Excellent Biblical Fiction

Delilah by Angela Hunt

Angela Hunt is one of my favorite authors.  I find her novels to be thought-provoking, well-researched, and well-written.  Delilah is no exception.

 

Hunt made me want to re-read the Biblical account of Samson and Delilah.  She did a good job of filling in the literary details that knit the story together.  It made perfect sense.

  

It was obvious that she had done research on the time period when Samson lived.  The details regarding the loom, growing flax, and the Philistine oppression of the Israelites added credibility to the tale.  I felt that I went away with a greater understanding of what life would have been like then.

The story was well-written.  The story line kept my attention and moved the story along at a nice pace.  Her characters were fleshed-out with complicated motivations.  She definitely cast Samson and Delilah, despite their faults, in a positive light.  Though I was familiar with the tragic ending, Hunt managed to put it in a positive light.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Biblical fiction.  It was not only entertaining, but educational.  I received a free copy from the publisher in return for my honest opinion.     

Nun as a Private Detective

Sister Eve and the Blue Nun by Lynne Hinton

This book is the third in a series of the Divine Private Detective Agency mystery.  Because of that, there were some inferences that I didn’t understand.  Sister Eve, the main character frequently corrects the other characters on the pronunciation of her name, but never explains how the reader should pronounce it, which was confusing to me.  She doesn’t give much background information on Eve’s relationship to her father or why he was called Captain.

 

The other item which made it difficult to understand was the part about her being a nun and life in the monastery.  I have little familiarity with the monastic life and that made it harder to enjoy the story.

I found the characters, mainly Sister Eve, interesting.  The author included enough details about her that I felt connected to her, even if her dilemma and background was difficult to understand.

I was not mesmerized by this book, but did find myself wondering about the potential relationship she might develop with Detective Lujan.  The author did leave some possibilities open at the conclusion of the book.

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In short, the book was okay, but not one of my favorites.  I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it were the first in the series and I had had the opportunity to be filled in on Sister Eve’s background.  The idea of a nun as a private detective is appealing to me, but the book did not quite meet my expectations.  The last few chapters of the book were exciting and fast paced, but the beginning and middle moved a little too slowly for my liking

I received this book free from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, and this is my honest review.