Jackie Layton – Wilmore, KY
Jackie, I hope you enjoy the novel! You should be receiving it in the mail soon!
Jackie Layton – Wilmore, KY
Jackie, I hope you enjoy the novel! You should be receiving it in the mail soon!
Double Blind by Brandilyn Collins
***I’m giving away one copy of Double Blind. To be entered into the giveaway, you must read my review and ANSWER THE following QUESTION:
If you were suffering from severe depression, and were offered a unique cure, a computer chip implanted into your brain to cure your depression, would you do it? Keep in mind that the chip implantation would include brain surgery. Also comment about why you would or would not do this.
Lisa Newberry is battling a deep, dark depression. Her husband was recently killed in a car accident, a short time later she was mugged, and before her husband died, she suffered from multiple miscarriages. Lisa feels she has no hope, so, when a company, Cognoscenti, offers help, she decides to be a part of their new trial study. The study requires Lisa to have a chip implanted into her brain. This new brain chip supposedly offers a “cure” for her depression.
Desperate, she agrees to the terms, which require her to have brain surgery. There’s no guarantee that the chip will help her depression – it’s possible that Lisa will be implanted with a placebo. After the surgery, Lisa feels much better, realizing the chip has “cured” her depression. However, while still in the hospital, recuperating from surgery, Lisa begins having strange dreams and visions – she sees images of a woman being murdered. Are these images just nightmares, or, is she really seeing visions of a real person being murdered?
Determined, Lisa storms into the Cognoscenti offices, wanting to know what they’ve done to her, demanding answers.
Lisa continues to be plagued with these visions and, her mother arrives, offering to help Lisa. Lisa’s relationship with her mother is strained, and she’s not sure if she wants her mother to help her right now. Her best friend, Sherri, also offers assistance to Lisa.
I could easily tell that this was a Brandilyn Collins book. The woman seeing the visions of the murder kind of reminded me of Collins’ book, Eyes Of Elisha. This book kept you guessing until the very end, and it was deeply suspenseful and chilling. It was a quick, page-turning, enjoyable read. There were so many unexpected things happening in this book – you’ll be surprised when you read it.
Amidst all this turmoil, Lisa realizes she needs to stop and think and evaluate her relationship with God, where does she stand with Him?
So, if you were suffering from severe depression, and were offered a unique cure, a computer chip implanted into your brain to cure your depression, would you do it? Leave a comment with your response in order to be entered into the drawing! Don’t forget to leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win!
My husband recently asked me for book recommendations. Knowing his reading taste, I immediately recommended Brandilyn Collins. I told him to read Eyes Of Elisha. I read this book several years ago and I was hooked from the first page! I think one reason that I was drawn to this book so much was because it had such a strong suspenseful thread – there’s a murder involved. Also, the main character, Chelsea, has the gift of prophecy. Here’s what I originally said in my review for this novel: A chilling winner! This book was so suspenseful! The story just grabbed me from the beginning and I barely put the book down for two days. If you want to read a gripping, intriguing story then this book is for you! I highly recommend it!
My husband loved the book and I was able to recommend other works by Brandilyn Collins to him.
Do you know of any other Christian fiction titles that have prophets as the main characters? If so, tell me the titles and the authors. Also, have you read Eyes of Elisha? If so, leave a comment and let me know if you liked it.
Below is a summary of the book, from christianbook.com:
Chelsea Adams lives in the fast-paced Silicon Valley area of California. She’s wife to Paul, a successful entrepreneur, and mother to their two sons. Chelsea is a Christian with the unusual gift of visions. These insights from God have helped her pray for people and have led her to save others from harm. But never has she experienced a vision like the one she “sees” during a business dinner with her husband and their prospective new vice-president of marketing, Gavil Harrison. Invited to dinner to check out the new prospect, Chelsea goes into a spiritual state in which she sees the murder of a young women. After the vision, when she comes back to consciousness, she looks into Gavil’s eyes and experiences a terrifying moment of recognition: she’s certain that he’s the killer she saw. But who will believe her? Certainly not her non-Christian husband, who wants to hire this man to work by his side. Nor the police, who must rely on hard evidence. Only one person might believe her-the murderer himself. There are plenty of twists and turns of plot right up to the end of this edge-of your-seat thriller.
~Cecelia Dowdy~
I mentioned this book a few days ago. I’d promised to provide a review later. Well, I finished the book and I really enjoyed it. It’s a quick suspenseful read and I think most young adults will be able to finish the book in a day or so.
In this final book of the Rayne Tour Series, on her parents’ wedding day, young Shaley O’Connor finds herself kidnapped by a much-older, unattractive man. She figures everything will work out because her parents will just pay the ransom. However, her kidnapper stresses that he didn’t do this for money – he’s starting a cult and Shaley will be his bride. Talk about sickening! If somebody had delivered that news to be if I were a young woman, I think I’d be terrified and physically ill!
This book was a page-turner as police, Shaley’s best friend, and Shaley’s parents try to find her. The story also takes you on the journey that Shaley and her kidnapper take, on their way to the new location of the cult.
If you like YA, suspenseful fiction, then you don’t want to miss this book!
I finished this novel last night and it was an entertaining read. I didn’t think it was as scary as the prequel since there was no dead body in the beginning. But, there were unique aspects of the story that’ll make you keep turning the pages.
1. There’s a sweet love story that takes place in the nineties with Rayne and her boyfriend (Shaley’s dad)
2. Gang warfare is an unusual element that gives this story a suspenseful edge.
When Shaley’s mom is injured, Shaley is beside herself with worry. The paparazzi continue to hound the star and her daughter, and Shaley feels like her life is spinning out of control. All she wants to do is go home and relax, try and return to a life of semi-normalcy. However, she’s in the hospital with her injured superstar-singer mother, Rayne. After an eager photographer causes Rayne’s accident, she’s stunned because she can’t finish her tour and is forced to recuperate in the hospital.
Shaley still wonders about the message whispered in her ear right before the killer in the first book dies…Did her father really send a killer on the Rayne tour? Will her mother now give her details about the father Shaley’s never known?
This book shows that sometimes turmoil happens in our lives, forcing us to think about God and to turn to Him during those difficult moments.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
and the book:
Zondervan; 1 edition (October 1, 2009)
***Special thanks to Lindsey Rodarmer of ZONDERKIDZ for sending me a review copy.***
Brandilyn and Amberly Collins are a mother/daughter team from northern California. Brandilyn is a bestselling novelist, known for her trademarked “Seatbelt Suspense”. Amberly is a college student in southern California. She and her mom love attending concerts together.
Visit the author’s website.
Here’s a video about the first book in the Rayne Series:
Product Details:
List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Zondervan; 1 edition (October 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310715407
ISBN-13: 978-0310715405
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
The last words of a dying man, whispered in my ear.
Were they true? What did they mean?
Your father sent me. The stunning claim drilled through my head, louder than the crowd’s screams.
Guitars blasted the last chord of Rayne’s hit song, Ever Alone, as Mom’s voice echoed through the Pepsi Center in Denver. The heavy drum beat thumped in my chest. With a final smash of cymbals the rock song ended. Multicolored laser lights swept the stadium, signaling the thirty-minute intermission.
Wild shrieks from thousands of fans rang in my ears.
I rose from my chair backstage. Tiredly, I smiled at the famous Rayne O’Connor as she strode toward me on high red heels. In the lights her sequined top shimmered and her blonde hair shone. She walked with confidence and grace, the picture of a rock star—until she stepped from her fans’ sight. Then her posture slumped, weariness creasing her beautiful face. Mom’s intense blue eyes usually glimmered with the excitement of performing, but now I saw only the wash of grief and exhaustion. How she’d managed to perform tonight, I’d never know. Except that she’s strong. A real fighter.
Me? I had to keep fighting too, even if my legs still trembled and I’d probably have nightmares for weeks.
Your father sent me.
I had to find out what those words meant.
“You’re a very brave young lady,” a Denver detective had told me just a few hours ago. I didn’t feel brave then or now.
“You okay, Shaley?” Mom had to shout over the screams as she hugged me.
I nodded against her shoulder, hanging on tightly until she pulled back.
The crowd’s applause died down. A heavy hum of voices and footsteps filtered from the stadium as thousands of people headed for concessions and bathrooms during the break.
Kim, the band’s keyboard player and alto to my mom’s lead vocals, stopped to lay a darkly tanned hand on my head. A strand of her bleached white-blonde hair was stuck to the gloss on her pink lips. She brushed it away. “You’re an amazing sixteen-year-old.”
I shrugged, embarrassed. “Thanks.”
Mick and Wendell, Mom’s two remaining bodyguards, approached without a word. I gave a self-conscious smile to Wendell, and he nodded back, sadness flicking across his face. His deep-set eyes were clouded, and the long scar across his chin seemed harder, more shiny. At five-eleven, Wendell is short for a bodyguard but every bit as muscled. Tonight his two-inch black hair, usually gelled straight up, stuck out in various directions. He hadn’t bothered to fix it since the life and death chase he was involved in just a few hours ago. Seeing that messed-up hair sent a stab through me. Wendell was usually so finicky about it.
Mick, Mom’s main personal bodyguard, folded his huge arms and stood back, waiting. Mick is in his forties, ex-military and tall, with a thick neck and block-shaped head. I’ve rarely seen emotion on his face, but I saw glimpses of it now. He and Wendell had been good friends with Bruce, Mom’s third bodyguard.
Bruce had been killed hours ago. Shot.
And he’d been trying to guard me.
My vision blurred. I blinked hard and looked at the floor.
“Come on.” Mom nudged my arm. “We’re all meeting in my dressing room.”
Mick and Bruce flanked her as she walked away.
Usually we don’t have to be so careful backstage. It’s a heavily guarded area anyway. But tonight nothing was the same.
Kim and I followed Mom down a long hall to her dressing room. Morrey, Kim’s boyfriend and Rayne’s drummer, caught up with us. He put a tattoo-covered arm around Kim, her head only reaching his shoulders. Morrey looked at me and winked, but I saw no happiness in it.
Ross Blanke, the band’s tour production manager, hustled up alongside us, trailed by Stan, lead guitarist, and Rich, Rayne’s bass player. “Hey.” Ross put a pudgy hand on Mom’s shoulder. “You’re doing great.” He waved an arm, indicating everyone. “All of you, you’re just doing great.”
“You do what you have to,” Stan said grimly. His black face shone with sweat.
Narrowing single file, we trudged into the dressing room. Mick and Wendell took up places on each side of the door.
Marshall, the makeup and hair stylist, started handing out water bottles. In his thirties, Marshall has buggy eyes and curly dark hair. His fingers are long and narrow, deft with his makeup tools. But until two days ago, he’d been second to Mom’s main stylist, Tom.
“Thanks.” I took a bottle from Marshall and tried to smile. Didn’t work. Just looking at him sent pangs of grief through me, because his presence reminded me of Tom’s absence.
Tom, my closest friend on tour, had been murdered two days ago.
Mom, Ross, Rich and I sank down on the blue couch—one of the furniture pieces Mom requested in every dressing room. Denver’s version was extra large, with a high back and overstuffed arms. To our left stood a table with plenty of catered food, but no one was hungry. I’d hardly eaten in the last day and a half and knew I should have something. But no way, not now.
Maybe after the concert.
Stan, Morrey and Kim drew up chairs to form a haphazard circle.
“All right.” Ross sat with his short, fat legs apart, hands on his jeaned thighs. The huge diamond ring on his right hand was skewed to one side. He straightened it with his pinky finger. “I’ve checked outside past the guarded area. The zoo’s double what it usually is. The news has already hit and every reporter and his brother are waiting for us. Some paparazzi are already there, and others have probably hopped planes and will show up by the time we leave.”
Is Cat here? I shuddered at the thought of the slinky, effeminate photographer who’d bothered us so much in the last two days. He’d even pulled a fire alarm in our San Jose hotel the night before just to force us out of our rooms. Now by police order he wasn’t supposed to get within five hundred feet of us. I doubted he’d care.
My eyes burned, and my muscles felt like water. Little food, no sleep, and plenty of shock. Bad combination. I slumped down in the couch and laid my head back.
Ross ran a hand through his scraggly brown hair. “Now at intermission folks out there”—he jabbed a thumb toward the arena—“are gonna start hearing things. Rayne, you might want to say a little something when you get back on stage.”
Mom sighed, as if wondering where she’d find the energy to do the second half of the concert. “Yeah.”
I squeezed her knee. If only the two of us could hide from the world for a week or two.
Make that a whole year.
Rich frowned as he moved his shaved head from one side to the other, stretching his neck muscles. His piercing gray eyes landed on me, and his face softened. I looked away.
Everyone was so caring and concerned about me. I was grateful for that. Really, I was. But it’s a little hard to know you’ve been the cause of three deaths. Under all their smiles, did the band members blame me?
Ross scratched his hanging jowl. “We got extra coverage from Denver police at the hotel tonight. Tomorrow we’re supposed to head out for Albuquerque. It’s close enough for Vance to drive the main bus without a switch-off driver, and the next two venues are close enough as well. But that’s just logistics. We’ve all been through a lot. Question is—can you all keep performing?” He looked around, eyebrows raised.
“Man.” Morrey shook back his shoulder-length black hair. “If three deaths in two days isn’t enough to make us quit …” His full lips pressed.
I glanced hopefully at Mom. Yeah, let’s go home! I could sleep in my own bed, hide from the paparazzi and reporters, hang out with Brittany, my best friend—who was supposed to be here with me right now.
But canceling concerts would mean losing a lot of money. The Rayne tour was supposed to continue another four weeks.
Mom hunched forward, elbows on her knees and one hand to her cheek. Her long red fingernails matched the color of her lips. “I almost lost my daughter tonight.” Her voice was tight. “I don’t care if I never tour again—Shaley’s got to be protected, that’s the number one thing.”
I want you protected too, Mom.
“I agree with that a hundred percent,” Morrey said, “but at least the threat to Shaley is gone now that Jerry’s dead.
Jerry, one of our bus drivers—and a man I’d thought was my friend—killed Tom and Bruce, and then came after me earlier that night. A cop ended up shooting him.
Kim spread her hands. “I don’t know what to say. I’m still reeling. We’ve barely had time to talk about any of this tonight before getting on stage. I feel like my mind’s gonna explode. And Tom …”
She teared up, and that made me cry. Kim had been like a mother to Tom. Crazy, funny Tom. It was just so hard to believe he was gone.
I wiped my eyes and looked at my lap.
“Anyway.” Kim steadied her voice. “It’s so much to deal with. I don’t know how we’re going to keep up this pace for another month.”
Mom looked at Ross. “We can’t keep going very long with only Vance to drive the main bus.”
Ross nodded. “Until Thursday. I’d have to replace him by then.”
“With who?” Mom’s voice edged.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to jump on it.”
“You can’t just ‘jump on it.’ We need time to thoroughly check the new driver out.”
“Rayne.” Ross threw her a look. “I did check Jerry out. Completely. He had a false ID, remember? That’s what the police said. I couldn’t have known that.”
“You might have known if you’d checked harder.”
Ross’s face flushed. “I did—”
“No you didn’t! Or if you did it wasn’t good enough!” Mom pushed to her feet and paced a few steps. “Something’s mighty wrong if we can’t even find out a guy’s a convicted felon!”
What? I stiffened. “How do you know that?”
Mom waved a hand in the air. “The police told me just before we left the hotel.”
We’d huddled in the manager’s office after the policeman killed Jerry.
I stared at Mom. “When was he in jail?”
Mom threw a hard look at Ross. “He’d barely gotten out when we hired him.”
Heat flushed through my veins. I snapped my gaze toward the floor, Jerry’s last words ringing in my head.
Your father sent me.
How could my father have sent Jerry if he was in jail?
“Rayne,” Ross snapped, “I’ve told you I’m sorry a dozen times—”
“Sorry isn’t enough!” Mom whirled on him. “My daughter was taken hostage. She could have been killed!”
Rich jumped up and put his arms around her. “Come on, Rayne, it’s okay now.”
She leaned against him, eyes closed. The anger on her face melted into exhaustion. “It’s not okay.” Mom shook her head. “Tom’s dead, Bruce is dead. And Shaley—”
Her words broke off. Mom pulled away from Rich and hurried back to the couch. She sank down next to me, a hand on my knee. “Shaley, you’re the one who’s been through the most. What do you want to do?”
My throat nearly swelled shut. Go home! I wanted to yell. But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair. This wasn’t my tour. I didn’t have to pay the bills.
I glanced around at all the band members. Morrey was holding Kim’s hand. Stan and Rich watched me, waiting. A canceled tour wouldn’t just affect them. Rayne had three back-up singers, one of them Carly, who’d been such a help to me. Plus all the techs and roadies. They’d all lose money.
Wait—maybe Mom would let me go home and stay with Brittany. Now that Tom’s and Bruce’s killer was dead …
“Shaley?” Mom tapped my leg.
“I don’t … I can’t stop the tour.”
Ross exhaled. “Rayne?”
Mom looked at the wall clock and pushed to her feet. “We can’t decide this now. It’s only fifteen minutes before we have to be back on stage. I still need to change.”
Stan stood. “I say we figure on doing Albuquerque, and then we can decide about the rest.”
“Yeah, me too.” Rich got up, along with everyone else. I could see the business-like attitude settle on all their faces, including Mom’s. Soon they had to perform again. Every other concern must be pushed aside. In the entertainment world the saying was true: the show must go on.
Within a minute everyone had left except Mom, Marshall and me. Mom threw herself into a chair by the bright mirrors so Marshall could adjust her makeup. When he left she changed into a steel blue top and skinny-legged black pants.
I sat numbly on the couch, four words running through my mind. Words, I sensed, that would change my life.
Your father sent me.
Mom didn’t know what Jerry had whispered to me as he died. I needed to tell her.
But how? Like me, she was running on empty. It would be one more shock, another scare. I wasn’t sure she could take anymore and still perform.
Had Jerry told me the truth? Had the father I’d never known—the man my mother refused to talk about—purposely sent a killer to join our tour?
I needed to know. I needed to find out. Because if it was true—the danger was far from over.
Always Watching by Brandilyn and Amberly Collins
I blogged about this novel yesterday. I thought the book was good, and it doesn’t take a long time to read this novel. You can probably finish it in a day or so. Shaley O’Conner is the daughter of the famous rock singer, Rayne. Her world changes when she finds Tom, her good friend and her mother’s makeup artist/hairdresser, dead in one of the rooms backstage. Plus, his eye is missing! Stunned, she wonders if the killer is after her next, especially when clues start popping up: A white rose and a photo with a mysterious message.
Over the next three days Shaley can barely eat or sleep since she doesn’t know who the killer is, or if she’s the next target. She wonders if her unknown father is trying to reach out to her. Her mother, ever busy, slows down and pays more attention to Shaley during the three-day ordeal, as the police struggle to find Tom’s killer.
This book provided a few hours of chilling enjoyment. I highly recommend this book.
Dark Pursuit by Brandilyn Collins
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (December 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031027642X
ISBN-13: 978-0310276425
From the Back Cover
“Ever hear the dead knocking?”
Novelist Darell Brooke lived for his title as King of Suspense—until an auto accident left him unable to concentrate. Two years later, reclusive and bitter, he wants one thing: to plot a new novel and regain his reputation.
Kaitlan Sering, his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, once lived for drugs. After she stole from Darell, he cut her off. Now she’s rebuilding her life. But in Kaitlan’s town two women have been murdered, and she is about to discover a third. She’s even more shocked to realize the culprit is her boyfriend, Craig, the police chief’s son.
Desperate, Kaitlan flees to her estranged grandfather. For over forty years, Darell Brooke has lived suspense. Surely he’ll devise a plan to trap the cunning Craig.
But can Darell’s muddled mind do it? And—if he tries—with what motivation? For Kaitlan’s plight may be the stunning answer to the elusive plot he seeks . . .
This book was riveting, and as usual of Collins’ style, the main character finds a dead body at the beginning of the story. When Kaitlan sees the dead woman on her bed, she immediately suspects her boyfriend Craig of the murder. She runs to her convalescing grandfather Darell, begging for his help. Kaitlan is shocked when Darell suggests she return to her home and to her murderous boyfriend. When Craig turns abusive, Kaitlan fears for her life, and wonders about her grandfather’s advice. When Craig takes her car keys and cell phone, making it hard for her to leave her secluded apartment, Kaitlin wonders if Craig is planning to kill her next.
Kaitlin calls upon God to help her through this ordeal, and Darell and his housekeeper assist Kaitlin with her recent plight.
I thought this book was riveting, and depending on how fast you read, you can finish the book quickly as each scene leads into the next. This is an intriguing novel and is definitely a page-turner.
Web of Lies
by Brandilyn Collins
Publisher: Zondervan
Pub. Date: February 2006
ISBN-13: 9780310251064
368pp
Series: Hidden Faces Series
From Barnes And Noble.com
In the fourth and final book of the Hidden Faces series, Annie Kingston and a new ally–Chelsea Adams from Eyes of Elisha–are drawn into a terrifying battle against time, greed, and a deadly opponent.
Like Brandilyn’s other novels, this book was gripping and scary. A word of advice: don’t read this book if you’re scared of spiders!
Brandilyn joins two heroines from her previous novels: Annie Kingston and Chelsea Adams so that they can solve a crime which involves a shooting at a convenience store. When a skeleton is dug up near Annie’s property, an old skeleton, the mystery deepens, making the reader wonder how all of this will tie together at the end. When Annie’s daughter’s life is placed in danger, the stakes are raised in this mind-blowing story.
If you like a good, scary, chilling read, then you should check this book out. It’s a good one!
I started this book awhile ago, but had to put it aside because I had to focus on reading the books assigned to me for RWA’s RITA award. Then, I had a deadline to meet for one of MY novels. So, when I managed to pick it back up again and start reading somewhere about three quarters of the way into the book, it was fairly easy for me to place the people and events. I was relieved, too. Because I seldom read novels over again!
***Spoiler alert – a few plot points are revealed!
I finished Violet Dawn by Brandilyn Collins last night. It was a great read! One thing I like is how the author was able to write a whole book about what happens within the span of a day or so. Except for flashbacks, the book happens within a short period of time, and like all of Brandilyn’s books, this one was suspenseful and you really wanted to see what happens.
When Paige Williams tries to make a new life for herself at Kanner Lake, all she wants to do is to be invisible, not drawing attention to herself as she tries to forget about her terrible and abusive childhood. However, her plans for a quiet life are shattered when she discovers the body of Edna San in her hot tub. Edna was a big-time movie star who has retired in the quiet community of Kanner Lake.
Over the next day, Paige’s life is a whirlwind of activity as she hides the body in a lake, not wanting to trust the police due to the mistrust she’s experienced with police officers in the past.
Unbeknowsnt to Paige, a few of the inhabitants of Kanner Lake take a liking to her, wondering what types of things she’s experienced in her young life to make her seem so haunted.
The chain of events that unfolds places Paige’s life in danger, and she learns that she needs to accept God, and accept his goodness if she’s ever going to escape the pains from her past.
I highly recommend this book.
Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com