Customer Reviews

Intervention (Intervention Series, Book 1)

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Terri Blackstock has delivered a number of best selling series including Restoration, Cape Refuge, Northpoint 911, and Suncoast Chronicles. Over the past few months she has stepped away from that formula to offer two excellent stand-alone novels in a row. First, in Double Minds, Blackstock carried us into the world of the Christian recording industry. Now, Intervention opens up a world every parent fears and too many have experienced.

Barbara Covington is a widow doing her best to raise two teenage children without their father. After years of fighting to save her daughter from her own destructive drug habit, Barbara calls in an interventionist from a high priced drug rehab center in Atlanta. What begins as a mother's fears and prayers for her daughter's rehabilitation in a distant city transforms into an unbelievable nightmare when the interventionist is found murdered and Emily, her daughter, missing.

This is the story of one woman's determination to find her daughter and prove her innocence. Whatever the cost. At every step I asked myself, what would I do as a parent to save my child in a similar situation? Be careful before you answer. What we learn from Barbara and Emily is that no family crisis occurs at some convenient time in some easily solved manner. Well meaning people sometimes offer the tritest words of, what they mistakenly think is encouragement. Sometimes it feels as though no one understands and that the heavens have grown silent - for both parent and child.

The characters are people struggling with their faith in the crucible of extraordinary circumstances. Knowing that the author has personally worked in ministries to women just like Emily only makes the story more compelling. Intervention is an intensely personal and spiritual novel; one that quite possibly will garner the label of "preachy" by some. As far as this reviewer is concerned it is a message that needs to be heard by all parents and their children. We are all works in progress in need of the ultimate Interventionist. Thank you, Terri, for reminding us of that truth.

I got an advanced reader copy of this book, and it was FANTASTIC! I started it one lazy afternoon at the beach, and didn't, COULDN'T, put it down until later that night when it was finished. The characters were well-developed, the plot was very creative and the book was very unpredictable. 5 stars for sure!

I first discovered Terri Blackstock through her Newporte 911 series. Although I am usually disappointed in so-called Christian fiction, Blackstock's book have always been a satisfying, even thought-provoking read. Her characters are very human -- each with their own flaws, disappointments, fears, and desires -- and the storylines are engaging. Her books are about faith, but are rarely preachy. Intervention comes right out of this mold.

Intervention is told mostly from the point of view of the mother, Barbara, during a desparate search for her missing daughter. As her son, Lance, guides her through the open journals on Myspace and Facebook, she learns how her daughter felt in the months leading up to the crisis and must face up to how her own actions contributed to what happened. Her reaction to each discovery was compelling to me as a mother -- I could relate to the emotions, the rationalizing, and the absolute disregard for personal consequences to do whatever it took to find my child. The ending contains a bit of a surprise twist and underscores the fact that Christians are often victimized by others who claim to be Christian as well.

Terri Blackstock is a solid author with amazing talent. I know that I will not be able to put her books down once I start and this was no exception.

Intervention follows the lives of the Covington family as they deal with eldest child, Emily's addiction to drugs. Barbara, recently widowed, is at the end of her rope and sends for an interventionist to help scare Emily straight. When Emily agrees to go to rehab, their lives quickly pivot to an "intervention" they never saw coming. Barbara and her son, Lance, are called to Georgia when Emily goes missing after her flight with the interventionist. She is sought as a person of interest in a murder. Barbara is convinced her daughter is innocent and embarks on a rescue attempt- with or without the police's help.

I found the story very moving, particularly as the sibling of a drug addict. Blackstock delves very deeply into the mother's pain and gives hints as to how the good son feels as well. At the end of the book, you discover that Blackstock is writing from a personal perspective, even though the story is fictional. I think the most powerful emotion she touched on was the anger at other Christians who offered pat advice without love, patience, and prayer.

The mystery was good but was secondary to the overall prodigal daughter theme. I enjoyed the suspense, as always, with a good Blackstock mystery novel.

There is a discussion guide at the end which is wonderful for book club discussion starters or Bible study.

It is light reading and hard to put down. Highly recommended!

Widower Barbara Covington is worried about her addicted teenage daughter Emily and decides to intervene after her lockdown efforts fail and her offspring stole money using illegal credit cards she took out in her dead father's name. She takes her eighteen year old child to meet with a rehab center interventionist Trish Massey. However, the counselor is found dead and Emily missing. The police for obvious reasons assume Emily killed him.

Upset and despondent, Barbara searches for her missing oldest child with her other teen Lance advising her. She vows to find Emily and the real killer before the police lock her daughter away for a homicide Barbara knows in her troubled soul her teen did not commit.

This is a super inspirational thriller that is at its best when looking into addictive destructive behavior and at the mom-older teen daughter relationship. Barbara and Trish are fully developed characters; both at the end of their respective ropes, which each might use to hang themselves or the other. Fourteen year old Lance is too wise as if he is the interventionist guiding his mom (how old was Yoda?). The whodunit is well written, but more of a supporting device to force Barbara to personally "intervene". Fans will appreciate this profound tale while pondering whether addiction is a personal, family or even community illness as Emily's actions impact others.

Harriet Klausner

Terri Blackstock has quickly become one of my favorite writers! Just finished Intervention...could NOT put it down! and didn't want it to end! great work, Terri!

Barbara Covington is a woman at her wit's end! Her 18 year old daughter Emily has fallen into a world of drugs and alcohol. Emily has been depressed since her dad died of cancer and there is nothing that her mom or her little brother Lance can do to get through to her.

Barbara really plans on trying tough love with Emily. They hold an intervention between Barbara, Lance, Emily, and her therapist where Emily is told she must go to rehab in another state that she doesn't have any options left. Emily goes, but not happily. Barbara is relieved that Emily is going and then the unimaginable happens...Emily is kidnapped and her therapist is murdered. The cops think that Emily might be a murderer on the run, but her mom and brother know better and they join the hunt to find Emily...but they are trying to find her because they know she is in trouble.

I have to admit that one of my favorite characters in the book was Lance. They young kid is smart and witty and was still grounded in his faith. Out of every character struggling with God and soing the right thing I believe this little kid was the more stable one of the lot. I really hope that we get to read more about Lance in another book.

Not any real romance in the book to speak of. It would have been nice to have Barbara finding herself a bit closer to the detective, but in the end the book was about finding Emily and for the characters to find their faith again.

Good book. I did find the storyline a bit slower than her previous books and a bit harder to stick with, but all in all I am glad that I did.

This is the first book I have written by this author. The story got me hooked at the very beginning and I found the rest to be very engaging and fast paced - I especially liked how the author took the very real subject of tragic teen drug addiction and wove a suspenseful story around this subject. I felt she very accurately described the despair of the mother & her urgent quest to hang up to the hope that her daughter could face her drug addiction while also accurately portraying the father who had to place blame on those he felt were responsible for his daughter's tragic ending.

This was one of those books that just slapped me in the face with it's stark reality. Sure, I watch the tv show Intervention. I know there are people in this world that struggle with addiction. Until this book, though, it never really sunk in how painful and difficult it really must be for people that struggle to get help for their family members.

In typical Terri Blackstock style, this was not just a novel that dealt with a major issue. She had to get her bad guy in their somewhere! In this story, though, she didn't hold out until the end of the book to reveal this crazy madman who was out to get revenge. I liked that I was able to get a better understanding of his character before he really went off the deep end.

I also thought her portrayal of Barbara, Emily's mom, was very realistic. I'm not a mother yet, but I know if I had a child that was in harm's way, I would be beating down the door to the police station every single day for them to get busy finding my child. Her struggle to do whatever she could was constantly at war with Detective Kent Harlan who just wanted her to stay out of the way.

And Lance!!! Barbara's young son almost stole the show! His inquistive personality was a lot of fun to read, as well as his desire to be the "man of the family" at 14 years old.

What more is there to say? I can't help but give 5 huge stars for this powerful novel. It was such a fast read, and worth every second to learn the things that I did. This book challenged my thinking about what goes on in neighborhoods I don't drive through, and in families that keep their struggles hidden. Highly recommended!

Love it, Love it. This is my first time reading any of Terri Blackstock books, I am now a fan. Couldnt put the book down, I was drawn into the mother pain and determination. A great book to read.