Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Touched

This one was weird/hard for me to read. In the story, "Touched," the plot is about a little boy who is sexually molested by an older man. The story is told from the points of view of the man, his wife, the boy and his mother. There is a lot of psychological trauma going on in the story that made me angry. I have heard some people saying the story line shows a sympathetic twist in regards to the molester, but hearing his rationalizations just made me more angry. I'm just not sure this book accurately depicts the situation.

Scott Campbell write about a twelve-year-old boy who is molested by a neighbor he did errands for during the summer. After everything comes out he ends up having to sit through a court hearing against his molester. He is made to tell the story, in a very detailed manner in front of the jury and the court room which of course included his parents and older brother.

Long story short a rift was made in the family of the abused child. The molester felt bad for what he did and since he claimed devout love for the child he plead guilty; he died in prison.

Since we do not often hear about boys being sexually abused I do think it is important to hear such a story. It was difficult for me to read the molester's view of what happened because even until the very end he said he loved the boy. For him he claimed all emotional, it wasn't about being an abuser or taking advantage of a child. I suppose that would be hard for anyone to hear or read. Perhaps it is a sickness like alcoholism? I don't know.

I suppose this topic was too emotional for me to be objective about. It's well written for the most part I just don't feel it was accurate nor do I feel it would help anyone in a similar situation. =o/

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    Wednesday, July 16, 2008
    The Splitting Storm

    The Splitting Storm is by Rene Gutteridge and I loved every page of it.

    FBI agent Mick Kline knows that adrenaline rush well. When he's not chasing criminals, he's chasing tornados across Texas and Oklahoma. The book opens with his pursuit of the perfect picture of a twister. But this storm quickly gives way to another one when Mick's brother, a police officer, is found dead and he becomes obsessed with tracking down the killer.

    Instead, intent on revenge, Kline follows a trail of clues that leads to Bakerville, Tex., where Faith Kemper, the recovering wife of another murder victim, is in hiding - afraid she is next.

    Right off the bat I was intrigued by the fact that the lead character was a storm chaser. The first chapter had such a powerful description of the storm he wanted to take photographs of and how it felt to be in the thick of it. Unfortunately there was to be no more storm chasing and he entire chapter was more of a foreshadowing than anything else.

    Mick ends up being told he needs to take a month off because the strain of his brother's murder has gotten to him. He is obsessed with finding the killer and the more research he does the more he is certain there is a serial killer. A killer who kills police officers and in a very unorganized manner. No one believes his theory because the deaths seem so unrelated.

    When Mick goes looking for more information on the death of Paul Kemper he ends up meeting the widow, Faith. She is battling more than just having witnessed the murder of her husband, she is also being stalked by the killer AND she has lost all faith in God.

    This is a fantastic story, I truly loved it and will be looking for the next two books in this storm series. If you like a mystery, a thriller and a little bit of romantic tension mingled in then you'll enjoy this book. Four stars!

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    Thursday, July 10, 2008
    Letters to Gabriel

    Karen Garver Santorum is the author of Letters to Gabriel and the story is about her life and the life she was carrying inside her for nine months. The baby lived two hours after birth, but to her and her family their little boy was alive and part of their family the entire time.

    The book is 100% nonfiction and the family in the story was very much in the public eye since the father, Rick Santorum, was a Senator at the time.

    Karen was over joyed about her pregnancy and all was going very well at first. However, further into the pregnancy complications arose and they were severe enough that the doctors offered the option of abortion. There was a very slim chance the baby would carry to full term or survive after birth.

    It just so happened they found out their baby had a small chance of surviving during the time the partial birth abortion was up for debate in the Senate. And they are a pro-life family.

    Karen and her husband decided to move forward and do everything they could to help their baby grow and survive. There were many tests and trips to distant hospitals. Baby Gabriel's kidneys were not functioning and his lungs were not developing properly. There wasn't enough fluid in the placenta and as the pregnancy progressed the percentage of survival diminished.

    Gabriel Michael, was born prematurely and died two hours after birth.

    Karen writes letters to her unborn son and after he dies she continues writing. As a reader you can feel her anguish and despair. You can also feel her faith and bravery. The book was hard to read, upsetting to say the least, but it was beautiful. And to know Rick Santorum was leading the charge against partial birth abortion in the U.S. Senate at the very same time this was happening makes the story even more powerful.

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