Sadie's Song by Linda Hall

Sadie lives the typical life of an abused wife. Her husband, Troy, has forbidden her to have any friends or contact to the outside world. He doesn't want her to leave the house without his permission. He doesn't want her to wear anything that hasn't been approved by him. He doesn't want her to enter his locked workshop outside. The worst part about it is Sadie's denial of the situation. On top of this, her kids are crazy, her house is a disaster, and a little girl has gone missing. What's worse is Sadie has found some of the little girl's drawings in Troy's briefcase. Sadie only finds refuge in classical music she keeps hearing coming from the lake. Nobody else but her can hear it, so no one believes it is there.

Sadie's Song is nothing like any of Linda Hall's other books. It reminds me greatly of a Lisa Samson book for several reasons.

1. Sadie is a typical Lisa Samson female lead.

2. The book is written in a schizophrenic writing style.

3. There are good characters.

4. The people have strange names.

5. At the end there is a scene involving a hospital stay.

I don't know what made Linda Hall write a book like this, but I like it.

This isn't your typical abuse situation. Sadie is not a perfect victim. There isn't a perfect male lead that saves the day. Sadie's house is in an constant disarray. My personal favorite is her kids. They act like mental cases, even though everyone thinks they're normal. Sadie's oldest son thinks he's a worm, her twins think that everyone besides them are aliens, her oldest daughter is always whining about something insignificant, and her baby eats weird things like newspapers. I'm glad that since Linda Hall was going to use a typical plot pattern like wife abuse, she used it in an original way. This is more of a comedy than a suspense plot.

Since Linda Hall had the body of the plot in order, it came down to how she ended it. Only one thing ended the way I expected it to, and even it wasn't perfect. I can't think of much that turned out perfect in the end. Linda Hall made sure she made the entire end realistic and plausible, right down to Sadie's mysterious music.

I always enjoy books like this because it reassures me that there are still authors out there who know how to write a realistic plot that makes you think. Perfect ends don't teach you anything; imperfect ends make you think things like "What can I do to avoid this situation?"

This is the kind of book I like to reserve the five star rating for.

5 stars

Home Another Way by Christa Parrish

Sarah Graham returns to the tiny town of Jonah only to redeem the inheritance the father she hardly knew left her-his house. When she arrives, she finds the house, like her life, is a disarray. The townspeople attempt to be kind to her, but she refuses their hospitality. She also refuses to believe that her father was as good of a person as they tell her he was. She just wants to know if her father told anyone to tell her that he was sorry for the way he treated her. She never expected to become entangled into the lives of several people.

Home Another Way

is a raw character-based plot, the best type of plot, in my opinion, because it portrays real people living real lives. Jonah is not a small town full of countrified, stereotypical hicks like you would expect. It's full of real, flawed people who are living their lives the best they can. Even the characters who seem perfect at first have their problems. Not only are the characters imperfect, but they also have personalities. This is huge step in the right direction for debuting author Christa Parrish.

Though the book is mostly a first person perspective told by Sarah, there are a handful of chapters that take the reader out of her limited perspective and into the lives of several of the characters. This lets the reader know a little more about them and makes for a realistic plot.

As I've said in the past, you never know what a debut author might do. They could be typical or original. Thankfully, Christa Parrish has begun her writing journey as an original author. Nothing typical happened at the end of this book. And thankfully, this book is not tragedy-ridden like some authors try to make this genre. It's normal, not depressing, because Sarah and the reader both learn something at the end.

Not only was the end realistic, but Christa went the extra mile to be original by fixing two pieces of Literary Trash. This also shows promise down the road.

There are virtually no problems with this book, making it a perfect five. I'm glad there is a handful of authors on the market that strive to be this original. I expect great things from Christa Parrish down the road.

5 stars

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