Someone to Blame by C.S. Lakin

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Someone To Blame Zondervan (September 21, 2010) by C. S. Lakin


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

C. S. Lakin is a novelist and professional copyeditor and writing coach. She is currently working on her eleventh novel, a contemporary family saga drawn from the biblical story of Jacob. Someone to Blame(Zondervan), an intense relational drama and winner of the 2009 First Novel contest, released in October 2010, and she is also the author of the allegorical adult fantasy series The Gates of Heaven, featuring The Wolf of Tebron and the upcoming release The Map Across Time (March 2011). She is currently completing her tenth novel and developing a dog memoir of epic proportion.




ABOUT THE BOOK

In the wake of heartrending family tragedies, Matt and Irene Moore move with their fourteen-year-old daughter, Casey, to a small town. Their goal is to get far away from the daily reminders that leave each of them raw and guilt-ridden. Their hope is to find redemption, repair, and renewal. Instead, the threads that hold them together unravel even more.

Breakers, a small community perched on the rocky coast of the Pacific Northwest, is draped with cold isolation that seems to mirror the hearts. As they settle into their new life, old grief settles with them. Matt is always on edge and easily angered, Irene is sad and pensive, and Casey is confused and defiant. They've once more set the stage for calamity. Into this mix comes Billy Thurber, a young drifter with his own conflicts, whose life unexpectedly entangles with the Moores'.

His arrival in Breakers parallels a rash of hateful and senseless crimes, and soon the whole town -- eager for someone to blame -- goes after Thurber with murderous intent. Out of this dangerous chaos, however, the Moores find unexpected grace and healing in a most unlikely way.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Someone To Blame, go HERE.

*Special thanks for Zondervan for supplying a review copy.

When He Loses Someone by Thomas O. Mason

When I received the email about the blog tour for Transforming the Valley of Grief by Thomas O. Mason, I jumped on it. A dear man in my church had just lost his wife to cancer. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after my daughter was. I knew right way I had to get this book for him. One, finding books written on such topics in a male perspective are rare. Two, it would be one small way I could try to help him in his grief, where I felt very inadequate.

I looked the book over first, of course. I was impressed with the author's use of self-identification. He didn't hold back in sharing his own grief and feelings during each stage. And at the end of the chapter are "notes" to both the griever and to those around him. These are full of valuable tid bits, no matter which place you hold.

This past Sunday, my friend hugged me as soon as he saw me. The book was already having a huge impact on him. And not just him, but his grown children, a son and a daughter. My friend felt understood, and that is so critical in any trial we face. There we can find such comfort.

I would like to thank the author personally, Mr. Mason, for taking the time to write such a book and share personal details of his loss in order to minister to others. His book has already made the difference in the lives of many. To see my friend encouraged and strengthened...such a gift to him and to me.