Review Date: 7/21/2017

I so very much enjoyed this book! Once I had read the author's preface I wondered if the book would be too choppy since it had originally been a serialized story in a daily newspaper. Instead of finding it too choppy, I found it addicting - each little chapter pulled me along to the next. It was so hard to put the book down to go to bed! I wanted, no HAD, to know what happened next in these people's lives! While one minor little mystery is solved in the day-to-day lives of some of the characters, there are others that aren't resolved, specifically Bernie (Poor, poor Bernie! Totally at the mercy of his mother!) and Bruce (Will he get the comeuppance he deserves??) Seriously, this is a book that I highly recommend - I know I'll be rereading it in the future and I'm so glad I have the 2nd in the series, so I can immediately start on it...

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Review Date: 3/19/2017

This rating was a tough one, it probably deserves 3 just based on how well written it is. But the rating given is in a large part based on my subjective enjoyment of the book and it all came down to this nagging unhappiness that kept creeping up on me throughout the book (and good grief it's almost 500 pages long! but I finished it) and the huge letdown I felt at the ending.

Even though most of the book is taken up with this one group/family striving to accomplish something/anything to get rid of the aliens the overall message felt like it was - there's nothing anyone can ever do and when you do actually do something it won't amount to anything. I'm pretty sure that was the exact opposite of what the author was trying to convey based on a few paragraphs at the end, but truly that was the message that held through most of the book and the few paragraphs here and there that faintly gave a different message hardly amounted to a hill of beans against such overwhelming blah. Okay, I get that these few who have striven and passed on the desire to strive for something more will usher in something better moving forward from the end of the book, but hey, it's not like we get to see any of that - I'd much preferred to have actually seen humanity doing better.

Also, I didn't like any of the characters. Of course that might be because we hardly get to know any of them more than superficially and the family/clan just kept growing and growing, so more and more people would be mentioned which got pretty confusing.

So, I'm kinda sorry I wasted my time on this book and I wouldn't recommend reading it...

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Review Date: 7/31/2009

This book just has some truly unbelievable action scenarios. It was ok - not a lot of character build up... and you are not allowed to doubt that everything would come out perfectly in the end - some books keep you guessing, this one doesn't, even when he kills off some of the good guy characters.

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Review Date: 3/17/2017

I enjoyed this book SO MUCH! Seriously, I became so involved with the characters and their lives. Catherine Wells created such an interesting world with a culture tweaked just slightly different from religion(s) that we are more familiar with and fleshes it out wonderfully. And then to have these characters exploring their own world and trying to do so conscientiously that was pretty cool, but that she also has a storyteller recounting those explorers exploits hundreds of years later was an even better treat. Really can't recommend the book enough. Seriously, if you can get your hands on a copy - read and enjoy!

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Review Date: 5/12/2017

Well I definitely enjoyed this 5th book in the series, but I find it strange that this huge chunk of who Jane is supposed to be now (a married society lady??) is barely ever spoken of in these last two books. It could have been never a part of the story arc and wouldn't change anything in regards to who she is, what she does, or how she goes about doing anything. To me it adds nothing to her character because it's never been integrated into much of anything about her. Nothing about her being married feels real or makes me feel tension, though I'm guessing it's supposed to. Remove her husband Carey and any interaction between them from any of the books and it takes nothing away, at least to me...

Anyway, again I've focused on what doesn't make sense to me about these books (and it's the same issue!) and not on what's awesome about them. Jane is an amazing woman! (Maybe that's my problem, she deserves an awesome man! Ack! Let it go!) I love what she does, who she helps, getting to know them and getting to see them have new lives. And I love the action of crisscrossing the US, dodging the bad guys and coming out on top.

Other than the 3rd book, so far this is a really solid, fun, entertaining series and I'm looking forward to what happens next.

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Review Date: 3/22/2010

The stories were okay... In fact I enjoyed them to a certain degree, but there are two sections that make for very boring reading "Her Strong Enchantments Failing" by Patrick McGuire and "Challenge and Response" by Sandra Miesel, which I really think detract from the stories even though they are supposed to help explain Anderson's writing style. The problem being that both of these sections read like term papers for college (in fact I didn't finish the first one and totally skipped the second) It would have been much more interesting if the author himself had commented on his writings.

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Review Date: 7/31/2009

Helpful Score: 4

I liked this book, it was an interesting premise - a contest between one representative of each of the 7 different alien races - humans are included even though they don't have a clue about the whole thing. The aliens were interesting and you wonder how on earth our human representative will survive... good, fast read...

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Review Date: 5/25/2010

From the back of the book"
"My little sister, Tara, is the world's biggest brat. She's always getting me into trouble for stuff she does! That's why I decided to get even.
"I knew Dad was already mad at Tara for messing around with his antique cuckoo clock. So one night I turned the cuckoo's head backward. I figured Dad would kill Tara. But instead, something really weird happened. I woke up the next morning and it was my twelfth birthday all over again! Yep, I'm stuck in a time warp...and getting younger by the minute!"

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Review Date: 4/30/2017

Jane Whitefield is the kind of person I want to be/hope I could be/hope I am - and that I would hope to be in a crisis... So yep, I obviously enjoyed the book! The story once again takes us all over the place both geographically and emotionally and I knew things would work out in the end, but couldn't figure out how, so I stressed a bit towards the end. Highly recommend this book and can't wait to start reading the 3rd one!

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Review Date: 5/4/2012

From the back of the book:
Some people-the tough ones-survive among the ruins and rubble of the cities. Michael is a scrounger. It is a harsh existence, but at least he is a free man. Outside the city, he would, as likely as not, be a slave. Bill Stoner isn't tough at all. Without Michael's protection, Bill couldn't survive a week. But Bill Stoner is a man of vision and imagination; and with Michael at his side, he can lead America to civilization.

My feelings about the book:
I enjoyed the book to a certain extent, it was told from the perspective of Michael - as told to a scholar searching for info on Bill Stoner for historical records. I just wish the story had gone further and told more of how life was "now" that Stoner's ideals had come to fruition. Well written and explores the ugly decisions people have to make in ugly situations - something I enjoy in apocalyptic fiction.

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Review Date: 1/4/2010

Ok, this book was all over the place and while I enjoy learning a bit of new information it seems like the author tried to tie together EVERYTHING on earth into a cohesive story and that just isn't really possible - though he did try very hard, things were just too confusing to me most of the time. Add in the fact that his characters weren't very developed, merely caricatures of stereotypes who mostly interacted by giving mini-lectures to each other and it all makes for a choppy book. It seems like things would have been better either leaving out some info or expanding it even further... but that's just my opinion... One funny thing, a heck of a lot of his characters had vast portions of Revelations memorized, even though they weren't "Christian" just one of the things that struck me as odd.

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Review Date: 3/15/2017

So I vaguely remember watching the miniseries that this book ties into years ago. I do remember that towards the end of it I thought the researcher that was investigating the house was herself insane, so you almost have to wonder if Rose Red herself draws insane people to her (you know, even though this is all fake - the miniseries, the book, etc) Anyway, I enjoyed the book pretty well, enough to recommend reading it if you come across a copy at the library or a used book store. It gives a good background for the miniseries though you don't have to have read it enjoy the show nor do you have to have ever seen the show to enjoy the book...

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Review Date: 5/12/2017

So we're back on track with this 4th book in the series because Carey himself asks Jane to lead someone he knows to safety. Even though he'd made her promise to never do so again because it's so dangerous and he wouldn't want to lose her.... well of course his friend is worthy of his wife's life! Maybe Mr. Perry has written Carey as such an unlikable character because then Jane's fans have someone to hate? I don't know, but what I do know is that when Jane is describing this guy to herself and thinking, "Gee, Carey is kinda already like this guy in his habits and mannerisms, I bet he'll be a whole lot like him when he's the same age (mid 60's)" all I was thinking was, gee, this guy sounds like Carey already - you mean Carey isn't a 65 year old man?

All in all another fast paced, great read that I thoroughly enjoyed - I just wish Mr. Perry would explain better why Jane is in love with Carey... Okay, enough harping on my single point of contention! I really enjoyed this book a lot better than the 3rd one, so I'll now be continuing on with the 5th.

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Review Date: 8/8/2011

All I can say is wow! Okay, actually I can say a lot more... I just finished "Fragment" and I enjoyed it so much that I removed it from my bookshelf because I know I'll be reading it again and again. As another reviewer said, some of the character development was a bit uneven, but the story line is so gripping... I'll definitely be checking out any further work by Mr. Fahy and I sure hope he lives up to this book. Also, I so wanted the book to continue on or there to be a sequel... can't say it enough, such a good book!

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Review Date: 3/23/2017

A pretty satisfying ending to the series, though it would be awesome if Ms. Harris ever decided to write another book or 2 about Harper and Tolliver. I can definitely recommend all of them for anyone who likes a good mystery along with a dash of paranormal. I know I'll be rereading the series every so often.

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Review Date: 3/11/2017

I really enjoyed this book, enough that I'm going to get the 2nd in the series. I found the main character Harper very interesting - besides her "gift" and the limitations it has which she works through, even making a living off of it... there's everything else that life has thrown at her and she still goes on, sometimes shakily, to the best of her ability. They mystery part of the story was interesting enough, I kinda had it figured out, but not the total why of it all. Anyway, if you like a who-dun-it with a splash of weird, you should enjoy this

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Review Date: 3/22/2017

I really enjoyed this 2nd book in the series and I'm pretty sure I'll be rereading it in the future. If the other 2 books in the series are as good as the first 2 were then, I'll probably reread the series every so often. I like Harper and Tolliver (even though the reader doesn't get a look inside his head, his devotion to her is pretty cool) and want good things for them.

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Review Date: 12/28/2009

I enjoyed this story though I did get aggravated that it took so long for the two main characters to get everything out into the open... all in all another good read by Mrs. Springer - she can always be counted on to write a story that draws you to the characters and reinforces the joys and gifts God gives to those who are willing to open their eyes and hearts.

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Review Date: 3/23/2017

Definitely enjoyed this book. One of the things I like best about these books is that the reader knows just as much as the main character knows - we aren't told things that Harper doesn't know and so, it's just a hard to figure out who the bad guy is. Anyway, something I really wanted to happen, happened and that made me super happy!

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Review Date: 12/28/2009

Kathryn Springer once again writes a lovely story of love - of God's love and healing for the wounded among us, the love of Godly families, and the tender love between men and women rooted and grounded in His word. I am a big fan of Mrs. Springer's "Love Inspired" books - she writes characters you truly care about, which I think is a great accomplishment in such short books.

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