Storm Surge, by Rene Gutteridge (Tyndale House)

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If the name 'Rene Gutteridge' does not appear on your list of reading credits, your literary dossier is woefully incomplete.

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Ms. Gutteridge's veteran pen has once again produced a superbly entertaining work with a wonderful balance of humor, poignancy and mystery. Storm Surge, the third in the "Storm" series, follows FBI Special Agent Mick Kline in a race against the death-row clock. The condemned prisoner, Sammy Earle, has been incarcerated for a crime in which Agent Kline himself was once implicated. Only now doubts begin to surface as to Sammy's guilt, and Mick personally takes on the case against everyone's advice, including his own.

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The web of intrigue began to weave itself in steamy jungles of Vietnam with the murder and disappearance of two American soldiers. In the intervening years, it expands and stretches taut, ensnaring more hapless victims who stumble--or are pushed--into it. It finally snaps amid a Category 4 hurricane on the Texas coast, where it threatens not only Mick, but the woman he loves. The action is intense, the drama poignant, and the characters multidimensional. Having said that, my next comment may seem a little odd: it was really funny. By that I mean Ms. Gutteridge has mastered the tricky art of diffusing tension at just the right points with appropriate humor. How? By knowing how to write.

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I've commented on an author's writing voice in a few of my posts, with notables going to Liz Curtis Higgs and Sibella Giorello. Put Rene Gutteridge right alongside them. I rarely laugh out loud when I read a crime novel, but my uninhibited reaction to Ms. Gutteridge's subtly witty narrative style and glib repartee between characters drew more than one raised eyebrow from my wife, who was lying next to me trying to concentrate on her own book. I kept saying, "Listen, you've got to hear this passage! You'll crack up!" I guess I said that too many times, as she finally exhorted me to stop before I read her the whole book. (Sorry, Jeannie, but just wait until you read it . . . )
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I had the pleasure of sitting through a couple of Ms. Gutteridge's seminars at an ACW writers' conference two years ago. If I had taken better notes, perhaps I could write as well as she does . . . in a few years . . . or longer . . . maybe. (Sigh!)

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There's Movement...again!

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Heard from my editor today! The Word Fulfilled is scheduled to start the production process next week. Won't speculate on an exact release data yet, but once the process starts, it usually flies.

Thanks to all who have been asking about the book. Apologies in advance for the spam you're going to get from me. :-)
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My Portion Forever, by Karen Roth (Eagle Rock)

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Now here's a book that has it all: trucks blowing up for guys, romance for women, and inspiration for everyone--not to mention a great story line and excellent writing. What more could we ask for?

My Portion Forever follows Sana Toledo, an Algerian-born American girl living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sana, destined to suffocate in servitude to her uncle in his tiny grocery store, runs away after high school, becomes a nurse, and ends up choking on the dusty grit of the North African desert attending the "boys" fighting Rommel's tanks in the early days of World War II. Surrounded by a colorful cast of unforgettable characters, Lt. Toledo endures the horrors of war, the exhaustion and frustration of front-line hospital life, and her own personal struggle with a beckoning faith she doesn't understand. Her path criss-crosses that of Ranger Lt. Joe Vesely, a high-school friend who becomes more than just a friend, from their training in the rainy cold of England, through the first taste of combat on the beachhead at Arzew, and culminating in the bloody battle of Kasserine.

Reminiscent of Jack Cavanaugh's Dear Enemy, My Portion Forever provides a seldom-seen look at the hope and heartache, perseverence and peril, of the medical corps' doctors and nurses as they fought to save the lives of young soldiers maimed in a war thousands of miles from home. You'll be fascinated by the initiative the medical troops took, the innovativeness they displayed when proper medical supplies and facilities dwindled or were altogether lacking--like beer bottles for IV containers and human hair for sutures. Ms. Roth doesn't shy away from the devastation and gore of battle and its carnage; however, neither does she cross the line into gratuitously bloody descriptions for shock value. Meticulously researched and skillfully delivered, My Portion Forever rounds out the story of The Greatest Generation from the viewpoint of those who fought so hard to preserve it.

Finally, as an author, I was struck by how Karen Roth can immerse love, honor and faith in so much grit, blood and tears and still have them shine through unblemished. It's both inspiring and intimidating. Readers, take heart; writers, take a lesson.

Great book. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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The Sleeping Matchbook by Patricia Stebelton (OakTara)

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In The Sleeping Matchbook, Patricia Stebelton pens a wild and witty mystery young readers of all interests will enjoy. Secrets abound in this inspirational tale of two girls setting out to solve a cold case--but not so cold that it doesn't heat up in a hurry the moment they start poking around.

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Samantha "Sam" Westbrook" lost a best friend when her neighbor and 'big sister,' Amanda Griffen, left for a birthday party--and never came back. Her boyfriend was found the next morning behind the wheel of his Mustang, shot to death. Amanda hasn't been seen since. What's really strange, is that the school jacket Amanda was wearing that night mysteriously reappears in her closet bearing the only clue as to what might have happened: a single matchbook lodged in the lining beneath a pocket.

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It's now four years later. Going through Amanda's closet with her mother, seventeen-year old Sam finds the coat and the matchbook, a discovery that sparks a quest to discover just what happened that night. She enlists the help of her new friend, Tracy, and together they face danger and the threat of violence as their sleuthing breaks open old wounds and creates waves that ripple all the way into the highest levels of the police department itself.

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Physical, emotional and spiritual challenges dog their steps along the way and provide the most meaningful lessons of all for both Sam and Tracy. The Sleeping Matchbook accelerates and explodes in a dynamic ending that neither of the girls expect. You won't either.

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Good read for the tweenager and teenager, and parents won't have to worry about this one. The moral and spiritual lessons come through loud and clear, but not so loud that they drown out the story. Nice job, Patricia!

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