Review: Raging Storm by Vanetta Chapman

Exciting Sequel to Deep Shadows

Raging Storm is the second book in Vanetta Chapman’s The Remnant series, following Deep Shadows, and it’s definitely a series you need to read in order. If you haven’t read Deep Shadows, I recommend you read it before even reading this review. But you can click here to read my review of Deep Shadows.

Long story short ...

A solar flare has fried every computer chip in North America, so there are no computers, no Wi-Fi, no electricity … and little in the way of government or police protection.

(At this point I’m wondering how New Zealand would fare after a solar flare. After all, our local hydroelectric power station predates computer chips by decades, so surely it would still run. It also makes me thankful for our gun control laws—I don’t know anyone who owns a gun except a couple of farmers who keep them for shooting possums.)

Raging Storm starts with Shelby and her teenage son in Abney, Texas, in relative safety. But not for long—Shelby needs insulin to manage Carter’s diabetes, which means a trip to Austin, in the hope there will be some there. And a trip to Austin in this increasingly lawless society means facing unknown dangers.

Raging Storm seemed to start slowly, because it took a while for me to get into it. But once I did, it was solid conflict and action. There were a lot of bad people, but there was also a significant minority who tried to do the right thing—and some paid the price.

The whole novel takes place over a relatively short period of time, which means there isn’t a lot of room for character change and growth. The focus is more on fast-paced action.
I guess what shocked/surprised me most (but perhaps shouldn’t have) was the selfishness of most of most of the minor characters. Not just the low-key selfishness of wanting to do our own thing rather than something harder that is in the best interests of other people, but the willingness to abandon any semblance of civilised behaviour the moment it becomes clear there will be no consequences.

I suppose this is everyday life for people outside my first-world bubble.

An exciting dystopian thriller, recommended for those who want to read something a little outside the Christian norm.

Thanks to Harvest House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Vanetta Chapman at her website, and you can read the introduction to Raging Storm below:

Review: Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink

Not as Good as Sit Stay Love

I really enjoyed Dana Mentink’s first dog-themed book, Sit Stay Love (you can read my review here), and was thrilled to get a copy of Fetching Sweetness to review.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think it measured up to the high standard set by Sit Stay Love.

First, I found the beginning somewhat disjointed and hard to get in to. The heroine came across as scatty, and that’s never a good sign. Well, not for me. I also thought the early scenes felt contrived, as though their sole purpose was to get Stephanie and Rusty together. Yes, I know that’s exactly the purpose of opening scenes in any novel, especially a romance novel, but I should feel as though the events occurred naturally (at least, that’s how I usually feel). With Fetching Sweetness, it felt too much like the author had pulled a bunch of strings to get the characters where she needed them to be.

Once the story got going, it was excellent. It was a road trip with a difference as Stephanie and Rusty join forces to return the enormous and ungainly Sweetness to his owner, and battle some of their own personal issues along the way.

But then the end came, and that didn’t work for me either. I could explain why, but, well, spoilers. Suffice to say the ending was like the beginning, and neither were like the excellent middle. Yes, the end made sense—well, mostly—but it didn’t leave me with that ‘ahhh’ feeling I get from a great romance.

The characters were good, the writing was solid, and it was clearly a Christian novel with the spiritual growth from both main characters. But even the most brilliant writing and strongest Christian message isn’t enough to compensate for a shaky start and a meh end. Here’s hoping Paws for Love, the next in the series, will be back to the standard set by Sit Stay Love.

(As one final aside: the stories are standalones with no characters in common between the first and second book in the series. So you don’t miss anything by not reading one of them. Like this one).

Thanks to Harvest House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Dana Mentink at her website.