A contrived, predictable love story with underdeveloped characters.
In Ressler’s debut romance, two former acquaintances, a widow and widower, reunite after 35 years, each searching for the love of a Christian partner.
In 1982, Kent Hartman is a thriving, middle-aged millionaire consultant who’s devoted his life to his Christian faith. His wife died 10 years ago, and although he’s ready to open himself up to a relationship again, he knows he can only love a woman who has a personal connection to Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Penny Carson’s parents die in a car accident. Kent was once friends with Penny’s older brother, and he knew the family well when he was a young man in the 1940s. He heads to Lancaster to pay his respects, and he looks forward to seeing Penny again. He last heard from her decades ago—a simple letter about her marriage to her high school sweetheart, Samuel Carson. He has no idea that Penny is also widowed, and that she, too, is searching for love with a devout Christian. As characters, both Kent and Penny seem impeccably moral, and they overcome their emotional hardships with a grace and kindness that’s too simplistic to be believable. Penny is the better developed character, and when Ressler reveals the abuse in Penny’s childhood, readers will have some sympathy. However, the primary focus is on the happiness and peace that Penny has found in her present, and unfortunately, peace and happiness don’t make for compelling fiction. The only threat to the main characters’ budding relationship is the fear that one of them might not really be the Christian that the other is searching for. But because readers know about both characters’ relationships with Jesus from the start, there’s no basis on which to build tension. Nothing is stopping the romance, so there’s nothing at stake and no room for Kent and Penny to grow.
A contrived, predictable love story with underdeveloped characters.Pub Date: May 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5127-7812-0
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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