Tag Archives: Fiction

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Book Review – Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey

Steal Away Home by Billy CoffeyI am not a big sports fan, and I never really have been. But if there were one sport I can get into, it would be baseball. Of everything out there, I enjoy it the most. And, stories about baseball are among my favorites. So when I was given the opportunity to read and review Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey, I jumped on it.

I was surprised at first, because I halfway expected this story to take place during the Depression, or maybe after Word War 2. But Coffey placed it in the most unexpected of times. The story is split between 1990 and 2001. The main character is a man named Owen Cross, who is a catcher in the minor leagues. In 1990, he was a senior about to graduate from high school. In 2001, he gets his shot at the major leagues.

And the story is about both of those times. The majority of it takes place in the spring and early summer of that senior year, but it all comes as reminiscent memories while sitting in the dugout of Yankee Stadium one night in 2001.

The story is typical Billy Coffey, engaging and captivating, told in such a way that you can’t really put the book down. It’s a story of love and betrayal, of grief and forgiveness, of a girl and a game, and how salvation comes in the most unexpected ways.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Steal Away Home, just as I have with every Billy Coffey novel I have read. I think you’ll like it too. I highly recommend that you grab a copy and read it.

Ratings & Details For Steal Away Home:

  • Genre/Style: Christian Fiction
  • Story/Plot: 10 of 10 stars
  • Spiritual Content: 10 of 10 stars
  • Readability/Flow: 10 of 10 stars
  • Cover: 10 of 10 stars
  • Overall Rating: 10 of 10 stars

Book Review Rating

Question: Have you ever read anything by Billy Coffey? If so, how did you like it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you are interested in reading Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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Book Review – The Separatists by Lis Wiehl

The SeparatistsIn the past, I have read and reviewed several books by Lis Wiehl, and I have been impressed. The latest addition to my library is no exception, and may be the biggest nailbiter yet.

The Separatists is the third installment in Wiehl’s Newsmaker series. It is by far the best of the three, and I thoroughly enjoyed the first two. You can read my review of The Newsmakers here.

In this third volume, Erica Sparks, the nations top and hardest hitting news reporter investigates the secessionist movements that are growing around the nation. One such movement, in North Dakota, is disturbing, and Erica stumbles upon something much bigger, more sinister and dark than she’s ever experienced. As she seeks to follow the threads of murder and corruption to their source, she lands herself and her family in great danger.

Paired with this plot, Wiehl describes a woman who is both successful and greatly insecure. Sparks comes from humble beginnings, and seeks to escape that stigma, and be a better mother to her daughter. And with her new marriage struggling to survive, Wiehl paints a picture of a realistic person, struggling with many of the same struggles most of us deal with on a daily basis.

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Book Review – The Dark Heart by Julie Cave

The Dark HeartJulie Cave may be one of my favorite authors. Her ability to weave a tale of faith intermingled with mystery and suspense is almost beyond comparison. She is a talented author, there is no doubt.

I first discovered her books several years ago, when I reviewed a couple of novels from her Dinah Harris series: The Shadowed Mind and Deadly Disclosures. The Dark Heart is the fourth novel featuring Dinah Harris, and it may very well be the best yet.

Author Julie Cave writes a captivating fictional story, but she deals with the harsh realities of modern culture in doing so. Her character, Dinah Harris, is a recovering alcoholic who must deal with the tragic loss of her family. The depression and despair that come through seem almost real at times. The circumstances that define Harris’ life are detailed in the first novel, but are touched on briefly in this one as well. However, I don’t think you need to read them in sequential order.

In The Dark Heart, dark realities are present as well. Drug abuse and racism, and even the issue of bullying come to light in this novel, and Cave deals with them in a way that pulls no punches. Each of these are horrific in their own ways, and many people struggle with these issues. As Dinah Harris digs into this murder, seeking to solve the crime before another can be committed, Cave deals with each of these issues in a way that exemplifies her own faith in God.

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Book Review – Some Small Magic by Billy Coffey

Some Small MagicI love a good story with an intricate plot. If it has a good plot twist, so much the better. And if the plot twist is so sublime that I don’t notice it until well into the story, that’s when it’s the best.

That was the case with the plot in Some Small Magic, by Billy Coffey. I wasn’t sure about it when I picked up the book initially, having never heard of the author before. But about halfway through the book, or just before that, I started to get a bit of a feeling that he was going somewhere completely unexpected with this story. And I was not surprised. He did exactly that. And I didn’t even see it coming.

Some Small Magic is a story of a kid named Abel. He and his mom are making it, but just barely. His body is broken by a debilitating condition; just what it is, we are never really told. And he’d like to know more about his father. All of these factors combine to pull Abel and his mother to an Appalachian mountain revival meeting where something strange happens.

Based on what he learns at that revival meeting, Abel decided to jump a train and find his father. With a friend the town considers dumb, who actually has more wisdom than most, and a young girl they meet along the way. Abel begins his quest to seek the truth he’s looking for. And he finds a whole lot more than he ever expected.

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Book Review – The Angels’ Share by James Markert

The Angels' ShareMystery and suspense fiction are some of my favorite kinds of fiction. And while The Angels’ Share isn’t necessarily suspense, it will keep you reading until you finish the book.

Set in the early 1930s, after World War 1 and Prohibition have ended, The Angels’ Share is the story of a young man trying to find his way, and a way for his broken family. The family owned a bourbon distillery in the hills of Kentucky. When Prohibition shut it down, and the family experienced the death of their youngest child, it seems like they have been beaten beyond recovery.

But a transient is buried in the potters graveyard nearby, and many believe that he was Christ returned to earth. The story unfolds, exposing dirty secrets, incredible miracles, and flourishing love, love between a man and a woman, and love for mankind as a whole.

The Angels’ Share is a great story, set in a historical context that is rare to find. And although it is centered around a bourbon distillery, the pros and cons of alcohol consumption are not a prominent part of the storyline.

I found The Angels’ Share a difficult book to set aside, and was captivated until the very end. I look forward to reading more fiction from James Markert in the future.

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Book Review – A Harvest Of Thorns by Corban Addison

A Harvest of ThornsI love reading a good legal thriller. It’s one of my favorite genres, and I have found several authors that I really enjoy. When I saw A Harvest Of Thorns, is seemed to be right up my alley, and I anticipated getting into it.

The story line was good, maybe even great. It’s a story based on the reality of sweat shops and slave labor, and addresses the rights of workers in developing countries who make the products we find on our shelves. It’s a novel that drives home a point. While it’s fiction, the individuals found within it could easily be real people. Their situations are not that different.

However, there was one glaring stain that ruined the whole book for me. More than a dozen times, the book used profanity. Now, before you accuse me of being overly sensitive, I have read plenty of material that contains such vocabulary. And I’m generally not offended. However, in this case, the publisher is Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher, and I expected to find a story that was free of this kind of stuff. In that, I was greatly disappointed.

Very often, my kids ask to read my books. And very often, I let them read them, especially when they are books that are clean. This is one I will not be letting my kids read. And I’m severely disappointed by that fact.

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Book Review – When Death Draws Near by Carrie Stuart Parks

When Death Draws NearMost of the time, I read material that is challenging to me in some area of my life, or historical material and biographies. Over the past few years, I have found this to be increasingly the case. However, once in a while, I still enjoy a good fictional novel. And Carrie Stuart Parks has provided a great story in the most recent novel I have read.

When Death Draws Near is the story of Gwen Marcey, a forensic artist. When her help is requested in rural Kentucky, she is drawn into a web full of multiple deaths, a radical variant of a faith she struggles with, and her own failures and worries. Full of suspense and intrigue, Parks weaves a tale that draws the reader into the life of Marcey, and creates a world that is hard to let go of until the last page is turned.

This is the first time I have read anything by Parks, and I am impressed. I’m looking forward to reading more of her work. Although she does not reach the level of some of my favorite authors, she has considerable talent and the ability to create a world that the reader is drawn into easily. Her characters are interesting and she develops them well. My only negative about this novel is that sometimes it was too fast paced. More than once, significant events occurred in the story line with little preparation for them. I was left wondering where that came from.

Many times a plot twist will create the same kind of tension, but in a better way. In Parks’ case, a bit more development between such significant events would help to smooth this a bit.