Life After – Katie Ganshert

©2017  Waterbrook Press, New York

Life happens. That is the thread running through this fast-paced romance by Christy Award-Winning Katie Ganshert. I can attest to the fact that life happens as I sit down to write this review (three months late). May I whine just a bit? I started reading the book and was well on my way to finishing it when I slipped on the ice and broke my dominant wrist. So much for typing up the review when I finished reading the book. Then, as does for all ministry types like me, life happened some more. Things got busy at church, things got busy with the busy family, and then a major funeral happened. And so, here I am, three months later, and I have a little more thought into the book than I normally do. (Excuses over, now on to the review.)

 Not being familiar with Ganshert’s work, and desirous to see how my review would turn out, I checked out a copy of an Amish Christmas romance that was written with the contribution of Ganshert and others (Amish Christmas North Star, WaterBrook, 2015). What I found there (in Katie’s story from the book) was a moving story with well-developed, likable characters to push the story along. Consequently, I began to look forward with a little less trepidation to examining the latest book from this author unknown to me, in a genre normally not read by me.

Set in Chicago, the story starts off with a BANG when, well, life happens. On an icy, snowy day, a commuter train derails destroying lives and homes all over the city. Only one passenger survived. The book follows her story, as Autumn Manning comes to grips with her role in the “Tragedy on the Tracks” as the event is labeled in the media. While all her friends and family are trying to figure out why she is not happy, does not feel fortunate, that she didn’t die in the accident, Autumn is filled with regret, remorse, and guilt spurred on by the continually lingering question Why? All the while struggling with a lingering amnesia that her doctors and psychiatrists are hoping to help her move past.

In ensuing pages, Autumn finds her life entangled with the lives of the families of those who died in the tragedy, including Paul Elliot and his daughters. Originally thinking that his wife is the lone survivor, Elliot arrives at the hospital to find a stranger in his wife’s bed.

Ganshert develops the main characters well, but some of the supporting parts are played by people we just don’t want to like, even when we want to like them. Perhaps it is the role they play (Autumn’s former boyfriend who shows back up to help with a memorial that Autumn finds herself not only entangled in but in charge of, for instance—you’ll need to read the book to get the whole story, otherwise I’d have to spoiler alert you).

The story has everything that a romance reader is looking for: likable characters, plot twists, semi-steamy love scenes, emotional conflict, and perfect resolution (the right guy gets the right girl and all is well in the end). For someone who rarely reads romances, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ll give Life After 4 out of 5 reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter August 31, 2012

[Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]

Illusion – Frank Peretti

© 2012 Howard Books, New York


I’m not always a fan of Frank Peretti. Some of his early, highly-praised work moved a little slow for me. But I do get excited when acclaimed authors who stand on their faith treat us to another story. And so I was excited when I got an invitation to review his latest work of fiction. The short version of the saga toward this review is that my review copy never showed up before the early March deadline. Consequently, I got an e-copy in mid-April and finally got a chance to read it.

The story follows the life of Dane Collins following the tragic auto accident that took his beloved Mandy’s life. After forty years of marriage, the two well-respected magicians were preparing to open a new chapter off-stage, and move into semi-retirement in Mandy’s beloved Idaho. Suddenly Mandy is whisked back to the fairgrounds where she first met Dane before they met and the whirlwind begins.

Any more of the story line would be filled with spoilers, so I’ll stop there and give you the review. The book starts slow, with some jumps and starts. But as with Peretti’s TheOath, you are soon so involved in the lives of the characters that you want to keep reading until page 500 rolls around. This is a well-crafted story that requires more than a modicum of suspended belief. That’s okay though, because of the genre.

Genre issues bring up some other questions though—what kind of book do we have? Which audience will love this tale best? The author himself has the same questions in a short afterword. Of course, most bookstores will place this in the Christian or Inspirational Fiction sections simply because of the author. I would have no trouble shelving it with the romance novels (because it’s a love story), in the suspense section (because it’s filled with mystery), or even with the Sci-Fi/Fantasy works (because of the need to suspend belief to get into the story). Does the author achieve his goal of painting a picture of the love that Creator-God has for His church? I think so, although one would not necessarily read that into the story unless they had a tendency to do it.

If you’re a Peretti fan, you’ve probably already read this book—and if not you’ll want to. It isn’t classic Peretti, but it does expand his horizons without departing from his original foundation. The book addresses Christianity without being preach-y (which I really like). If you haven’t read one of this author’s books, Illusionis a great introduction to him and his writing. Readers of romance, mystery/suspense, or fantasy books will all be happy with this book. I give him five reading glasses for this new novel.

—Benjamin Potter, July 12, 2012

[This book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of review. No compensation has been given for this review. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. This is a review of the electronic version of the book.]