Serials and Scenarios - Valley of Betrayal

I'm bad. I haven't posted since Monday. I had good intentions...but didn't follow through. If it makes you feel any better, I have been punished March's lion roar entrance. I reside in the current blizzard belt (no, not the infamous ice cream Blizzard, the real deal.) I dug out, though, just to bring you the latest from Tricia Goyer. Come back tomorrow for the interview.

The Book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802467679

The Author: http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com/

The Review:

Tricia Goyer has penned a wrenching look at war and the people in the midst of it in "Valley of Betrayal."

Her characters come to life as they struggle with wrong and right and the consequences of their choices. With beautiful words and powerful emotion, Goyer creates locations that come alive in the reader's mind. I struggled with female characters with shallower-than-I-care-for depth in her previous novel, not so with Sophie. Even though Goyer has created many characters with several points of view in "Valley," I don't feel like anyone came across as cardboard or lifeless.

Some of Goyer's descriptions are breathtakingly poetic. The scenes of war and the damage done to people who are attempting to go about living their lives, as they knew them, are heartbreaking. Goyer manages to display the horror of war, but still offers the hope that comes with God, and with each new morning.

The drones of incoming planes, the sadness in the eyes of the broken, the depth of pain, all make this a book for those who crave deep fiction. It's not lighthearted, nor is it a romance. Moments of grit, loss and gore are peppered throughout. The ending leaves a few unanswered questions. I assume the next book will pick up some of those dangling threads.

As a ten year old child I read "The Hiding Place" and faced months of dreams filled with the images it painted. Not that "The Hiding Place" wasn't important or good, just that it changed something inside of me, woke me up to some reality I wasn't ready to face. "Valley" could have this impact on readers. There is an underlying sadness written throughout, an awareness of how ugly and brutal evil is. The history is rich, but before letting a child read it, a parent should screen "Valley."

Come back tomorrow for Part 3 of Tricia's interview.

If you live in the blizzard belt - STAY INSIDE...unless you are out of coffee or chocolate, then BE CAREFUL.