The Witnesses by Stephanie Black

The Witnesses by Stephanie Black

“Welcome to New America, where patriots are traitors and religion is a crime. After government agent Daniel Lansbury fakes the executions of three believers on national television, he and the fugitives Alisa Kent, Ian Roshek, and Ian's sister, Jill face the perilous task of outwitting President Amanda Ryce and her power-hungry Council long enough to escape to freedom. While a government reformer is on their side, rigorous new security measures thwart any chance of aid. And Daniel's estranged father, Marcus, an underground terrorist leader, is hatching plans to sabotage the breakable trust between Daniel and Ian and put himself in power at the head of the nation. As faith and loyalties come under fire, the fugitives struggle to stop Marcus and his zealous terrorists and bring to light the wrongs committed against the citizens of this fragile, fledgling nation.” (summary from Deseret Book)

  I was super happy when I discovered that The Witnesses was a direct sequel to Black’s previous novel The Believer. I reread the first book so I could remember the plot for the second book. The novel leaves off right where the first left off, which surprised me a bit. I was looking forward to seeing more of the world and how things had changed in her future, but it turns out that her characters were never able to escape New America and the corrupt government. The strain of staying in hiding is threatening to tear apart the fragile bands of loyalty the group only just forged. It doesn’t help that Marcus Landsbury is still out there making plots to take over the presidency, and is still trying to manipulate his son. With the way things are going it is only a matter of time before Ian, Alisa, Jill, and Daniel are caught. What they didn’t expect was that their capture may be the key to getting the reforms that they wanted all along. I really liked experiencing another adventure with these characters and seeing how they were able to change their country for the better even if it happened in a way they would never have expected. I love how layered and complex Black’s characters are, especially her villains. She did a superb job of showing their motivations and revealing their fascinating decisions. I really enjoyed getting back into this intense dystopian world.

Visit Stephanie Black's Website

Methods of Madness by Stephanie Black

Methods of Madness by Stephanie black

One horrible night Emily Ramsey lost both her sister Tricia and her fiancé Ryan. Tricia was found dead at the side of the road, a victim of a hit and run, and her fiancé disappeared into thin air. Now three years later she has decided to marry Zach Sullivan, a gentle school teacher, who has captured her heart. She tried to shake the fear that something will go wrong, but that is hard to do when Zach’s ex-girlfriend, Monica, appears and starts trying to win him back.

Then she receives a photograph of her old fiancé covered in blood. At first she thinks that Zach’s ex-girlfriend is playing a mean trick on her, but when Monica turns up dead in the back of her shop, Emily is the number one suspect. She tries to discover the answers to this mystery before she gets arrested or ends up dead when the killer comes for her.

Stephanie Black has woven another engaging mystery in which nearly every character is suspect. This book kept me second guessing who the culprit was with each new chapter, even the main character, Emily, wonders if she might have blacked out and done something horrible she can’t even remember. Especially, when evidence start appearing in her apartment to frame her, either she is going crazy or someone crazy is after her. Not only do you get one twisty ending, but two as you discover the truth behind Ryan’s disappearance. I think Black’s writing keeps getting better. I like the premise behind Fool Me Twice better, but this was still a really enjoyable read. I can’t wait to read what this author comes out with next.

Stephanie Black's Author website

Six LDS Writer's and Frog blog

Book Review: Fool Me Twice by Stephanie Black

Fool me Twice by Stephanie Black

Megan is working two dead end jobs trying to save enough to go to college, but that doesn’t seem likely when her mom keeps hitting her up for money. Her twin Kristen left them a long time ago, but she returns with a request for Megan to impersonate her life for the summer. Megan, wanting to impress her twin, and tempted by the amount of money that would come from manipulating themselves into an old lady's inheritance, decides to agree to taking care of the old lady Kristen has found. Apparently, she is an old aunt that Kristen found with the help of her new Mormon friends and their skills in genealogical research. Her heath is failing from a terminal illness and all Megan has to do is take care of her until she dies. Then one of Kristen’s friend is kidnapped, Aunt Evelyn isn’t acting like she has terminal illness, and things are not adding up.

I looked forward to reading this novel for a while, and I was not disappointed. I love how the characters in this book are so well defined. The reader can see that Megan has a soft and good heart, her mother is a crazy jerk, and her sister is manipulative, calculating, schemer. All these qualities are shown brilliantly throughout the novel. I really loved the writing style, and can’t think of any big complaints I had about the story. There is very little in the way of romance for those of you addicted to romantic suspense, but that’s okay. Sometimes I think there is too much romance in the market. I also like that the Mormon element of this novel was in the background, but still was pivotal to several plot points. I want to go read the novel again so I can connect all the little clues that pointed to the ending. This is one that I wholeheartedly recommend!

Go visit Stephanie Black’s Website: http://www.stephanieblack.net/Site/Welcome.html
She blogs at Six LDS Writers and a Frog: http://sixldswriters.blogspot.com/

Book Review

The Believer by Stephanie Black

Ian Roshek, a history professor, is taken in for police questioning because he helps a university student accused of having “treasonous” literature. Alisa Kent his interrogator finds out that he is a believer of a religious faith—the Mormon faith. Ian is sure that he will be punished as a traitor to the state, but he is surprised when Kent lets him go. Ian lives his life quietly, until he and his friends are offered by the Liberty Cadre to help them overthrow the government. Ian doesn’t believe in the method that the cadre uses, but his friends are drawn in. Ian never could have guessed what chain of events would happen next. This book tells the story of a futuristic U.S. split in two. President Tremont started his own country in order to run things the way that he thought would be best for everyone, but those that have inherited his legacy must decide if he has given them a government worth saving or destroying.

I thought that this was a well-written book. The initial conflict draws the reader right in. The characterization is good, and believable. The book has a lot of dramatic conflict and suspense. I couldn’t wait to read the ending. I was very sad that the ending disappointed me on account of the fact that I enjoyed the book so much before that. The main thing that annoyed me was the author started holding back information from the reader in order to keep them in suspense. Alas, it only backfired and made me feel bored and cheated. I guessed pretty quickly what then ending was going to be and I was right. Then there was the whole chapter of info dumps that went back and explained how everything happened. I would have preferred that the author told us the plan that the character had, so that we were actually invested in whether the plan would go through or not, especially since someone figured out the plot on their own. It would have been a lot more suspenseful to have rooting interest in the plot, then being kept in the dark until this confrontation happened and the character decided to help the plotting character instead of trash them. So, that was my main criticism. Other than that the book is very well-written and very thought provoking too. Even if I didn’t love the ending I’d still recommend this one to other readers, especially if they love suspense. There are other twists in the plot that I never suspected and really the book holds an engaging story.

The Author Website: http://www.stephanieblack.net/

Black also blogs at Six LDS writer's and a Frog blog. She has a book called Fool Me Twice coming out in April. It has a spectacular cover, go check it out at her website.