Suspenseful, thought- provoking
936504
Excellent book! Makes you consider the supernatural world. I like how the story plays out Heiser's theology from his book, The Unseen Realm.
4356039
This is a suspenseful, well written book that will keep you up reading 'till the wee hours of the morning even though you know you have to get up at 6 am for work. Yes, there was more violence than books I normally choose, but this book is worth reading. The author excels in his imagination of details, which brings the biblical Satan into the current time and events.

Marcus Sakey suggests in this story that death may not be an ending but rather a continuation of choices brought to the next level.

It's about a cop who continued to pursue the bad guy even in the afterlife. It's about true love that continued after death. It's about good versus evil, and how the need to choose between good and evil continued after death.
4586831
intriguing novel, moved quickly, full of suspense. characters well developed and believable. makes reader aware that the underpinnings of politics and government are not revealed to the average person.  much revealed about the manipulation of the media to fit the facts.  definitely thought-provoking and suspenseful.  great read for book club discussions.  submitted by Dianne LoRusso
2066614
great book about a relevant topic. Suspenseful. Thought provoking about surveillance and safety versus giving up their personal liberties. Highly recommended
2482113
The author immediately grabs the reader's attention by quoting several lines from Edgar Allen Poe's poem, the Raven. Specifically, these words of the poem stand out: "loneliness unbroken", a "tempest", and "the Night's Plutonian Shore!" all of which portend some hidden dark forces about to be unleashed in the lives of the three owners of the Blackbird Hotel located in the town of Jawbone Ridge located on the San Juan Mountains near the more popular skiing resort of Telluride. The first chapter reveals a singular horrific event which mystifies the reader as to what compelled a highly successful, good looking man, former award winning skier, and now successful sports broadcaster, whose age is not revealed but seems to be late thirties or early forties  - to make such a personal and terrible decision. Somehow his feelings were entangled in another terrible tragedy, which occurred about five years prior, over which he had no control but the aftermath of which affected his emotions very deeply, all because he was in love with a very unusual young woman whom he could not have or possess.

Dean has written a complex, thought-provoking, deeply personal novel about the intertwined lives of three people who made some extraordinary decisions and engaged in hidden secretive behavior which was bound to destroy one or more of their lives and leave lasting irreparable scars on all of them. This book begins as a mystery and the author highly effectively uses nonlinear story telling to build suspense, drama, and gradually reveal the strange and personal relationships between the three young owners of the Blackbird Hotel. All the characters are very well described in terms of personality traits, family backgrounds and unique personal life histories. Trust and doubt, deep desire and compulsive obsession are explored in unusual and special ways as the reasons for the behavior engaged in by all three becomes more evident the further one reads into the past relationships and histories of the three main characters.  The compulsive desires which become the driving force in the novel, create a mesmerizing reading experience. However, as with all fascinating books, there is always someone who seems to be hovering in the background, almost like a puppet master, pulling some strings, to stir up emotions and drive events to their inevitable but disastrous conclusion and then there is the witness to it all, who has a personal stake and private agenda as well. This book is filled with tension, suspense, and totally unimaginable twists and turns that will hold the interest of most readers who love a murder mystery. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
3370845
This timely thriller is both fast-paced and profound. I loved the characters. The plot was exciting and chillingly relevant to the world today. All of that is enough to make the book a great read -- but it also incorporates enough spiritual insights to make it worth repeated readings.

I'm so glad to have found this author, and look forward to reading more by him!
295701
I really liked this book. It is now one of my favorites. It challenges you to think. Many of the ideas discussed in the book are open-ended for you as the reader to interpret, and it leaves you with a sense of deepness. This book opens your mind to many new ideas and thoughts, and really proves to be a pondering stimulator. Other than all this, of course, it has a great plot, and moves along at a great pace, leaving the end a mystery to the reader. You should definately read this.
4001966
I won a copy of Delivering Jacob, and was glad I did. Kevin Hopson takes the reader on a suspenseful journey into the mind of someone who has lost his son. Anyone who has lost a child knows the feelings of loss, despair, depression, and heartache. Jacob is no different. He experiences all these feelings and more, but just as he makes the final decision to see his son again, something supernatural occurs and the journey begins.

There are numerous twists and turns in the plot and subplots, and the character is extremely well developed. While this book is a quick read, the story stays with you and makes you think--What if?
2004264
This is the first novel I have read by Dana Mentink, and it won't be my last. The minute I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. Talk about suspense, from the first word to the last, and a mystery running right through the middle of it.
Nina was working in missions in Guatemala with her father, who had just left the day before. She would be leaving soon, but starts a bus trip with a fellow missionary. Intense action starts that very day and doesn't slow down for one page, going on and on.
Shaw Wilder and his dog Axel have only one goal in mind. To find out who killed his sister and kill them, but life gets in the way sometimes. He gets drawn into trying to keep Nina safe, even though he blames her as one who is responsible for his sister's death.
Nina wholeheartedly believed that God wanted her there in Guatemala doing what she was doing. She felt that God was directing her path. Shaw had no faith in God at all; he had what happened to his sister and his Mother to go on. Can anything bring them together?
The discussion questions at the end of the story are very thought provoking, making you wonder sometimes do you need to read it again. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a suspense filled book.
2559535
An interesting mix of suspense and philosophy. Travis deftly weaves insights and commentary of the human condition into the storylines of his characters.
1231171
This book is thought provoking.  It causes the reader to think about his life.  I found that I could not put the book down as I began to read.  The book speaks to the reader long after its final thoughts.  As the author suggests,"Look forward."
2876392
This book is psychologically complex and well crafted.  The point of view shifts among first, second, and third person - and the writer's choices are well matched with the tone  each section. The interior monologue of the protagonist brings authenticity and depth. The third person point of view of the police procedural move the plot along well, and the second person perspective brings an urgency and suspense.  The author strikes a balance among all three that makes for a complete portrait of grief and loss.  This is a book that stays with you, as its ambiguities make you think or even re-read to increase your understanding.  Well done!
1840992
Gligor writes a compelling novel with suspense and mystery intertwined with wonderful character studies of men and women who struggle to figure out how to make it in a world sometimes bleak and difficult. I found myself rooting for Ann, a wife with a too-stressed, alcoholic husband, and children she wants to protect and raise as best she can. The people around her give mixed messages - who's the bad guy, and who's the good? The pages turn quickly as each character leads us to a clue that life - and the good and the bad - are sometimes difficult to discern.
3357566
"My Father and Other Liars" is a thoughtful book full of twists and complex characters. The way author Geoff Le Pard develops characters to be both flawed and evocative is becoming a hallmark of his writing. The suspense in the book rises from a multitude tensions at the heart of which is political intrigue in regards of the use of stem cells in research. One of the thought-provoking aspects of the story is the crossroads between theology and science. It's handled in such a way as to be believable and not offensive (unless one has a highly sensitive nature in regards to religion used as a medium in fiction). The author even shares (at the end of the book) how he developed his fictional theology. Another tension arises from the idea of adult orphans and those who have absentee-fathers or poor relationships. It's a theme that crosses global borders just as the book itself is set in England, America and Nicaragua. The pace is steady and picks up so that it is hard to deny the next chapter. This is the second published novel by Geoff Le Pard and while it is different from his first, "Dead Flies and Sherry Trifle," his voice comes through as a writer and someone I will continue to follow as a reader.
408911
Bethany, aged twelve, is in a car with her sobbing mother and burdened father. Neither parent will tell her where they're going or why her mother has been crying for months. They arrive at a small town in the middle of the night, where she is informed that she will stay with someone her parents call "Aunt Myrlie." Bethany's mother is beside herself with grief, and has a very difficult time parting with her daughter. Then, astoundingly, her overly protective parents drive off and leave her with the stranger.

Bethany tries calling her parents' cell phones to beg them to come back, but all she gets are "this number is out of service" messages. The next morning, her father calls to tell her, puzzlingly, that she's safer where she is than with them. She overhears Myrlie tell her father that Bethany must learn about Elizabeth, which is not the name of anyone Bethany knows. There are more mysteries, too, such as the way Myrlie is shocked that Bethany loves to swim and the fact that Myrlie (who actually turns out to be Bethany's aunt) always introduces her as a visitor instead of her niece.

The questions keep coming quickly and furiously: Whose memorial makes Myrlie so uncomfortable? Why do people act like they've seen a ghost when they meet Bethany?

But Bethany realizes that she's accustomed to unanswered questions, having lived with them all her life: Why does her family move constantly? Why are her parents so old? Why have they never had contact with relatives?

When the truth is finally revealed, it's astonishing --- and devastating. Even in her confusion and distress, Bethany realizes that the revelation doesn't explain everything about her odd life, or why some strange man appears to be stalking her.

This is yet another triumph for the amazing Margaret Peterson Haddix (if you haven't yet read RUNNING OUT OF TIME or AMONG THE HIDDEN, they should be the next books on your reading list!) Haddix is a master at combining a dazzlingly original concept with suspenseful writing --- and she delivers both in DOUBLE IDENTITY.

That said, I felt that the ending was just a bit on the anticlimactic side with a rather too-tidy resolution. However, I still wholeheartedly recommend this book for its thought-provoking twist on the theme "be yourself" and for the noteworthy suspense, which builds throughout the story.

[...]
87632
I really enjoyed this book! I took it as a vacation read and wasn't able to put it down! I think I read the entire book in three days. It was so suspenseful; I was on the edge of my seat until the last page. I  enjoyed getting to know the characters and participating with them in their adventures through the jungles of the Amazon. This book made me think about where we are headed as a society and how possible it might be that experiments like the ones described may actually exist someday. Scary thoughts that I prefer stay in fiction novels! I enjoyed the spiritual elements as well. The book ended with just enough questions to make me anticipate the next Peter Zachary novel!
1901861
What an excellent story, with suspense and surprises; also very thought-provoking about what's going on in the world right now.