Book Review - Daughter of the Rebellion

Daughter of the Rebellion, the latest release from author Jamie Ogle, is the deeply emotional and vividly entertaining story of Visigoth war daughter Adelgard. Captured when the Roman army defeated her rebellious clan and sent to train and perform as one of the favored gladiatrices in the violent entertainment culture of Rome, Adel has leaned into her role as Amazon and endeavored to set aside thoughts of a home to which she can no longer return. The abuses she must endure are the consequences of decisions she has made that brought shame to herself and to her family. There is no path but forward.

Working in the ludus is not an appropriate occupation for a Christian, but medicus Felix must do what he has to do in order to provide for his mother and sisters. There he provides medical care for the injured gladiators and gladiatrices, making ends meet and dodging creditors in search of restitution for debts his father acquired before he disappeared. However, the Lord uses circumstances and individuals regardless of how appropriate or qualified they seem to human eyes and Felix has some heavy decisions to make when approached with a difficult offer.

This is a book I throughly devoured, regardless of every attempt to slow down and savor it. The scenes moved as though on film, expertly crafted descriptions and deeply human characters flowed in real time as pages turned and the story progressed. The messages of mercy and understanding unfold beautifully, bit by bit as our flawed and relatable characters begin to digest the concepts and embrace their identities in the eyes of the Father. The further blooming of identity is executed as deftly as the Amazon delivering the winning strike to an exhausted and unsettled opponent. Without giving away too much, it is safe to say that this is truly a story that does not end until the author strikes her final punctuation. Daughter of the Rebellion will stick with me for a satisfyingly long time.

Daughter of the Rebellion is available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House    Christian Book    Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Walmart

I received a NetGalley ARC of this book. It did not influence my review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Book Review - The Women of Oak Ridge

Michelle Shocklee delivers a thoughtful perspective on human nature and the repercussions of shame in The Women of Oak Ridge. Focusing on Maebelle Willet, a young woman from a coal mining family who answered the call for workers in the secret city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee in late 1941, this novel shifts between Mae’s experiences in the secret city and her experience in 1979, when her niece Laurel arrives in Oak Ridge to research those experiences for her dissertation. The memories and questions that Laurel opens up set off an inevitable reaction in her aunt that have consequences beyond anything anyone who knows Mae Willet could imagine.

Secrets have consequences, and Shocklee explores these on several levels in The Women of Oak Ridge. The characters there in both seasons of Oak Ridge are developed with excellent craftsmanship so that they are very real and relevant to the reader. Both the desperate need for secrecy during the war years, as the residents who live and work there are consistently reminded that loose lips sink ships and even your roommate may be a spy, and the lingering effects of the weight that secrecy. Shocklee also develops a rich setting in Oak Ridge, in the mud town that does not appear on any map and is largely unknown to the postal service, and the one where people live in the spaces left behind when the uranium enrichment facilities were left behind after the war. The reader is fully immersed in this setting with these characters and their complexities so that this book could easily be a quick read, but carries a weight that is worth sitting with for a while. The heaviness of secrecy and shame are very carefully and realistically brought to light in the scope of grace and mercy.

The Women of Oak Ridge by Michelle Shocklee is available from your favorite local booksellers or online:

Baker Book House    Christian Book    Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Walmart

I received an ARC of this book. It did not influence my review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Book Review - Deadly Currents

Cressida Valentine is in danger. Not the kind of danger one would expect to find in the process of finishing the book her father was researching before he died, but the kind that requires a bodyguard around the clock. After all, the subject of her research is the stuff of maritime mystery, hardly international intrigue. Yet somehow, every time she gets close to a source who can help demystify the ghost ship off the Washington coast, someone gets hurt, something gets damaged, or someone dies. The Specter’s Bounty body count exceeds her crew and Cressida just might be next.

Elizabeth Goddard hoists the sails on the third book in her Hidden Bay series with Deadly Currents, and it is no pleasure cruise. It is, however, a “cancel everything and curl up in front of the fire with lots of drinks and snacks because nobody is going anywhere until this is resolved” excursion. For proof, I submit the incredible patience of  the husband who got a late supper because I genuinely lost track of about three hours when the book got “really good.” I promise I meant to be cutting sweet potatoes instead of clutching my Kindle for dear life as the action unfolded in a way that I simply could not put down. Cressida is tenacious and probably more like her mother than she would care to admit. Braden has his own battles, but taking on Cressida and protecting her from herself is one he cannot refuse. The residents of Hidden Bay are practically family by this point in the series, and the ghost ship has a pull few can resist. With characters like these and a storyline crafted as intricately as any seafaring vessel, it is no wonder Deadly Currents pulls you into its world and only spits you back out when it is done.

Deadly Currents, the third book in the Hidden Bay series by Elizabeth Goddard, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House    Christian Book    Amazon     Barnes & Noble    Walmart

Thank you to the author for allowing me a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.