02 August 09 - 14:50BOOK REVIEW: The Other by David Guterson
The Other by David Guterson is a work of fiction that treads the fine line to believability. It is just possible someone exists that has done what John has done. It is very likely. The Other is written from the perspective of Neil Countryman who is a want-to-be author and full-time school teacher and family man. He is best friends with John William Barry who was born with a silver spoon. These two dissimilar men share a love of the wilderness. A connection is formed and built upon to the extent that John asks Neil to help him disappear into the wilderness. Thus starts this story of lies, responsibility, and ultimately tragedy. I liked this story because it does remind me of people I know. Page by page the friendship and adventures of Neil and John develop and along with this is the sense of understanding of John. ... (more)
A Man Of His Word by Kathleen Fuller is a book about the Amish way of life and what happens when the real world intrudes. It is also a heartbreaking love story. Moriah Byler is a young Amish woman who wants nothing more than to be a good wife to her husband. Somehow, things end up cooling and her husband, Levi Miller, spends more and more time at work far away from home. She is still astonished when he leaves the Amish with nothing but a note given to his twin brother. What Levi doesn’t know is that Moriah is pregnant with their first child.
Love’s Pursuit by Siri Mitchell is a fun-loving, involving, heart rendering, and tragic book that gently pulls you in and before you know it you are in the maelstrom. It is a book about the Puritans, not the Amish, which might be assumed from only looking at the front cover. But the belief system is similar as far as I can tell, and it did not detract whatsoever from my thorough enjoyment of this book. Love’s Pursuit is written in the voice of the heroine, Susannah Phillips, and Small-hope Smyth, a woman with a troubled past who seems to always be in the shadows of the action. 
The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips is a classic who-done-it of the first order that will have you eagerly turning pages. The Devlin Diary is written by Hannah Devlin, a physician at a time when women physicians were scarce. Her diary leaves clues as to a series of vicious murders that took place in the year 1672. We alternate the story of the diary with Claire Donovan and Andrew Kent, modern day professors who have their own reasons for wanting to solve the mystery of the diary. 
The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom is a psychological thriller that will play games with your mind. This story centers around Conrad Harrison and his wife Joanna. Living in Los Angeles has almost caused this young couple to divorce. Conrad decides to make a fresh start in Wisconsin when he is charmed by an old Victorian in the small town of Black Earth. When the previous owner drops off a photo album of the house’s history, a horrible chain reaction of events is set in place. 
One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon is listed as romantic suspense. Let me give you a heads up that there is more suspense and a little less romance. But don’t let that throw you off. The romance that is in this book sizzles. The suspense gradually builds up. I had the impression I was just learning about the characters and figuring out why people are meeting untimely ends when all of a sudden I realize I am on the edge of my seat and don’t remember getting there. 
The Bone Factory by Nate Kenyon is a quick, chilling horror story that will have you racing for your child’s room to make sure everything is okay. As the story begins, Dave, Helen and Jessica Pierce are excited to be moving to the Jackson area as Dave finds work on a hydroelectric project taking shape in Canada. What they don’t know is that a farmer has been found mutilated, a little girl has disappeared from her home, and deep in the woods a deputy found a gory storage shed all near this hydroelectric facility. Has Dave been hired as a Patsy? Can he protect his family so far away from civilization? But the house is paid for by the company and the family is sequestered at the finest resort in the area until they can move in. It seems like so much good fortune that it can’t be true. 
The Sorceress by Michael Scott is a fantasy on the level of C.S. Lewis. All three of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series have not been afraid to delve into mythology, archeology, and folklore. The results are a book with momentum requiring no less than completely riveted attention. The Sorceress picks up with Sophie and Josh in England. Of course, all the old and vicious immortals hang out in this country. Nicolas and Perenelle are still in danger of dying from old age as they cannot use the Codex to brew more youth potion. Dr. John Dee is hunting the twins and marshalling his forces of baddies. Sophie and Josh are on a quest to find Gilgamesh to learn the third elemental magic of water. 