Customer Reviews

Bad Connection (The Secret Life Samantha McGregor, Book 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to find the perfect balance in teen fiction, where there is the right amount of realism, a strong dose of God that isn't cheesy or over the top, and suspense / action to keep things going. Melody Carlson is nobody new to the world of teen books, having already put out three other wildly successful series (TrueColors, Notes From A Spinning Planet, and Diary of a Teenage Girl), and with Bad Connection, book one in The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor series, Carlson does not disappoint.

In Bad Connection, we find Samantha McGregor, a high school girl whose father is dead, mother wants nothing to do with Christianity, and a brother who is constantly in and out of trouble with the law. Samantha is the only one in her family holding on to God, and that's when she receives a vision. A girl from school, Kayla, disappeared a week ago, and now Samantha thinks she's seeing clues from God about her whereabouts. Samantha has to work with her dad's old partner, Ebony Hamilton, to unravel the clues and find Kayla before it's too late.

The first concern that anyone might have in reading this story is the use of the spiritual gift of receiving visions from God. I was a little nervous going in to the story, but found myself pleasantly surprised with the care and Biblical use of the gift that Carlson portrays here. She even includes an article from John Piper's Desiring God talking about visions, how it was used in the Bible, and to be careful about just trusting a dream or feelings, but to turn to the Bible to find guidance from God. Parents who are extremely concerned may want to read the book for themselves first to see what they might think.

As this is a series for teens, there are some rather dark moments in the story. Issues of kidnapping come up frequently, and may be frightening for some younger readers. Other moments include a scary situation in the middle of the Arizona desert where Samantha might be attacked, and another spot near the very end involving terrorism on an airplane.

Samantha does go on a couple of dates in the book, and Carlson usually tends to fall on the side of saying that dating is okay, but not a sort of hop around to anyone sort of dating. She doesn't go to the side of courtship however. Carlson usually has characters who put up a lot of standards before they go on a date, such as whether or not to kiss or hold hands. While in this book, dating is not the point or being argued one way or another.

The story moves along very nicely, given us just the right amounts of mystery and suspense to keep us going. Definitely for readers who look a good mystery with a strong spiritual overtone.

Samantha McGregor is a teenage (sixteen, soon to be seventeen) Christian who has dreams and visions given to her by God. Her father understood her gift and tried to help her understand it, but now he's gone; the parent who took her gift seriously died when she was twelve. Her mother isn't comfortable with this gift from God. In fact, she's not sure Samantha's ability to see visions is something God has anything to do with. Is Samantha weird or crazy or simply a vessel God is using?

There was quite a bit I liked about Samantha: She wasn't ashamed to carry her Bible to school and she even pulled it out of her backpack, opened it and read from it not caring what anyone thought. She did not hesitate to go to God in prayer when she needed help or someone else needed help or she had questions. She had no problem praying in front of peers who weren't Christians. Even though she wasn't sure she wanted this gift that she wasn't always sure how to use, she cared more about what her heavenly Father wanted. And finding a boyfriend wasn't her main focus.

It was nice to see teen characters praying with and for each other and the author did a good job showing the life of a young Christian learning how to develop her spiritual gift and how to trust God whenever she began to have doubts.

There was something that disappointed me. Like other Christian novels I have read, this one contradicts God's Word at one point: On page 36 is the sentence - Kayla actually used to be a Christian. There is no "used to be" in Christianity... And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, He has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30 New Living Translation). Once saved, always saved. A Christian's salvation is eternally secure. They may backslide or become stagnant in their spiritual growth or let distractions get in the way and start retreating instead of advancing in their Christian walk or whatever and I'm thinking God isn't pleased when this happens, but if they confessed with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believed in their hearts that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and was raised from the dead, they are Christians and will always be.

Chapter one was fast-paced and I was eager to find out what was going to happen next but then things slowed down here and there. The story grabbed me more in some places than others so this book wasn't the page-turner I expected it to be but it was a good read and I do plan to read the remaining books in the series.

Wow I have never read a book that is like this, it is really amazing. It is about a young 16 year old girl names Sam who has dreams about people. The weird part is they come true. It really starts to freak Sam out. When her friend goes missing Sam thinks that it is no big deal. Then she starts having the dreams. I loved this book. It was full of adventure and fun. It also talked about nornal teenage things like boys and family. A must read for anyone who is already a fan of Melody Carlson!!

I was absolutely blown away by this book I couldn't put it down. In Bad Connection we find Samantha MacGregor a young girl whose father was killed in the line of duty. Her mother wants nothing to do with God or Christianity, even though her father was a Christian. And her brother is constantly in trouble with the law. Samantha is the only one holding up her family. And holding onto God. And that's when she receives her first vision. A girl from her school Kayla disappeared a week ago. And now Samantha thinks God is giving her visions and clues as to where Kayla might be. Samantha teams up with her dads old partner Ebony Hamilton, the one he was trying to protect and got shot for. Clues begin to unravel as her and Ebony try to find Kayla before its too late.
Now some of you out there might not believe in spiritual gifts. But after reading this story you might want to strongly reconsider. Because Melody Carlson introduces spiritual gifts and has a biblical context to it.
Read this book, you will love and you won't want to put it down.
There are some frightening elements to this book and there are some things you might want to discuss with your teenager before you let them read this book. But I guarantee you will like this book.

Storyline - Since she was young, Samantha has had a gift. A gift for seeing things in dreams and visions. A gift she never really understood but her father seemed to. He also told her it was from God. Its been hard dealing with the gift since he died and with her mom not understanding it but when a class mate runs away and God starts giving Samantha hints as to what is happening to her, she has to make a decision on what to do with them. Are all the dreams from God? Should she listen to them? Or are they all messed up when she starts having dreams about this other girl? What should she do?

Positive - The main character really relies on God and always prays and asks for His help when she is unsure of what to do. She has friends who support and help her. She also makes clear what her gift is and isn't when people talk about it. Unlike some of the people she knows, Sam is not willing to go on a date with just anyone and sets a good example on how to date.

Negative - Nothing really negative except some girls are suggested that they have done things with boys that should be saved for marriage but it is made clear that it was wrong even though the girls don't believe that. The brother of the main character is also a druggie but it is shown what kind of mess one gets into with that sort of stuff. It has some grown up situations and hints that just makes this book more appropriate for a 'teen' age group.

Writing - The story was a little slow and it using words that make it in the present tense, like it is happening right at this moment, was a little irritating for me. It had a good storyline but the way it was put together and some of the word choices was not very smooth. Also, the characters continually using the same words like 'weird' got a little old.

Personal Opinion - The story had a good idea but some of the word choices were irritating sometimes and it was a little slow. But it did leave me wanting to know what happens next with Sam and her family. I also liked how the main character was a good example of a Christian girl in how she acted, dated, and differentiated on what her gift was and what more secular people might call it. I might read more of this series when I get money to buy them.

Review by Gigi Hoffman.

Bad Connection, the first book in Melody Carlson's Samantha McGregor series, is an intriguing read. It's different than most books out there but one of the best I've read.

Samantha McGregor is a regular teenage girl, with a pretty extraordinary spiritual gift. She has the ability to receive dreams and visions from God.

Everything starts off when Samantha has a dream about her friend, Kayla, who has been absent from school for several days. When Kayla officially becomes missing, it's discovered that she ran off to be with her internet boyfriend. But as Samantha has more visions and dreams of Kayla, she becomes frightened for Kayla's life. Samantha doesn't know where to turn--her mom is uncomfortable with the topic, her older brother is out doing who knows what, and her best friend, although she knows about Samantha's gift, can only do so much. Samantha's dad, the person who really believed in and supported her gift, was a police officer who died on the line of duty several years earlier. With nowhere else to turn, Samantha goes to Ebony, a police detective, and her father's former work partner. Ebony is a strong Christian and believes Samantha's visions. And when Samantha's visions about another girl come up true, Ebony enlists Samantha to help find Kayla before it's too late.

The novel is part suspense, part regular teen stuff, but one-hundred percent fantastic. Carlson takes a touchy topic and spins it in a realistic, God-honoring way. A great novel for all.

This book was fabulous! It's a real page turner! I would defindently recommend this book to any teenager who's looking for a god suspense book.

As a young teen, I can proudly say that teens will love this book! Its topic of spiritual gifts is something that not many are willing to take hold of; yet Melody Carlson is an amazing writer that has been gifted herself. A veteran in writing stories, Carlson takes the reader on a journey that begins on page one till you fold the back cover over.

Samantha McGregor becomes a larger tool for the Lord than she could have ever imagined. She has suddenly begun to have dreams involving a classmate,Kayla, who has disappeared from the local town. After being scarred enough to do something about the dreams, she soon realizes that they aren't just dreams...they're prophetic dreams. With the help of her father's old police partner, Ebony, Samantha begins to realize that these dreams are Kayla's only hope for safety. Can she get to her in time?

Samantha's pure heart and honest tone are easily relatible for teens. Carlson doesn't sugar-coat anything that Sam does. She has faults, doubts, and even has to deal with the anger towards Ebony due to her father's death on the job. This book is a must have for any teen Christian or not.

Samantha McGregor is your normal, average, everyday teen girl. Except for one thing: she gets visions from God. She uses her unique spiritual gift to help out others in need. In this book, Samantha sees visions of one of her classmates who has been missing for several weeks. Everyone seems to think that Kayla has just run away from home, but Samantha sees her being tied up and in danger. She turns to the police for help to save her friend. But what if this is just her imagination working overtime?

First things first. This is not a Christian version of "Medium." Yes Samantha can see supernatural visions of the present and glimpses of the future. But she is very quick to defend that this is as a spiritual gift from God. I really enjoyed this book. It's a unique type of teen fiction and Melody Carlson handles it superbly. The storyline was excellent. I didn't know what was going to happen and was really awed by the twists and turns throughout the book. I liked how you have would the plot dealing with Kara and Sam's visions but also have Sam living a normal teen life. Sam is not portrayed as a someone who tries to flaunt her powers, instead she only wants to help out others. At times it'd be creepy seeing what she saw. I have no idea what I would do if something like this ever happened to me. She also acts very mature for her age in dealing with the police. The situation that Kara eventually found herself in, unfortunately, is all too real and there are many girls that have fallen prey to men like that. A good precautionary lesson mentioned there. I would highly recommend this book for teens. Melody Carlson has proved again that when it comes to teen fiction, she is the best author.

If God gave you a vision, would you trust it?
Samantha McGregor knows that Kayla Henderson likes to break the rules, considers partying an "extracurricular" activity, and can't stand her parents. Fine. That's Kayla's thing. Samantha's not even suprised when Kayla goes missing. Hadn't she been saying she was going to take off, to go meet her online "boyfriend" in person? It might not be the smartest move in the world, but Kayla would be okay. She always was.

Then the vision comes...and reveals that Kayla is far from okay. Samantha freaks. Was her vision from God or just imagined? If Kayla's really in danger, what can Samantha do? Only one person can help her: Detective Ebony Hamilton, her father's former colleague.

Now this unlikely pair must work against the clock--and the system--to patch together the truth and find Kayla...before it's too late.

Bad Connection is an excellent book full of laughs, suspense, doubts, and even a little romance that I guarantee you will love if you give it a chance.

A Christian based series for all ages that I recommend is Dragon Spell by Donita K. Paul.

Some other Christian books I recommend for more mature teens or adults: Ten Thousand Charms (Crossroads of Grace Book One)by Allison Pittman, Winter is Past by Ruth Axtell Morren, Beauty For Ashes by Dorothy Clark, Child of the Mist (Book One of These Highland Hills)by Katleen Morgan, and Wings of Morning (Book Two of These Highland Hills)by Katleen Morgan.