Karen Kingsbury is my favorite author. But I think I liked this book ...
581980
Karen Kingsbury is my favorite author. But I think I liked this book least of all, after reading all her other books.
2552992
I have always enjoyed Karen Kingsbury's book - I have quite a few and shared it with other friends.
Elaine Corley
4948049
I have always loved Karen Kingsbury books.  Unlocked is one of the books that I started reading the minute I opened the package and could not put it down until I had finished it.  I had tears running down my face so many times throughout this book.  The description of Autism is so realistic.  Autism is just how this book portrays it, a world in and of itself.  Unlocking that wall and finding a way in is worth the work and the wait, although as we see in this book, the wait can be agonizing.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves Karen's books and to anyone who wants to read a real work of art.
1425857
It was so great to read more about the baxters, and Flanigan families again, it was like reuniting with old friends!  This book is classic Karen Kingsbury, and a delight to read.  Of course she leaves you hanging, so you HAVE to get the next book, but that's what a great writer does, right? - Gives you a great story, but a continued desire for more.  Don't want to give anything away, but I hope all turns out for the other main story in this book!!
867112
I really enjoy Karen Kingsbury books.  This was great with three stories in one book. I could not put it down!
3341194
Karen Kingsbury is my absolute favorite author. Once into her books you just have a very hard time putting them down.  That is the way it was with Brush of Wings. And as always she incorporated the Loed's plan of salvation into the beautiful love story as well as  very positive outlooks for living. She is always tops in my book!
4724517
I love series, the longer the better. Karen Kingsbury has created a saga wither her Baxter Family books. In This Moment is another installment in the Baxter families lives. I enjoyed getting the updates on all of the family members and it was enjoyable to spend time with Luke Baxter.  He is an attorney who has left entertainment law to practice Religous Freedom Law.
In This Moment follows Luke as he defends Principal Wendall Quin's right to hold a voluntary after-school Bible study. Despite the fact that the school is seeing great improvement in all areas, Mr. Quin is being told he must not share the Bible with students. A compelling plot straight out of today's headlines.

I was given this book by NetGalley.com for review purposes. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

Instant New York Times Bestseller

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a brand-new Baxter Family novel about a beloved high school principal who starts a Bible Study to improve the lives of his struggling students, only to become the national focus of a controversial lawsuit.

Hamilton High Principal Wendell Quinn is tired of the violence, drug abuse, teen pregnancies, and low expectations at his Indianapolis school. A single father of four, Quinn is a Christian and a family man. He wants to see change in his community, so he starts a voluntary after-school Bible Study and prayer program. He knows he is risking his job by leading the program, but the high turnout at every meeting encourages him.

A year later, violence and gang activity are down, test scores are up, and drug use and teen pregnancy have plummeted. The program is clearly workinguntil one parent calls the press. Now Quinn faces a lawsuit that could ruin everything.

With a storm of national attention and criticism, Quinn is at a crossroadshe must choose whether to cave in and shut down the program or stand up for himself and his students. The battle comes with a high cost, and Quinn wants just one attorney on his side for this fight: Luke Baxter. In This Moment is an inspiring, relevant story about the nuances of religious freedom and how a group of determined people just might restore the meaning of faith in todays culture.

About the author:
Biography
Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is Americas favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family books are being developed into a TV series slated for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a matter of months. Today the couple has joined the ranks of empty-nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their adult children.
4294162
This book begins the saga of Karen Kingsbury's Baxter Family series.  With this book, we meet Kari Baxter Jacobs who finds out that her perfect life is ruined with the news of an unfaithful husband.  Meanwhile, she's being tempted herself by an old boyfriend.  I felt that this is a scenario many women unfortunately have found themselves in.  Your world gets shattered and you seek to get revenge when temptation walks in.  I felt that Kari's reactions were realistic and understandable. Kingsbury does a good job of portraying the hurt and betrayal that comes with a spouse who's been unfaithful.  The Baxters are close knit and it's refreshing to see big families that are there for each other.

While I enjoyed the book, there were times when I felt it to be a bit soap opera-ish. Yes people, even Christians, experience infidelity and temptation, but the result ends up being the same every time.  Plus there's just a lot of drama in this book.  I half expected to hear that slow dramatic music at the end of every chapter with a character looking off in the distance inquisitively.  I think what bothered me the most was the cop out way the story ended up going.  It just seems that this incident always happens in Christian fiction to allow for a second marriage when the first one is going horrible.  The ending is also just a little too neat and tidy for my taste.

Still this book handles topics not normally tackled in Christian fiction and gives light to those who are struggling with these same issues.  If you are looking for a big long series to read, then you definitely want to start with this book.  I've read all the other books involving theBaxters and they are enjoyable to read and give a good lesson as well.
955519
Another home run for Karen Kingsbury. While I had trouble getting into book one in this series, book two really drew me right in. Already having a relationship with the characters helped a lot. As always, the characters are well developed and the story keeps you drawn in. I found myself often frustrated with the character Mary Catherine, which was a good thing, I was very invested in her.
4727717
It may seem self-indulgent for King to make his protagonist a writer of romantic suspense. King sounded a bit defensive on the promotional tape his publisher sent reviewers. Wambaugh was a cop, and he writes about cops, King says. You have to write about what you know, he goes on, just like he writes about Maine.

There are many themes and mysteries in this book. Some of my favorites are the ideas concerned with recreational reading. King and his editor both suggest that this book owes a lot to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. So not surprisingly, it is a ghost story. With some fictional monsters, like vampires or zombies or what ever, our suspension of disbelief in order to enjoy the story may involve considerable effort. But ghosts? For anyone who has ever experienced the loss of a loved one, it is almost impossible not to believe in ghosts. An interesting fact that King's character encounters constantly is that women in this country read more than men. Men characters in the book, when they meet the author, always say something like "You are my wife's favorite writer."

Another story that is referred to frequently is "Mars is Heaven" by Ray Bradbury. I love this story, even more so because it is part of a cycle of stories which Bradbury wrote known as The Martian Chronicles. I am a bit concerned about King's use of the story here, because he summarizes it a bit abruptly, and it is a tale which relies on a surprise ending, so it would benefit readers to find a copy of The Martian Chronicles and read that
first, before reading Bag Of Bones. I believe "Mars is Heaven" is the original title, and the title that was used in several anthologies many years ago. It would be hard for readers to find it with that title now, however, as I think it was published as "The Third Expedition" in The Martian Chronicles.

Bag of Bones, simply summarized, involves a popular writer who's wife dies unexpectedly. Soon, he finds himself griped with a paralyzing writer's block. He flounders through his life, in the course of tying to put things back together, and finally visits their summer house in a tiny village which he has avoided since his wife's death, because of the feeling that it was mainly her place. It is here that he begins to encounter various spirits. Not to mention a young widow and her three year old Shirley Temple-sweet daughter. He soon becomes romantically involved with the widow as he tries to protect them from a rich and evil step father. He begins to unravel secrets that his dead wife has kept from him, which mysteriously involve the history of their summer house and the surrounding community. King conjures enormous suspense and finally resolves the plot with some rather violent incidents and horrible revelations.

I know everyone will be annoyed by my nitpicking, but one bag of bones in the plot is "dissolved" almost instantaneously with a strong solution of lye. I just have to point out that lye isn't very suitable for dissolving bones, as it is an alkaline. A strong acid would have worked better, quicker. King mentions in his promotional tape that he doesn't like doing research, but someone should have been able to point this out.

As I've mentioned, one of the interesting things about this book is the thoughts about recreational reading. Toward the end, King's character deplores violence, even fictional violence like the killings which are frequently the basis of murder mysteries, and by extension part of the violent conclusion of this book. I enjoy analysis of mysteries and detective stories, and I have always wondered why, exactly, murders seem to be a necessary part of a large group of entertaining, memorable stories. I share a bit of the uneasiness that King expresses here. Overall, I think fictional violence is part of a mechanism that writers use to stress the characters they create.
891118
This was the first time I read a Karen Kingbury series and. I was very impressed and will be reading more in the future.
963762
Karen Kingsbury is a great author of books reflecting faith in The Lord. I look forward to her Bible study beginning this fall at my church.
3585466
Karen Kingsbury has been my favorite author since 2005, so it was no surprise that I was excited that she was coming out with a new series. "Angels Walking" was the first book in the series of the same name. "Chasing Sunsets" is Book Two. Karen takes us on a beautiful journey through the lives of Marcus and Mary Catherine. She has a unique way of making her characters come to life. One can not help but feel like you have met new friends when reading a Kingsbury novel. Mary Catherine has an eagerness for life that is contagious, partly brought on by her medical condition, mostly due to her love for the Lord. As the pages turned, I so wanted her to reveal her secret to Marcus, yet I understood her struggle. As the series name suggests, Angels are an integral part of these stories. Karen's depiction of the Angels meetings, and the personalities of the Angels have me looking at people in a whole new way. That person that randomly smiles at you. That person that lets you turn in front of them in traffic. That person that shares an inspiring story with you. They could be Angels walking beside you. Don't believe in Angels? Read Karen Kingsbury's "Angels Walking" series and you!
3863028
Karen Kingsbury seems to be read by mostly women in my family. My wife suggested one of her books " The Chance" and I loved it. I am now reading the Angels Walking series. I love this book #2 and the 1st book was also very good. Guys that want a book that is real and written , by an author with " Faith & Family values, will love many of her books. This guy thinks she is a very gifted author.
712303
LOVE Karen Kingsbury books and I really love this one.  The day I finished reading it I learned that the Hallmark Channel is playing the movie made from this book "The Bridge"  I can't wait - then I will have visual characters in my head.  :)
2486522
A great weekend book by Kate Kingsbury, I enjoyed it, Looking forward to the last few.
2901576
I love Karen Kingsbury and purchased this collection after already reading some of her more recent books.  I wish I would have listened to this first, it put a lot of pieces together!  It can be a little challenging to remember all of the different characters at first but don't let that discourage you; it will all come together.