I was beyond pleasantly surprised by this book.

I had never heard of this author, and was a little worried about reading a book under the category of “Religion”

This book is amazing!  It marries discovering faith with a real-world painful accident.  From the very start you feel the characters and go through the emotions as they are going through them.  You want to reach through the pages and hug, cry, laugh, surrender and believe right along with them.  All the while bringing to light the power of faith and religion.

Not one sentence in this book feels like a lecture.  Instead, it uses an incident which happens in each American community at one point or another, and shows how by letting go of pre-judgements and conceptions, everything can be overcome and healed.

One note I must add is that once you read this book, you have no choice but to continue with the series.  Not because of obligation, but because you get so attached to the characters, that you want to be there for them when they continue their journey.  Not one character you meet in this book is a throwaway.  They are all written for a reason and are integral to making the story what it is.  To do that is a rare gift this author has mastered.

This first book in the Trilogy is a sure smash!  The second book, “A Slow Burn” is sure to be just as enticing and well written.  Please be sure to look out for it as it comes out October 1, 2009.

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BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The abrupt disappearance of young Daisy Chance from a small Texas town in 1973 spins three lives out of control-Jed, whose guilt over not protecting his friend Daisy strangles him; Emory Chance, who blames her own choices for her daughter’s demise; and Ouisie Pepper, who is plagued by headaches while pierced by the shattered pieces of a family in crisis. In this first book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper has a sickening secret: He’s convinced it’s his fault his best friend Daisy went missing. Jed’s pain sends him on a quest for answers to mysteries woven through the fabric of his own life and the lives of the families of Defiance, Texas. When he finally confronts the terrible truths he’s been denying all his life, Jed must choose between rebellion and love, anger and freedom. Daisy Chain is an achingly beautiful southern coming-of-age story crafted by a bright new literary talent. It offers a haunting yet hopeful backdrop for human depravity and beauty, for terrible secrets and God’s surprising redemption.