The monthly “Three for the Books” post is where I feature new (Hot Off the Presses), best selling (Topping the Charts), and award winning (Cream of the Crop) Christian fiction books. I select one title to feature in each category, as well as providing links to where you can browse additional newly released, best selling, and award winning titles. Have you read any of these featured titles? Any others you’d like to give a shout-out? Comments are always welcome!

Hot Off the Presses

A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes released this month from Gilead Publishing. It’s the conclusion of the dystopian Out of Time series. Since this is a series you’ll want to read in order, you may want to start by checking out my review of the first book, A Time to Die. These novels are available in print and electronic editions.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site | More New Releases

Topping the Charts

Priceless by Joel and Luke Smallbone of the band for King & Country appears on the October 2016 ECPA Bestsellers list. This is a novelization of the movie with the same name that just started playing in theaters on October 14th. The book is available from Worthy Publishing in print and electronic formats, with an audio edition available from christianaudio.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site | More Best Sellers

Cream of the Crop

Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund is winner of the 2016 ECPA Book Award for Fiction, as well as the Christy Award in the Historical Romance category. It is historical biographical fiction published by WaterBrook Multnomah, and is available in print and electronic editions.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site | More Award Winners

Title: An Open Heart
Author: Harry Kraus
Print Publisher: David C Cook
Audio Publisher: Oasis Audio
Narrator: Tim Gregory
Published: June 2013
Genre: Christian fiction, suspense
Length: 11 hours, 18 minutes. Unabridged.

About the Book: (from the publisher’s description on Amazon)

Their Messages—From Beyond the Grave—Might Destroy Him

They hover between life and death, their hearts stopped on the surgery table. And the messages Dr. Jace Rawlings’ open-heart surgery patients bring back from beyond the grave cannot be ignored. For they predict the deaths of people around him, and point a finger of suspicion straight at him.

It thrusts Jace into a firestorm of controversy and danger. A maelstrom blown by the darker winds of political intrigue and spiritual warfare. And the forces working against him will do anything to stop him from uncovering a truth they will kill to hide. He’d come to Kenya to establish a heart-surgery program for the poor. But what he will find in that place where he grew up will put everything at risk–his marriage, his career . . . his life.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I first heard about this book while I was in the midst of writing the first draft of my own novel about a missionary and a doctor that’s set partly in Kenya. Because I was struck by the similarities in setting and characters, I really wanted to read this one, but forced myself to wait until I’d finished writing the first draft of my own. And having read it at last, I’m glad I did take the time to read it, and particularly that I was able to listen to the audiobook edition, which is fabulous.

There’s a lot going on in this story. There’s medical drama including interesting details of a number of surgical cases in America and in Kenya. There’s the suspense surrounding who’s out to get our lead character and why… and what part a (rather creepy) witch doctor might play in that. There’s a mystery to unravel surrounding the events of one particular night that our lead character doesn’t remember following a head trauma. There’s an inspirational thread involving lost faith regained. And there are believable characters struggling through their hurts and fears.

I think my favorite part was the setting, which is vividly described in specific and authentic detail. Frequent readers of Christian fiction may have noticed that settings outside of the United States are fairly uncommon in the genre. With that in mind, I applaud the author’s choice to take a chance on a more exotic setting. It was interesting to consider the economics of saving lives and the difficult choices made in a country with limited resources. And in some ways, the setting became almost a character in its own right, as the local culture and customs had such an impact on the plot and characters.

Overall, a fascinating book, and if you’re an audiobook fan, I highly recommend Tim Gregory’s reading of it. His voice fits the main character well, and he uses variations in tone and inflection to portray the other characters of both genders well too. I was particularly impressed by his accurate (to the best of my knowledge anyway) pronunciation of foreign words and his portrayal of believable Kenyan accents. There are some very emotional scenes in this book, and the reading revealed just the right degree of emotion in those scenes to complement the written word and immerse the reader in the story.

I accessed this audiobook by checking it out from my library’s electronic collection via Hoopla.

Quick Links: About the Audiobook | Author’s Site

Title: The Methuselah Project
Author: Rick Barry
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Published: September 2015
Genre: Speculative, Romantic Suspense, Christian Fiction

About the Book: (from the publisher’s Web site)

Nazi scientists started many experiments. One never ended.

Roger Greene is a war hero. Raised in an orphanage, the only birthright he knows is the feeling that he was born to fly. Flying against the Axis Powers in World War II is everything he always dreamed–until the day he’s shot down and lands in the hands of the enemy.

When Allied bombs destroy both his prison and the mad genius experimenting on POWs, Roger survives. Within hours, his wounds miraculously heal, thanks to those experiments. The Methuselah Project is a success–but this ace is still not free. Seventy years later, Roger hasn’t aged a day, but he has nearly gone insane. This isn’t Captain America–just a lousy existence only made passable by a newfound faith. The Bible provides the only reliable anchor for Roger’s sanity and his soul. When he finally escapes, there’s no angelic promise or personal prophecy of deliverance, just confusion. It’s 2015–and the world has become an unrecognizable place.

Katherine Mueller–crack shot, genius, and real Southern Belle–offers to help him find his way home. Can he convince her of the truth of his crazy story? Can he continue to trust her when he finds out she works for the very organization he’s trying to flee?

Thrown right into pulse-pounding action from the first page, readers will find themselves transported back in time to a believable, full-colored past, and then catapulted into the present once more. The historical back-and-forth adds a constantly moving element of suspense to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

My Thoughts:

This is a fascinating story, unusual enough to defy categorization. Part romantic suspense, part speculative fiction, part contemporary, part historical. Perhaps the best way to describe it is simply to say that it’s a real page-turner. From the first moments in the cockpit of a World War II fighter plane, I was hooked and ready to be swept along for the ride. And what a ride it is. At turns humorous, shocking, thought-provoking, tender, and thrilling, this story of a WWII era prisoner finally escaping to modern day America without having aged a day, is one I’m happy to recommend.

The premise is intriguing and thought-provoking. How would you handle being locked up in a jail cell for decades without aging, even as the world passes you by? Historical details are vivid and well-placed, from descriptions of dogfighting to period lingo. Characters leap off the page, particularly Roger with his wry sense of humor and WWII-era outlook on life clashing with modern-day realities. Thematically, the book looks at the power of prayer and the way someone’s convictions can get them through difficult parts of their own life as well as positively impacting others.

There’s a great discussion guide for this book available on the publisher’s Web site. I participated in the ACFW Book Club discussion of this book, and found the discussion based on these questions quite thought-provoking and enjoyable. I would recommend it for book clubs as well as anyone who’s up for an adventure a little outside of the ordinary.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site

The monthly “Three for the Books” post is where I feature new (Hot Off the Presses), best selling (Topping the Charts), and award winning (Cream of the Crop) Christian fiction books. I select one title to feature in each category, as well as providing links to where you can browse additional newly released, best selling, and award winning titles. Have you read any of these featured titles? Any others you’d like to give a shout-out? Comments are always welcome!

Hot Off the Presses

This Road We Traveled by Jane Kirkpatrick released this month from Revell. It’s a historical novel set on the Oregon Trail. The book is available in print, electronic, and audio editions.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site | More New Releases

Topping the Charts

Without Warning by Lynnette Eason appears on the September 2016 ECPA Bestsellers list. This romantic suspense is Book 2 in the Elite Guardians series (see my review of Book 1). It’s available from Revell in print and electronic formats, with an audio edition available from Tantor Audio.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site | More Best Sellers

Cream of the Crop

The Five Times I Met Myself by James L. Rubart is winner of the 2016 Christy Award for Book of the Year, as well as the 2016 Carol Award in the Speculative fiction category. It’s published by Thomas Nelson, and available in print and electronic editions.

Quick Links: About the Book | Author’s Site | More Award Winners

Title: Step by Step
Author: Candace Calvert
Publisher: Tyndale House
Published: February 2016
Series: Crisis Team, Book 2
Genre: Christian fiction, Contemporary Romance

About the Book: (from the publisher’s Web site)

Three years after a tragic accident left her a widow, ER nurse Taylor Cabot is determined to move on, checking off one item after another on her survival list. Her relationship with a handsome plastic surgeon even gives her hope for the last point—“fall in love again.” At least until crisis chaplain Seth Donovan steps back into her life, reawakening unanswered questions about her husband’s death.

While in San Diego to train community volunteers, Seth hopes to learn why Taylor is backing away from the crisis team and from their friendship. But nothing prepares him for the feelings that arise when he sees Taylor again . . . and sees her moving on with another man.

When a community crisis hits home and puts lives at risk, emotions run high and buried truths are unearthed. Will hope make the survival list?

My Thoughts:

Last year I wrote an enthusiastic review of By Your Side, and because I loved that book so much, I sought out of this next book in the Crisis Team series. Let’s just say I was not disappointed in the least. Step by Step has less emphasis on suspense than the last one did, and more focus on the friendship to romance angle. But in the areas I liked best about the last one, this book delivers. Its inspirational message isn’t preachy, but makes you stop and think about control versus trust, and there are some wonderfully emotional parts to the story that really tug on the reader’s heartstrings. Having met both Seth and Taylor in the previous book, I was happy to spend time with them again, and see where things might go. They make quite a likeable pair, and it was a delight to see them learning to move on…together.  I get the feeling the author does her research, and I appreciated learning a bit about the work of crisis volunteers as well as about grief, how differently people deal with it, and the value of skilled listening. The sub-plot with Sloane (and Marty) raised my curiosity about her past and future, so I’m very much looking forward to continuing to read this series when Maybe It’s You releases early in 2017.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes.

Quick Links: About the Book | About the Series | Author’s Site