myersjewels reviewed on 8/25/2011 + 58 more book reviews

A Christian Western is the best way to describe this book. This is book number nine in the Angel of Mercy series by Al Lacy. I have not read the other books in the series but it stood alone and that did not cause me a problem. In it, Nurse Breanna Brockman takes care of patients and assists doctors in various situations as her husband, U.S. Marshall John Brockman; helps clear the Wild West of bandits and outlaws making it a safer place to live. As the story weaves between the two characters we are introduced to others whose lives are intermingled with theirs. It is a good clean story that includes murder, suspense, tragedy and love while being interspersed with a lot of scripture and talk about God and how He works in our lives.
Al Lacys stories can be read by any age group as they are wholesome and clean. It is evident that he knows a lot about westerns and has all his terminology correct when it comes to horses and guns. He has good plots in his stories as well. However, I have trouble connecting with his characters and feeling them to be believable. I hesitate to say that there is too much scripture in the books because we can never get enough of Gods Word but the placement of the scripture in the context of the stories is sometimes awkward and contrived. The characters get a little too preachy at times and that takes away form the storyline as well. While I appreciate the authors contribution to the Christian fiction market this book came across as a little flat.

I received this complimentary copy from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group through their Blogging for Books program. A positive review was not required and the opinions expressed here are my own.

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