by admin | Feb 2, 2015 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
Unfamiliar with the author, I decided to take a chance and request this book to review. I am so glad I did! Carrie Stuart Parks can definitely write a story to hold my attention.
The plot moved along at nearly breakneck pace with plenty of action, drama, danger, mystery, suspense, and touches of humor. Murder, conspiracy, religious cults, and home grown terrorists populate the pages of “A Cry From the Dust”. Gwen Marcey is a protagonist to love. A forensic artist who usually worked with law enforcement, Gwen’s work in Mountain Meadows reconstructing the faces of three massacre victims, Gwen finds herself smack in the middle of a murder investigation. Although she is a recent cancer survivor who has also had to deal with divorce and a rebellious teen, Gwen refuses to give in.
Parks has deftly woven Mormon history into a modern story of murder and revenge. The page-turning suspense is tempered with a bit of levity from Gwen’s best friend who loves to use unusual words, Gwen’s huge Great Pyrenees, and Gwen’s own wry sense of humor. Unexpected twists and surprises are scattered throughout and the suspense increases with each page.
It looks like I have yet another new author to add to my “Must Read” list. I can’t wait for the next book in this series, “The Bones Will Speak”.
This book was provided for review by the BookLook Blogger Program of Harper Collins Christian Publishing.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A secret from a grim page of American history threatens to destroy thousands of lives.
Gwen Marcey was tops in her forensic field. Then cancer struck, her husband left, and her teenage daughter engaged in active rebellion. Gwen’s best chance to start a new life was a temporary job in Utah reconstructing faces from an 1857 massacre site.
The Mountain Meadows Interpretative Center asked Gwen to reconstruct the faces of three intact bodies that were discovered from the wagon train massacre of more than 120 people by Mormon fanatics calling themselves Avenging Angels. But just as she is nearing completion on her reconstructions, things around the center turn deadly.
Gwen discovers the ritualized murder of a young college student with a stolen identity and is called on by the local police to use her forensic art skills to aid the investigation. Soon she discovers an uncanny resemblance between one of her reconstructions and the death mask of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church. And realizes that she’s the next target of the recreated Avenging Angels who believe she has an icon from the grave.
Gwen must weave through a labyrinth of Mormon history, discovering secret societies and festering grudges in a race against time.
Will she be able to stop another massacre?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. She teaches forensic art courses to law enforcement professionals and is the author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing. Carrie began to write fiction while battling breast cancer and was mentored by New York Times bestselling author Frank Peretti. Now in remission, she continues to encourage other women struggling with cancer.
by admin | Aug 27, 2021 | Books
MY REVIEW: I did not realize until I reached the end of The Cryptographer’s Dilemma that it was based on a true case during World War 2. I loved the fact that such an enjoyable tale had such a strong element of history embedded within its pages. That is why I love...
by admin | Aug 9, 2016 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
When I was introduced to Carrie Stuart Parks’ novels with “A Cry From the Dust” I became an instant fan. Since then each book has reinforced my first impressions. “When Death Draws Near” is my favorite one yet and I sincerely hope that Gwen Marcey’s adventures do not disappear after the usual trilogy.
If I ever had to choose a heroine from a novel that I admired, it would be Gwen Marcey. She is smart, observant, and seemingly fearless. Actually Gwen is one who simply faces her fears because often she has no other choice. Whatever life throws at her, she refuses to sit down and take it but fights back with all she is worth just as long as she can keep moving. And like a mama bear, if her daughter is in danger, Gwen will not stop until she is certain of her safety.
When Gwen takes on a temporary job in Kentucky, it becomes much more complicated than first expected. She finds herself up to her neck in something that might just connect two seemingly different cases. There are snakes involved – lots of snakes! One of the cases involves a snake-handling church but when Gwen gets to know its members, nothing seems to add up. The case gets more convoluted as Gwen learns more and the list of suspects (and bodies) keeps growing until she finds her own life in jeopardy.
Unexpected twists and surprises abound in this can’t-put-down page turner as Gwen’s faith and determination are put to the test. “When Death Draws Near” is a must read for any suspense lover.
A copy of this book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Death has always been part of Gwen Marcey’s job. But when faced with her own mortality, everything takes on a different hue.
Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs and homes when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky. The Eastern Kentucky town, located deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, has been plagued by a serial rapist and a series of unexplained deaths. Before Gwen can develop a composite drawing, the latest witness vanishes, just like all the previous victims.
Turning her attention to sketching the face of an unidentified body, she discovers a link between his death and a Pentecostal serpent-handling church. Serpent-handling is illegal in Kentucky, and the churches have gone underground to avoid the authorities and continue to worship as they believe. Gwen is offered a handsome reward to infiltrate the renegade members, a reward she desperately needs as it seems her breast cancer has returned.
Joined by her digitally-obsessed, Generation Z daughter, Gwen goes undercover to a nineteenth century revival, planning to draw the faces of the snake handlers so they can be identified and arrested. Instead she uncovers a murderous plot and a festering evil.
Learn more and purchase a copy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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Carrie Stuart Parks is a Christy finalist as well as a Carol award-winning author. She has won numerous awards for her fine art as well. An internationally known forensic artist, she travels with her husband, Rick, across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement professionals. The author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing and painting, Carrie continues to create dramatic watercolors from her studio in the mountains of Idaho.
Find out more about Carrie Stuart at http://www.carriestuartparks.com. |
Plunge into forensic artist Gwen Marcey’s world, full of cold-case murders, shady politics, and a den of venomous suspects. Add Carrie Stuart Parks’ new Gwen Marcey novel, When Death Draws Near, to the top of your must-read list. Gwen accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky—a small town facing big-city crime. But before she can finish her first drawing of the serial rapist who is on the loose, the latest witness vanishes. Just like all the others. Can Gwen uncover the truth—and convince anyone to believe her—before she becomes a victim herself?
Join Carrie in celebrating the release of When Death Draws Near by entering to win an Undercover Artist Starter Set.
One grand prize winner will receive:
Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 22. The winner will be announced August 23 on the Litfuse blog.
by admin | Sep 29, 2015 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingThe Bones Will SpeakThomas Nelson (August 11, 2015)byCarrie Stuart ParksABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. Along with her husband, Rick, she travels across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement as well as civilian participants. She has won numerous awards for career excellence. Carrie is a popular platform speaker, presenting a variety of topics from crime to creativity.
Animals have always been a large part of her life. Her parents, Ned and Evelyn Stuart, started Skeel Kennel Great Pyrenees in 1960. Carrie inherited the kennel and continues with her beloved dogs as both an AKC judge and former president of the Great Pyrenees Club of America. She lives on the same ranch she grew up on in Northern Idaho.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A killer with a penchant for torture has taken notice of forensic expert Gwen Marcey . . . and her daughter.
When Gwen Marcey’s dog comes home with a human skull and then leads her to a cabin in the woods near her Montana home, she realizes there’s a serial killer in her community. And when she finds a tortured young girl clinging to life on the cabin floor, she knows this killer is a lunatic.
Yet what unsettles Gwen most is that the victim looks uncannily like her daughter.
The search for the torturer leads back in time to a neo-Nazi bombing in Washington state—a bombing with only one connection to Montana: Gwen. The group has a race-not-grace model of salvation . . . and they’ve marked Gwen as a race traitor.
When it becomes clear that the killer has a score to settle, Gwen finds herself in a battle against time. She will have to use all of her forensic skills to find the killer before he can carry out his threat to destroy her—and the only family she has left.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Bones Will Speak, go HERE.
MY REVIEW:
Now that I have read both “A Cry From the Dust” and “The Bones Will Speak” I am certain that I will have a place on my bookshelves for any forthcoming novel by Carrie Stuart Parks. I have always enjoyed suspense novels but in the past few years have begun to shy away from those that have too much gore. Carrie’s books have just enough details to ramp up the suspense as well as give the crimes credibility but she does not include anything that makes me cringe or keeps me awake at night. I also like the fact that she draws from her own career and personal experiences for her plot and character development.
In “The Bones Will Speak” forensic artist Gwen Marcey is trying to pick up the pieces after a bout with cancer, an unwanted divorce, and financial pressures due to the loss of her job. A discontented teen daughter adds to her stress. When her dog brings home a human skull, Gwen’s life becomes even more complicated as more bodies are discovered and there is even a possibility that she and her daughter are being targeted by a serial killer.
This book had me turning the pages as fast as I could read. I didn’t want to put it down until I found out who the killer could be. Plenty of twists and surprises kept the story moving and the tension built throughout the book until its climatic last pages. I can’t wait to read about Gwen’s next adventure.
by admin | Aug 15, 2015 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
Now that I have read both “A Cry From the Dust” and “The Bones Will Speak” I am certain that I will have a place on my bookshelves for any forthcoming novel by Carrie Stuart Parks. I have always enjoyed suspense novels but in the past few years have begun to shy away from those that have too much gore. Carrie’s books have just enough details to ramp up the suspense as well as give the crimes credibility but she does not include anything that makes me cringe or keeps me awake at night. I also like the fact that she draws from her own career and personal experiences for her plot and character development.
In “The Bones Will Speak” forensic artist Gwen Marcey is trying to pick up the pieces after a bout with cancer, an unwanted divorce, and financial pressures due to the loss of her job. A discontented teen daughter adds to her stress. When her dog brings home a human skull, Gwen’s life becomes even more complicated as more bodies are discovered and there is even a possibility that she and her daughter are being targeted by a serial killer.
This book had me turning the pages as fast as I could read. I didn’t want to put it down until I found out who the killer could be. Plenty of twists and surprises kept the story moving and the tension built throughout the book until its climatic last pages. I can’t wait to read about Gwen’s next adventure.
This book was provided for review by the BookLook Blogger Program of Harper Collins Christian Publishing.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Forensic artist Gwen Marcey has become the target of a serial killer who believes he’s been appointed God’s executioner.
In Copper Creek, Montana, Gwen Marcey is struggling to put together her life after cancer and divorce. When her dog retrieves a skull of a murder victim and leads her to the victim’s grave, Gwen uses her forensic art ability to identify a serial killer. She is horrified to discover all the victims look like her fourteen-year-old daughter.
The murderer is a “lone wolf,” a member of the terrorist group Phineas Priesthood-and he has a score to settle with Gwen. Unraveling the tangled Christian Identity movement, where race-not grace-provides salvation, Gwen is in a frantic rush against time. She must use all her skills to uncover the killer before he can carry out his threat to destroy her and everyone she loves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. She teaches forensic art courses to law enforcement professionals and is the author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing. Carrie began to write fiction while battling breast cancer and was mentored by New York Times bestselling author Frank Peretti. Now in remission, she continues to encourage other women struggling with cancer. Visit Carrie’s website.
