{"id":4302,"date":"2010-03-17T21:22:56","date_gmt":"2010-03-18T02:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=4302"},"modified":"2010-03-17T21:22:56","modified_gmt":"2010-03-18T02:22:56","slug":"the-right-call-by-kathy-herman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=4302","title":{"rendered":"The Right Call by Kathy Herman"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/span> <\/strong> 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!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Today’s Wild Card author is: <\/strong><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

Kathy Herman<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

and the book:<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Right Call<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

David C. Cook; New edition (March 1, 2010)<\/p>\n

***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, of The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n Kathy Herman is a best-selling suspense novelist who has written fifteen novels since retiring from her family\u2019s Christian bookstore business. Kathy and her husband, Paul, have three grown children and five grandchildren and live in Tyler, Texas. This is the third title in the Sophie Trace trilogy, which also includes The Real Enemy, and The Last Word.<\/p>\n

Visit the author’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\n<\/embed><\/object>\n<\/p>\n

The Right Call, by Kathy Herman<\/a> from David C. Cook<\/a> on Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Product Details:<\/p>\n

List Price: $14.99
\n Paperback: 400 pages
\n Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (March 1, 2010)
\n Language: English
\n ISBN-10: 1434767841
\n ISBN-13: 978-1434767844<\/p>\n

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:<\/span> <\/strong>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Drew Langley jumped at the loud thud upstairs and resisted the temptation to bang on the wall and dispel the roaring laughter that followed. Was he the only student in the apartment building still studying for finals?<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

A warm breeze rattled the blinds, and he closed his eyes, inhaling the intoxicating fragrance of magnolia blossoms wafting from the south campus of Stanton College. It took every ounce of discipline he could muster not to close his books and give in to the lure of spring.<\/p>\n

He heard rubber soles on the hardwood floor and lifted his gaze as his roommate came to a quick stop in front of the mirror over the worn living-room sofa.<\/p>\n

Tal Davison wet his fingers and smoothed his hair. \u201cI see you\u2019re still studying. I guess that means you\u2019re not coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo what? I thought you had a date.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you make me tell you everything twice? You\u2019re worse than my grandmother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drew put down his pencil. \u201cSorry, I\u2019ve been focused on other things. Tell me again. I\u2019m listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tal came and stood in the doorway of Drew\u2019s bedroom, his arms folded across his chest. \u201cI\u2019m going over to Henry\u2019s for a junk-food buffet and beer. You\u2019re invited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks. But I really need to study for my English lit final. It\u2019s next week, and I\u2019ve got chapters of catching up to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuit yourself. I\u2019m brain-dead. I couldn\u2019t learn another thing if you paid me.\u201d Tal started to go and then stopped. \u201cListen, thanks again for letting me move in here for the last few weeks. It\u2019s nice sharing an apartment that doesn\u2019t reek of marijuana. I hope I haven\u2019t been as big a pain as your other roommate.\u201d He shot Drew a half smile.<\/p>\n

Drew leaned back and folded his arms. \u201cHey, not at all, man. I hope you don\u2019t think I\u2019ve been ignoring you. It\u2019s just that I have to keep up the grades. No four-oh, no scholarship. There\u2019s no way I can afford to attend Stanton without it.\u201d I don\u2019t have a rich father footing the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t it cramp your style to go to college in Sophie Trace? Your parents are pretty close by, aren\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the scholarship I can live off campus. That\u2019s all the independence I need. It\u2019s nice going home whenever I want. My parents really help me stay on track.\u201d Drew studied Tal\u2019s expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take it you wish your dad wasn\u2019t so close?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tal got quiet for a moment and seemed to be somewhere else. \u201cHe\u2019s much too busy to breathe down my neck. And he doesn\u2019t care about my grades as long as I pass and he can tell his cronies that his namesake\u2019s attending his alma mater and is going to work for him after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that so bad?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wish he cared more about me and less about his image. I\u2019m not sure I can ever measure up to his expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, man. You\u2019ve got it made in the shade. All you have to do is get through one more year, and he\u2019ll hand you the job of a lifetime. I thought you were pumped about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tal flashed a crooked smile. \u201cI\u2019m trying to be. It\u2019s my big chance to make Dad proud of me. It\u2019s all he\u2019s talked about for years. But there\u2019s a lot of pressure, learning to run a big corporation. The closer I get, the more intimidated I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe must think you can do it, Tal. There\u2019s a lot at stake for him, too.\u201d Even if he is handing it to you on a silver platter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I\u2019ll buy a little time after I graduate\u2014tell Dad I\u2019m burned-out and need to backpack across Europe for a while before I jump into the corporate world.\u201d<\/p>\n

A grin tugged at Drew\u2019s cheeks. \u201cThen you\u2019d need someone to babysit your Hummer. Can I apply for the job? Man, I wish I\u2019d been there when your dad had it delivered to your birthday party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an awesome way to turn twenty-one, all right. But I\u2019d trade it in a heartbeat for a relationship with my dad like you have with yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I take it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t,\u201d Tal said. \u201cI can\u2019t remember the last time I sat down and had a real conversation with mine. He\u2019s either working himself to death or hiding out at the lake house with wife number four\u2014the fashion model who\u2019s got silicone for brains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realize she was his fourth wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd she\u2019s pregnant with daughter number seven. Maybe he\u2019s going for the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but you\u2019re still his only son. And you and your mother are close.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot in proximity. She\u2019s spending a lot of time in New York with her boyfriend. He deals in fine art, and she likes to go to the auctions with him. I doubt I\u2019ll see her anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drew shifted his weight. Why hadn\u2019t Tal mentioned before that his mother was seeing someone?<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I\u2019m happy for her,\u201d Tal said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t mind sharing her Nashville house with the maid, the cook, and the butler. I\u2019ll lie around the pool and read sci-fi novels and give my brain a rest. I\u2019m so burned-out I can\u2019t stand to think about another year of studying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be ready to hit it again in the fall. Just think how good you\u2019ll feel when you get your degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tal smiled wryly. \u201cWould you believe my dad\u2019s executive bonus last year was ten million? I must be nuts not to be more excited about the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

No kidding. \u201cSo why aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know \u2026 my dad\u2019s ruthless. And the company takes precedence over everyone and everything. I want more out of life than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear you. But if it were me, I\u2019d at least try it long enough to earn a couple million and then go do whatever I wanted.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve thought of that.\u201d Tal stood up straight, the result of his beer drinking and bingeing hanging over his belt. \u201cBut I have a feeling that once Dad has me under his thumb, I\u2019ll never get out from under. What I really want to do is go to the police academy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you told him how you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried. But Dad doesn\u2019t really care how I feel. It\u2019s my duty as his only son to keep the family business going. If I turn my back on that, he\u2019ll basically disown me. Not that we\u2019re close now, but it\u2019s hard to think of having no dad. Hey, enough serious talk. It\u2019s party time. Sure you don\u2019t want to come?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019ve got to hit the books. Who\u2019s your designated driver?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t need one. I\u2019m walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think that\u2019s smart? Henry\u2019s neighborhood isn\u2019t exactly the safest part of town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be fine. But I\u2019ll tell you what\u201d\u2014Tal laughed and tossed his keys to Drew\u2014\u201cif I don\u2019t make it back alive, the Hummer\u2019s all yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a92010 Cook Communications Ministries. The Right Call by Kathy Herman. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Right Call<\/a> takes the reader on another visit to Sophie Trace where Brill Jessup and her family have started to relax after their last harrowing experience (The Last Word<\/a>). Summer break has started and Vanessa Jessup and Ethan Langley hope to explore the possibilities of a lasting relationship over their vacation. Unfortunately a series of shooting deaths has Chief Brill and her team of officers back on alert while the town of Sophie Trace waits in trepidation for the case to be solved. As Ethan finds himself in the middle of things, danger lurks for not only himself but for Vanessa and baby Carter.<\/p>\n

As always, Kathy Herman has crafted an edge of the seat suspense with surprises around every corner. A red herring or two takes the reader off track for awhile but also keeps the story interesting. Strong characterization and vivid description as well as at least one lesson in life are examples of what keeps me coming back to Ms. Herman’s books.<\/p>\n

I highly recommend The Right Call<\/a> (and the first two books in the Sophie Trace Trilogy) plus all of Kathy Herman’s earlier series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,60,67,41,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-contemporary-fiction","category-mystery","category-romance","category-suspense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4302"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4327,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4302\/revisions\/4327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}