Suspense Fiction Review: Irene Hannon's Buried Secrets

Irene Hannon is a master suspense writer, but she has one interesting trait that could be construed as a flaw: She spends half her book telling the story from the villain's point of view. This provides an interesting character study, but in Buried Secrets it means following around a woman who does everything for a big promotion. It doesn't sound that interesting, and knowing the mystery takes away from suspense, but Hannon's perfect writing style is worth the continued read. In fact, this is the second book by Irene Hannon I have read, and although I get tired of the "coincidence rules the day" "immediate attraction" of the romance, Buried Secrets did an okay job of character development and chemistry. And, surprisingly, Hannon once again manages to up the suspense at the end of her novel with a life-or-death situation. Now, if only Hannon could learn to narrow down on her point of views. The two leads plus villain works well enough, the others are unnecessary.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

Fiction Review: The Creole Princess

Beth White writes with incredible historical detail. Although she uses the occasional jargon, her style is thoroughly enjoyable. In The Creole Princess, the story jumps around quite a bit, requiring the reader to fill in the blanks in time passage. White also uses quite a few points of view, but her characters are solid. The lead male is much like The Scarlet Pimpernel, dashing and brave on the inside, more sensitive and illusive on the outside. This portion of the book series takes place during the American Revolution, with our female leads on the edge in their alliances. The romances are thin, but believable. I recommend reading White's end-of-book notes for some interesting historical tidbits on her research and incorporation of real-life historical figures. White's enjoyment of history shows in these notes and throughout the book. It's for that reason that her story succeeds as the perfect historical novel, reaching in to touch on deep themes of slavery and independence. The one downer is that the time hops make for a lack of emotional attachment and suspense.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

Nonfiction Review: God of the Big Bang

Leslie Wickman has plenty of expertise. In fact, I found some of her notes on global warming and taking care of the earth interesting. But when it comes to her book, "God of the Big Bang," Wickman does not quite know where to focus. I found myself disappointed because the short time she spent on defending the Christian faith she only covered the typical points that can be found in greater detail elsewhere. The rest of the book she hopped from topic to topic that really didn't mesh with her theme: God and science. There was a possibility that her content could work if she would only connect the dots for the reader. It was a fairly quick and easy read, but unsatisfying and uninformative.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.