Customer Reviews

Daisy Chain (Defiance Texas Trilogy, Book 1)

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I was beyond pleasantly surprised by this book.

I had never heard of this author, and was a little worried about reading a book under the category of "Religion"

This book is amazing! It marries discovering faith with a real-world painful accident. From the very start you feel the characters and go through the emotions as they are going through them. You want to reach through the pages and hug, cry, laugh, surrender and believe right along with them. All the while bringing to light the power of faith and religion.

Not one sentence in this book feels like a lecture. Instead, it uses an incident which happens in each American community at one point or another, and shows how by letting go of pre-judgements and conceptions, everything can be overcome and healed.

One note I must add is that once you read this book, you have no choice but to continue with the series. Not because of obligation, but because you get so attached to the characters, that you want to be there for them when they continue their journey. Not one character you meet in this book is a throwaway. They are all written for a reason and are integral to making the story what it is. To do that is a rare gift this author has mastered.

This first book in the Trilogy is a sure smash! The second book, "A Slow Burn" is sure to be just as enticing and well written. Please be sure to look out for it as it comes out October 1, 2009.

By Michelle Wegner

I just finished reading Daisy Chain by Mary Demuth last night. I love a good story, one that grips me and keeps my attention the entire time. This story did that for me and more. It touched parts of me in a very deep way that I hadn't thought about for a long time, causing me to think and reflect deeply on where I am and how I got here.

The way Mary tells this story set in Defiance, Texas in the 70's made me feel like I was there with each and every character she described. I could feel the Texas heat, smell the air, touch Daisy's matted hair, and see her dance and twirl in the wind. Her telling also made me feel Hap's rage and anger in a very real way. Something about the duplicity of his character, a small town preacher by day, and a wife demeaning, child abusing husband/father by night, made my skin crawl.

For real!

I loved this story.

I can't wait for the 2nd and 3rd books come out so I can put my mind to rest and find out what happens in the end...

Through the riveting novel "Daisy Chain," Mary E. Demuth has set a new standard for Christian fiction and few writers will ever come close to reaching it. Demuth doesn't want you to walk away from her books simply "reading a good story"... she wants you to "live" them and be transformed by their message.

You may find your heart pounding as Jed Pepper runs to check on Daisy. You will find yourself filled with anger at Jed's father who portrays a heart for God as a preacher, yet is abusive behind closed doors. You'll want to sit down with Jed's mother and let her cry on your shoulder. You might wish you could go to Defiance and rescue Jed and his sister, help look for Daisy, and pray in hope for the brokenness that has consumed the town, but there's no need to. The author introduces you to God's grace in the form of Hixon and Muriel. Demuth leaves no stitch of the story loose or undone. She has weaved a perfect tapestry of the truth of tragedy, yet the assured triumph through God's mercy and grace. Each character is as mysterious and intriguing as our Creator who has made each of us. The author brilliantly keeps you on the edge of your seat while taking you through the realities of a fallen world. She doesn't beat around the bush; she doesn't try to sugar coat pain. "Daisy Chain" will open your heart and your eyes so that you will get a glimpse of what it's like to look at others as God does.

Mary E. Demuth has a God-given talent to write that most could work towards their whole life and never even come close. Each word is carefully chosen and artfully written. You'll be up all night reading "Daisy Chain" and find yourself hoping there is no end to Mary's incredible story telling of Defiance, TX. Lucky for you, the second book in the Texas Trilogy is released and you don't have to wait to read it ("A Slow Burn"). My advice...buy them both together...you won't want to wait to go down to the book store or the time it will take for shipping!

I have read a fair amount of Christian fiction and have become quite weary of it. The books are usually poorly written with mediocre story lines and always come off as preachy. "Daisy Chain" was a breath of fresh air to Christian fiction. The book was written very well. The author crafted her words carefully and her descriptions were vivid. Jedd was a very likable and endearing hero. The author had the guts to address a sensitive topic and I loved how all of her characters had their doubts and imperfections.

I only gave this book three stars for a couple of reasons. First off, I am a very avid reader. I usually devour a book within a few days. This book was hard for me to get into. It took me about a week to read it and I was bored at times. I'm not even sure if I will read the second one... The storyline plodded methodically along and I found it confusing when the book would randomly jump to 30 year old Jedd. I would have appreciated some kind of warning or transition that the book was going to a different time period. I loved Jedd and Sissy but I had a hard time with the adults in this book. ALL of them were completely dysfunctional and over-the-top. By the middle of the book I just wanted to scream, "Can we have one normal adult please?" I found it hard to connect with them.

Overall, this book was very thought-provoking and well written albeit boring at times.

I have to wonder.... was I reading the same book that got the 4 plus reviews? I enjoy reading "Christian literature" so the subject matter wasn't a problem. But really, this story line was s-l-o-w to the point of redundancy. I kept reading thinking it would go somewhere. At 50 % read I found myself wondering how much more time I wanted to invest in the plot. At 69% I caved and said, "enough already!" Will Daisy ever be found? I'll never know and frankly, I don't care.....yawn!

Mary DeMuth's Daisy Chain transported me to Defiance,Texas, dropped me into the mid '70's and immersed me in the home of a wounded family. Jed is fourteen and has just lost his best friend and future wife. It's his fault, because he's weak and selfish and he wouldn't walk the little spitfire home because if he did, his daddy would be upset. And when daddy is upset bad things happen. Daddy is a preacher. Jed can't quite bring himself to stand up to daddy to protect his precious sister and his sickly, broken mom -- a mom who writes messages of love, encouragement, and sorrow on flower petals and leaves them by Jed's bed.

Jed's whole world is inside out and upside down. The town is holding its breath because Daisy is missing. And heaven is brass because God isn't listening to Jed, and apparently doesn't care to.

If this little sliver of drama turns you inside out and upside down you may not want to read this book. But if you are one who claims To Kill a Mockingbird or Peace Like a River as one of your favorite novels, you really owe it to yourself to look further into Daisy Chain. Tom Morrisey, Lisa Samson, Claudia Mair Burney, Charles Martin and W.Dale Cramer fans need to look in Mary DeMuth's direction as well.

This is a novel that will haunt me for weeks and months, probably landing on my 2009 favorite list. The characters are deep and rich, complex and challenging. The story is gut wrenching and awful, and beautiful and full of the power of love and faith and Jesus. I can't imagine anyone not being horrified and then blessed as this novel opens and blooms, bleeds, withers and fades. Technically, the only complaint I had was just a few moments of transition between the adult Jed and the younger versions of Jed, and a brief incident where a scene's timing didn't quite jive in my mind. And those issues are only because I read so many books for review and can't just get lost in pages and not look for flaws that might impede a reader's experience.

I so appreciated the depth of truth and faith in this novel. Daisy Chain could be a very tough book for some readers. Child endangerment, abuse, anger, bigotry, religious bullying, drinking and hints of sexual scandal are not buried under a layer of pristine Sunday-best white gloves. I do recommend Daisy Chain to anyone who hungers for honest fiction that doesn't leave one weeping over the hopelessness of a story without redemption and grace.

I got this book when it was free for the Kindle since it was of the genre I usually like to read.
The story is captivating from the very beginning. The author has developed characters that immediately draw you into the story. The story of a young girl, Daisy, gone missing, and the subsequent guilt of her young friend, Jed, grabs your attention quickly, and the book becomes a real page-turner.
This is the first book in a triology, so the ending leaves you wanting more. I took the bait, and bought the second book, A Slow Burn, and I have found myself just as engrossed in the continuing story. I'm sure I will buy the third book due out May 11.
I do usually enjoy reading Christian books. However, some authors can go overboard and seem to try too hard to make it a Christian book, and every other sentence is a scripture, etc., until the book looses it's story line and becomes unnatural. However, this author has balanced the message she's trying to relate with the story line very well. You don't feel like you're being preached to, as it all comes very naturally to the characters. This kind of book is rewarding to read, and leaves you thinking, but not feeling "preached at".
I have thoroughly enjoyed both books, and look forward to the final third book.

It would be a good subtitle for this book. It's well written; there are a lot of characters; the subject is sad...and I still read the entire book and bought the 2nd in the trilogy.

This book is all too real, with so many of the horrible things that really do happen in life. It brings a new dimension to the normal books and television shows...that being, can we control or choose how the things that happen in our lives impact our beliefs about ourselves, the colors through which we see the world. In my life it's called...it will be interesting to see how this too shall be used for good.

A young man, living in a "Christian" environment with an abusive father, a mother unable to protect or exist in the home without mentally leaving with headaches, a little sister that needs and loves her older brother, a friend that becomes a missing person in the first few pages and all the remainder of the cast of characters living in the midst of this group.

It's a good book - whether you're someone that has lived through a tough family life or you're someone that came from a loving family...the book will help you understand some of the damage that can be done and some of the ways that the damage may be limited. Like I said, I bought the second book in the trilogy.

"Bright, engaging, often sad and heartbreaking - all woven together with the elements of Christian life. Don't miss out on this one!"

Perhaps I loved this book because I live in the south. Perhaps I loved it because it provoked my memory to my early Christian walk. Perhaps I loved it because it just read like home to me. Whatever the reason, Mary E. DeMuth's `Daisy Chain` is forever etched into my memory as one of my favorite books.

In the summer of his fourteenth year, Jed Pepper's best friend, Daisy Marie Chance, has gone missing. Her last words to him, `You'll regret it', haunt him as he realizes that he is more afraid of father's retribution than of his friend's safety.

Jed is about to break free from childhood cares and be cast harshly into the real world where danger does exist and bad things do happen.

In the small town of Defiance and in the events that follow the day Daisy went missing, most (if not all) of the challenges Christians face are written into the various characters, making them come alive with the struggles we, as readers, face each day.

Struggles like Jed's feelings of failure for not protecting Daisy which prompt questions to and about God's providence. His view of God has been shaped by his father, who has allowed the rules of the Bible to choke out the grace he once knew in the beginning.

Jed asks himself question after question as he struggles to make sense of why a loving God would allow such a sadness. His memories of his best friend are almost too painful at times.

Meanwhile, as God surely does in our own lives at times, new friends enter his life revealing that yes - God has rules, and yes - God doesn't make sense sometimes, and yes - God will do as God pleases, but there is still joy to be known in friendship with an old black man named Hixon, there is still wonder to be known in an old bald women named Muriel, there is still messages of encouragement from his mother each morning.

This is a marvelous read. I can hardly wait to read the next book in the series named `Slow Burn.'

Reviewed by: Keiki Hendrix
Reviewed for: The Vessel Project

I can't forget Daisy. Her spunk, her creativity, her ability to see the best in others--she grabbed my heart from the beginning. But everything's not as it seems in Defiance, TX. Kids don't always come home, parents don't always have their child's best interest at heart, and love is often found in unlikely places. Gripping, haunting, uncomfortably real. I couldn't put it down.