Double Blind: A Review

Lisa Newberry sufferers from debilitating depression. After suffering several miscarriages, losing her husband, and being attacked, she can barely make it through a day. When a company promises to take away her depression with a brain chip, she jumps at the chance. To her delight, the chip works, but now instead of depression haunting her, she can't get the images of a murder out of her head, a murder she is determined to solve. 

This book will keep readers turning the pages to find out what will happen next. There are twists and turns on every page. I figured Lisa would solve the murder and that would be the suspenseful part of the book, so I was surprised by the twist about half-way through and continued to be surprised until the last chapter. 

I enjoyed Lisa's relationship with her mom. Often Christian suspense books will have a female heroine, but the handsome man will help her solve the case and they fall in love. While I like those, I enjoyed the mom-daughter relationship that was a major part of this book.

Fans of Collins' books will enjoy this book as it has all the things Collins does best: suspense, twists and turns, and a little bit of faith.

I received this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts are my own. 

In the small town of Amaryllis, a serial killer is on the loose. In the last three years, five elderly women have been murdered in the exact same way. When a sixth woman is murdered, authorities believe it is the work of the serial killer although the woman murdered doesn't fit the profile of the previous victims. Is it the work of the same man, or is there a second killer threatening the peace of the quaint town?

This is Brandilyn Collins' best book! Although the book is a murder mystery, the entire story is told from the point of view of three women, who are quite different but similar in one way...they each believe they know who the murderer is. Working together, they begin to piece together the pieces, and I enjoyed the storyline of normal women stepping up and figuring things out instead of having the investigators do all the work.

As always in a Collins' novel, there is a lot of action, and while I suspected who the killer was, I still enjoyed the ride finding him. Even more than the mystery, I enjoyed seeing the character growth in the three narrators. This book is a must-read for Christian suspense fans!

I received this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book Giveaway!

Congratulations to Dawn, who won Inside Threat. I'll mail it to you soon.

Today, I'm giving away Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins. I reviewed it this week, so you can check out that blog post for more details.
To enter, just leave a comment about what sends you "over the edge" in life. For me, it's people who can't drive the speed limit! LOL!
Make sure you leave your email address.
I can only ship to the US.
I'll pick a winner next Tuesday. You'll have a week to respond before I give the book to another person.
Good luck.

Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins

Janessa's life seems perfect. Her husband is a well-known researcher and professor. His work affords her and her daughter a perfect life--wealth, beautiful home, the best school. When Janessa gets sick, she and her husband assume it's a bad case of the flu. Instead, it is her worse nightmare. A man calls and informs Janessa that he has infected with her with Lyme disease. To save her daughter from becoming infected, Janessa must convince her husband, who believes chronic Lyme disease doesn't exist, to retract his research findings. Can Janessa save her daughter when her own husband doesn't believe her?

My sister read this book before me and didn't enjoy it, so to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. While the book is not as fast-paced as most of Brandilyn Collins' books (I've read all of them), it is interesting and a good read. Most of Collins' books focus on the action and the suspense. This book spends more time on character development. At the beginning of the book, Janessa is a Stepford wife, making sure the dinner is prepared at a certain time, having the home spotless, making sure she was not a minute late to pick up her daughter. When her illness leaves her so sick she cannot get out of bed, she has to become a fighter just to move. When no one believes she has Lyme, she has to fight to get answers. When her husband questions her ability to care for her daughter, she has to fight to provide for her child. By the end of the book, Janessa is a force to be reckoned with. This development of character is the best I've seen in a Collins' book.

The second thing I enjoyed about the book was the realistic portrayal of the disease and the medical field. While most doctors care about their patients, the patient must be his or her own advocate, pushing to receive the best care possible, insisting the doctors find out the answers. I knew very little about Lyme disease when I picked up this book, but I now feel for those who suffer from this disease. I hope this book will help educate people. I felt the information was presented in a straight-forward manner and was not too preachy. There were a few parts where the "information" slowed down the drama, but it wasn't enough for me to stop reading.

Overall, good book.

Some of my Favorite--Middle School

I love young adult literature. Posting my favorite may take a few posts!

1. Ally Carter:

Her books are about strong, independent teenage girls who have more going for them than just finding a boy to like. The Gallagher Girls series is about Cammie, who is a spy in training. The Heist series is about a girl who has been raised in a family full of art thieves. I recommend both series to middle school and high school girls. Ally's books also have the catchiest titles!

2. Jordan Sonnenblick

Jordan Sonnenblick is one of the best at capturing the thoughts and feelings of young adults. I can't tell you how many times I've had students say that he writes like they think. He tackles tough topics in a funny way, and I love his books.

3. Suzanne Collins: Hunger Game series

This series is cutting edge and full of suspense. It's a springboard for great talks about society. The third book comes out in August, and I can't wait to read it!

4. Brandilyn Collins: Christian fiction writer

Brandilyn Collins has teamed with her daughter to write a teen suspense series, which turned out to be a great series. I recommend it to the mystery lovers.

More to come....