Barely Holding On
Reviewed by Phee Paradise
A Slow Burn by Mary E. DeMuth
When you’re ready for a different kind of book, try A Slow Burn. While reading it, I felt like the world had shifted just a tiny bit and was not quite the reality I know. It’s not a murder mystery, although it takes place in the aftermath of the murder of a young girl and there are clues to the identity of the murderer. It’s not a romance, although there’s a man wooing a woman. It’s not supernatural, although several characters see visions. It’s not realism, although it describes the despair of drug use and hints at more darkness.
It is an honest story about God’s painful silence in the midst of grief and despair. The two main characters are an interesting contrast, tied by a common past but with different results. Both have suffered from a loveless childhood and both have tried to give up on life. But Emory, the mother of the murdered child, can’t find a way out. Hixon, who loves Emory, has been redeemed and tries to offer her the healing he has received. Emory rejects him at every turn because he represents Jesus to her.
The book is not without hope and healing, but it comes in an unexpected way. It is very well written, and the themes are strengthened by the slightly different style. It’s not an easy read, but it is thought provoking and worth the effort. I do recommend that you start with the first book in series, Daisy Chain.
Pros: Gripping characters and deep themes about God’s role when we suffer. It evokes strong emotions and challenges comfortable conceptions about love and faith.
Cons: The style is a little different, and while very well written, you may get tired of it before the end.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary E. DeMuth is an expert in Pioneer Parenting. She enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families left no good faith examples to follow.
Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005).
Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, Watching The Tree Limbs
(nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing On Dandelions (NavPress, 2006).
Mary has spoken at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, and at various churches and church planting ministries. She's also taught in Germany, Austria, Monaco, Italy, France, and the United States. Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, and planting a church.
ABOUT THE BOOK
She touched Daisy’s shoulder. So cold. So hard. So unlike Daisy.
Yet so much like herself it made Emory shudder.
Burying her grief, Emory Chance is determined to find her daughter Daisy’s murderer—a man she saw in a flicker of a vision. But when the investigation hits every dead end, her despair escalates. As questions surrounding Daisy’s death continue to mount, Emory’s safety is shattered by the pursuit of a stranger, and she can’t shake the sickening fear that her own choices contributed to Daisy’s disappearance. Will she ever experience the peace her heart longs for?
The second book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, this suspenseful novel is about courageous love, the burden of regret, and bonds that never break. It is about the beauty and the pain of telling the truth. Most of all, it is about the power of forgiveness and what remains when shame no longer holds us captive.
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To read the first chapter of A Slow Burn, click HERE
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1 comment:
I have read "Slow Burn". I found it told a heartbreak of a story but I found, like "Daisy Chain", I couldn't put it down for very long.
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