Customer Reviews

RIPTIDE (The Julesburg Mysteries, Book Two)

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

 

 

Sisters Sarah McIntosh and Julie Armstrong only recently found one another before being tragically separated again by a catastrophic act of fate. They share a dream of renovating an abandoned theater called The Nevermore, hoping to create a mini-mall where they can display their artistic creations. They invite contractor Nick Nordahl to make a bid for the renovations. Their new found friendship leads to unexpected consequences, however, when a moment in time brings tragedy.

Julie falls asleep in the backseat of the car and Sarah gently covers her, leaving the car running while she runs into a convenience store for milk. Meanwhile, a masked man robs the store, killing the owner, before using Sarah's running car for his get away. He does not see the sleeping woman in the backseat, which profoundly escalates his situation. Subsequently, Sarah struggles with profound issues of grief, guilt and terror. While she believes in God, Sarah lacks the assurance of faith that sustains Nick, creating a terrible wall between them.

Once again author Lorena McCourtney pens a powerful romantic suspense. Profound questions of a spiritual nature lend the novel an emotional and psychological intensity, landing both Sarah and Nick in a riptide of feeling. Unfortunately, the nature of the Christian genre precludes the edgy suspense readers expect when the characters are analyzed from a perspective of good verses evil on a scale of spirituality. Nevertheless, the Nick's determination to save Sarah's life, even if he cannot save her soul, makes him a marvelous hero readers will treasure. With a skillful blend of romantic suspense and realistic spiritual challenges, RIPTIDE comes recommended.

I enjoyed this book immensely and had to read it straight through. Set in the same town as the previous novel in the serious, McCourtney revisits some of the characters she's already introduced. The mystery keeps you guessing until the end leaving hints here and there for you to pick up. It's about two twins that decide to buy the old Nevermore (the theater in town). This building is surrounded by horrible "coincidences" where any person that becomes involved with it ends up dead, badly burned, or some other horrible tragedy. As you may have guessed it, that's what the two twins encounter as well. Filled with struggles towards Christianity and a well-written love story, Whirlpool is a great novel for mystery lovers, Christians, and romantics alike.

I've been collecting this author's works for some time now and this novel reaches the usual McCourtney standard. I'd even stretch this comment as far as being on a caliber up there with Dee Henderson (who I've read avidly). I recommend this novel as a good, quick read that keeps you on your toes.

As the author states in her comment to a prior review, the editing errors have been corrected. IMO, books shouldn't be judged by their editors. This is the same kind of story the author usually writes and always a pleasure to read.

The Julesburg Mysteries Series - "Whirlpool, Riptide, and Undertow" by Lorena McCourtney were all exciting suspense stories that made it hard to put down the book before the last page.

How can you combine this type of brutality with the excessive and supposedly Christ-centered theology presented in this book? In my opinion you can't--it just doesn't work! I am extremely disappointed in this author and will never read another of Lorena McCourtney's books. The description of the viscious and inhumane way an innocent little animal was treated totally turned my stomach and took away any respect that I had for this author. What is going on with her anyway?
Needless to say, I hated this book and wish that I could give it 10 black marks instead of only one star.

This is a great suspense book - leaves you wondering "Who done it?" It shows you that no matter what evil may exist in the world, that God is still God. Great spiritual lesson about letting go and giving it to God in this book.

McCourtney has a good plot and characters, but her constant interruptions with Christian messages left me confused. Is this a novel or a Christian tract? The Christian messages seemed to interrupt the flow of the story and did not fit well with a mystery novel.

I have enjoyed quite a few of Lorena McCourtney's Kindle books -- all of the Ivy Malone series and now this, the Julesburg series. I enjoy the way she weaves a tale and inserts enough unexpected twists to keep you guessing. I also enjoy the Christian slant on all her books, with the characters' relationship with God always part of the plot.

*Riptide,* however, has not been my favorite. I did not like the way the plot played out in general, and there were LOTS of editing errors that I had not noticed in other works. There were quite a few times when the characters' names were even wrong, which really threw me.

I will still read the next book in this series simply because I enjoy McCourtney's style (generally), and because any author can have a rough time with a particular book. These books make for nice summer reading.