This review contains minor spoilers.
Frantic by Mike Dellosso.
Gas station attendent Marny Toogood is enjoying a normal day on the job when an urgent message from a girl in the backseat of a car draws him into a desperate rescue attempt. Now he's on the run with the girl and her brother.
They face cults, kidnapping, and other evils and Marny soon realizes he must let go of his past and surrender all to Christ.
This is turning out to be a hard book for me to review. Because there was a lot I didn't like, but what I did like, I really liked, if that makes sense ;) So I apologize if this is a confusing review.
I think Mike Dellosso is a very good writer. He definitely has a way with words, his descriptions are fascinating and the writing is great. But, I didn't care too much for the story.
A lot of people are saying this book is fast-paced, but I found it to be somewhat slow. The first half of the book was just the three characters running around and you weren't really introduced to what was going on until about halfway through the book.
I did like the characters, they were interesting.
But what I really didn't like was the supernatural element toward the end, I am not a fan of supernatural type stuff, and considering the first 3/4 or so of the book was not that, and then suddenly they go into this house and this whole supernatural element is added, it didn't make a lot of sense to me.
As soon as the serial killer element was introduced, I figured out who it was. Wasn't very hard considering there weren't a ton of characters in the book, but I was kind of disappointed in that aspect.
But despite all the things I didn't like about this book, William is what this book is all about. William has a gift, faith. That might not seem like much to some, but William is able to do some pretty amazing things. While some things he does lean more towards 'supernatural', the concept of having faith like a child brings on new meaning in this book, and I think Mike Dellosso did a great job of that.
Organized Grime by Christy Barritt.
Gabby St. Claire is a crime scene cleaner and wannabe forensic investigator. She's already solved two mysteries, but this time it's serious. Her best friend Sierra is wanted for a bombing and the killing of three people in an ecoterrorist attack. Gabby knows Sierra is innocent, and is determined to prove it. But Sierra has disappeared and her only contact is a frantic phone call. Gabby risks her life to prove Sierra's innocence. Fortunately she has her neighbor Riley to help. The more she investigates, the more it seems Sierra is guilty. Will Gabby be able to prove Sierra is innocent before the FBI arrest her?
Christy Barritt is not too well-known of an author, I don't know why because she is a very good writer! This is the third book in the Squeaky Clean Mysteries. (The first being Hazardous Duty and the second being Suspicious Minds.) I really like her sense of humor and how she can write a good mystery so you're left wondering who did it throughout the book. There are some good twists to the story that I was surprised to see! The characters are fun and Gabby's job is quite interesting. Even though Gabby is a crime scene cleaner, there's no gorey details in any of the books. So, if you're squeamish, there's nothing to worry about ;)
I really liked how she writes about Gabby's coming to salvation and how she deals with forgiveness. It's very real. Too many authors write about how perfect peoples lives are once they become Christians, but that isn't true, we still have difficult times and things we struggle with and Christy Barritt does an excellent job explaining that and summing up Gabby's walk with Christ.
Overall, this is a great murder mystery. Funny at just the right times, romance that isn't too cheesy or annoying, and a great mystery that will keep you guessing!
This book is only $4.99 on Kindle, so it's a good buy =) You could read this series out of order (the outcomes of the previous two mysteries are not given away) but I always suggest starting with the first book, as there are a few other plot lines that were summed up in this book and would be ruined if you started here first.
