reading Archives - My Life: A Work in Progress

Book Review: “Undetected” by Dee Henderson

In spite of our move next week and job hunting, I’ve been able to find a few minutes here and there for reading. Amazing, right? I received a copy of Dee Henderson’s new book, Undetected, to review. What’s funny is that after I’d already signed up to review it, my mom called me, all excited about a romance book she’d just read on her Kindle. It was about the U.S. Navy, and since my husband is a sailor, she thought (rightly so), that I’d enjoy this book. Anyway, I figured out pretty quickly that the book my mom was talking about, I’d be reviewing soon!

Author Dee Henderson is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling Christian author of more than 15 books. Her new book Undetected is a military romance.

Gina Gray, the heroine of Undetected, is a true genius. She went to college at age 14. Gina has an affinity of being able to see simple but profound scientific concepts where everyone else has overlooked it. Her oceanography discoveries have helped keep U.S. Navy submariners like her brother safe.

In spite of her brilliance in science (or perhaps because of it), she has difficulty with relationships. She’s known since she was a little girl that she wanted to get married. Now at 29 she’s having trouble finding a good guy that doesn’t feel insecure or overwhelmed by her intelligence and career.

All of that changes when she visits her brother in Washington state. Now she has two decent men vying for her attention. Both would make wonderful husbands, and she’s left wondering which one she should marry, or maybe neither.

Mark Bishop is turning 41. A widower and submarine commander, he’s ready to share his life with someone again. Daniel Field is about Gina’s age. He loves the water and is a sonarman on a submarine. Both of them help Gina during trying times.

During all of this emotional turmoil, Gina makes new discoveries for the Navy; discoveries that can both save and take lives; discoveries that make her a national security asset. As the book rises to a climax, Gina is able to use her skills to solve an international crisis and stave off the threat of war.

Christian themes are woven throughout the stories as the characters learn to trust God and lean on Him. Henderson also gives her readers a couple of glimpses of another story line, from her book Unspoken.

I was impressed with the research Henderson obviously conducted to write this book. Since I’m not familiar with the submariner culture, I couldn’t verify that it’s accurate, but it sounds realistic. Even the scientific “discoveries” that her character Gina made actually sound real. Henderson also did a good job of explaining Navy terminology. Overall, it’s a solid read.

You can find the first chapter of the book online here. Purchase Undetected on Amazon (affiliate link below), also at Barnes & Nobles, and Lifeway Christian Bookstores. Undetected is available in several formats: hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audio.

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What are some of your favorite types of books to read?

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Book Review: The Harvest by Clint Morey

As a member of the Tomoson community, I received an e-book of Clint Morey’s The Harvest to read and review.

The Harvest

About:

The first in a series of four, The Harvest is about the perhaps not so distant future when “mutants” are bred for organ transplants. Mutants from one of these facilities escape and begin killing the humans “they were designed to save.”

My Thoughts:

I’ve been an avid reader since I was a little girl, but my tastes have changed over the years. You’d think as an English teacher, I’d want to spend my precious few reading moments on classical literature, but actually…I love to be entertained! The Harvest was a fast, enjoyable read. I didn’t want to put it down and ended up finishing it in about 3 sittings. I would have read the entire thing in 1, but my iPad died at one point, and I have a baby that constantly needs my attention, so… 🙂

It’s important to note that this book is very violent. There’s a lot of death, on both sides. *Spoiler Alert* At one point, I almost quit reading the book…until I realized the newborns in the hospital were not going to be murdered, but instead rescued. It was, perhaps, a little unrealistic that the good guys were able to carry so many floppy newborns around in their arms and set them down in time to react to danger, but what is reality in a sci-fi thriller? I’m just happy the babies were okay!

There are also references to God in the book, and curiously, it was one of the mutants (and the main character) who believed in Him. I’m curious to read more about her background. Morey has told me that more of Steph’s past will be revealed in the subsequent novels.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book is where a chapter moves to another and seems to skip over an entire scene. The one chapter ends with the characters deciding to go to the football stadium, but the next chapter, they’re at the hospital. As the book continued, I was able to induce that they had gone to the stadium, but it wasn’t clear.

The Harvest really made me think. Initially, I sided with the mutants and thought the humans were murdering human beings with souls (the mutants). Then the mutants started killing, and not just in defense. They wanted to kill everyone in revenge. So I started to view the mutants as the “bad guys.” At the very end of the book though, it comes full circle. So who were the “good guys” and who were the “bad guys”? Well, except for the three main characters, the lines weren’t clear, and I think that’s the point. Moral dilemmas aren’t usually black and white, and too often both parties are guilty of something.

I’m looking forward to purchasing and reading the rest of the series when it comes out. I want to know what happens to the main characters, and I don’t see how this can end well for everyone!

Note: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.