Drawing Fire by Janice Cantore

Great story!! The book Drawing Fire by Janice Cantore is a great suspenseful story with a little romance. It is the story of Abby, a homicide detective, and her unending search for answers in the deaths of her parents so many years before. A case comes up that offers Abby the opportunity to ask the governor (an old friend of her parents) about the cold case. She is stopped before she gets to ask much, but her identity is then known.

Another character, who is also searching for the truth from those murders is a private investigator, Luke. His uncle was also killed in the restaurant murders which killed Abby's parents. In his search for answers he has never uncovered the true identity of Abby.

As you can probably guess, Abby and Luke join forces, to some extent, to seek out those responsible for her parents' deaths. I don't want to give away more, so read it!

This was a great story, I really enjoyed it. The characters are nicely developed, "rounded" characters -- you feel as if they are truly real people. They are Christians, and there are references to that and God's will, etc. throughout -- along with that is the lack of bad language or objectionable activities -- nice.

The story wraps up nicely -- BUT leaves you wanting more! This is book one in a series -- and I can't wait for the next books in the series! I would definitely recommend it as a great suspenseful story -- with a little romance -- kind of -- or hints of what is to come, maybe.

I received this book for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Midwife's Tale by Delia Parr

The Midwife's Tale by Delia Parr is a story of a woman (Martha Cade) in the early 1800's who is the midwife for the region. She is a widow and has two children -- one son grown and married and moved away, one daughter who has just (at the start of the book) run away with a traveling circus. She is an essential member of her community, and has helped with almost every birth around.

Martha takes a break from her midwifing role and searches for several months for her daughter, but is unsuccessful. She returns to her previous life only to find that there is a new doctor in town who might threaten her livelihood.

The book follows the story of Martha (Widow Cade) and her efforts to live life in the shadow of her daughter's disappearance as well as carrying on her normal midwifery duties.

There is a new family in the region, a husband and wife and several foster boys -- several tragedies -- larceny -- suspicion -- broken friendships --

I won't tell you how they play into the story, but read it to find out!

I don't want to tell you much more about the plot, because you ought to read it to find out ;) I did enjoy this book quite a lot! The characters are nicely developed and the story is interesting. I usually don't really like historical fictions in this era, but I certainly did like this one! I do recommend this book -- give it a try!

I received this book for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Detained by Don Brown

Are you a fan of military suspense stories? Police-legal action? This newest book by Don Brown (as well as his older ones!) will be a winner with you!

The book Detained, by Don Brown, is a suspenseful military-action/JAG Law type book. It's deep and a bit disturbing, full of action, and packed with multiple main characters who enter the story at different points and merge to come to the end of the story.

The book begins with Hasan Makari and his son Najib--Lebanese men who love Christ and the US. Najib has emigrated to the US, become a citizen, and enlisted in the Navy. In the beginning of the book Hasan is flying to the US to visit his son. Najib is on board ship, excited to see his father when they reach port.

Hasan is seized by members of a branch of the TSA without knowing why. He is transported to Guantanamo Bay Detention on false charges and is tortured as his captors seek to beat a confession (albeit false) out of him. His son is whisked off ship and brought to Guantanamo and also endures horrific treatment in an attempt to have him confess to false charges against him as well.

Navy JAG lawyer Matt Davis is (as a seemingly disciplinary measure) assigned to the case of Hasan and Najib. As he travels to the base, he becomes suspicious about the "rules" that the legal system at Guantanamo Bay seem to run under, as well as his role there. He becomes aware of a questionable death of one of his predacessors, and receives some threats to himself.

Another character, Emily Gardner, has received a huge promotion in her legal career, but uncovers some information that seems traitorous -- information that was "planted" to "test" her loyalty. I will not give you much more info than this :) because you'll want to read that yourself!

All the characters come together in the end to provide a slam-bang finish :)

All in all I liked the book. It was very tense, dramatic, and elicited strong emotions about injustice. I guess that what I didn't love was that it seemed that most of the book was these seemingly independent stories unfolding kind of slowly and deliberately and then--WHOOSH!-- it was resolved very quickly. It was an enjoyable book, not an easy fluffy read, by any means.

I would recommend this book for sure. My husband is reading it next and my dad after that. If you like this type of book (like Tom Clancy-type books) then you will like this one. It is not filled with swearing and sex, so that is a plus.

I received this book for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.