Karen ends her books predictably, she always strives for originality in other areas. This alone puts her above other female authors.

But Karen also has a superb writing style that makes the reader feel as if it were really happening. I think this is because Karen is very good at capturing real life through her imperfect characters. Imperfect characters are another one of her specialties that rank her higher than most female authors.

The biggest problem with Shades of Blue is the characters' lack of personalities. I can only think of one character with a true personality. This is strange for Karen Kingsbury and there is really no reason for it. She usually has better characters than these.

If you read the afterword, you realize that this story means more to Karen than it seems like at first. I applaud her for writing what she wrote in the afterword, because it took courage to reveal what she wrote there.

All in all, Karen Kingsbury's writing style has not decreased over the years, and I doubt it will. I only hope she continues to write original plots similar to Shades of Blue.

4 stars

Obsessed by Ted Dekker

Stephen Friedman has an obsession-he is obsessed with finding the Stones of David, smooth stones that were allegedly used by David to defeat Goliath. As a Jew, he feels the need to retrieve them before they fall into the wrong hands. When they surface in a dead widow's apartment nearby, he tries many different methods to enter the apartment before a Nazi group can find them.

In the past, his mother tries to survive a spin off Holocaust camp while carrying him inside of her. The Nazi in charge has his own methods of how to eliminate the apprehended females residing there. She only hopes that her baby will survive his antics.

The parallel stories between the past and the present (or the nearer past, since they take place in 1943 and 1975) make the story longer and more interesting. The idea of a rebel Nazi camp is ingenious and highly probable.

Stephen's attempts to enter the apartment are downright comical, a rare feat for Ted Dekker. Burning holes through walls and dressing up as a woman are only two of his attempts. Dekker uses a satirical writing style to demonstrate what people will do for what they are obsessed with. This is very interesting because he has never tried anything like this before.

These failed attempts reflect upon Stephen's good personality development. This is also a rare feat for Ted Dekker, since he doesn't usually develop characters with personalities. This makes the book not even seems like Dekker at times, even though Stephen is the only good character.

Unfortunately, the last one hundred pages were like a completely different book to me. In the end, it turned into an average suspense book with an unrealistic location of a missing person, a last minute romance, a showdown, a hostage scene, a last minute conversion, and two characters who come back from the dead. All of these pieces of Literary Trash ruin an otherwise Elite book.

It's very disappointing to read a book like this. Dekker gets your hopes up with so many good things at the beginning, and in the end, he turns it into cheap suspense.

3 stars