Customer Reviews

When The Past Returns

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

 

 

Yet another great book by CJ Engle! The wonderful character developement really brings the book to life. A book you can sit down with and read cover to cover and feel your time was well spent. Great action, and heart-felt moments throughout the book. Can't wait to read more about Jamie's developing life!

When I first picked up this book, I was a little put off by its bulk. At 526 pages, it is longer than your average novel. From my reading experience, very few authors can pull off a novel spanning more than 400 pages. Keeping the action flowing and interesting enough to keep the readers attention is a huge challenge.

C.J. did a pretty good job of both. I did find the start a little slow going, although he set up the characters well. The book really picked up speed around page 365. The action came fast and furious then, making the book very hard to put down. It was here that I lost sleep.

Jamie Martin, the main character, has spent much of the past year training at the new martial arts school, Treymark TKD Academy. He misses his friends and family back home and has trouble accepting his placing at the school. Meanwhile, back home, his friend Natalie is taken in by Jamie's martial arts master, Kevin Reanold, when her grandmother dies. Master Reanold is a bit of an enigma, revealing little about his past life. However this all comes into play when Natalie is kidnapped and Jamie is faced with the agonizing decision to fly home or compete in a tournament that is essential in helping to keep Treymark TKD afloat financially.

The book races on from this point forward, never letting up in its frantic pace to the end, and sets up a great cliffhanger for the next book in this series. This is the kind of writing I would like to see more off from C.J. He has shown he is a great storyteller with the ability to create wonderfully realistic characters. All that remains is a little attention to craft and the ability to tighten the story.

Although When The Past Appears is the second book by C.J. and appears to follow on from his first, Finding Strength, I could easily follow the characters and the story. It makes a great standalone book which would be enjoyable by teens and adults alike.

I finally finished the book at about midnight last night and I have to say that I am anxiously awaiting the release of the next novel in the series. The book starts off a little slow with the introduction of characters, but honestly, it helps you keep everyone straight as the novel progresses.

As you get deeper into the novel the mystery gets more intense and leaves you wondering what is going to happen next. The ending is an excellent cliff hanger. Definately worth the read! Even though it is a teen novel it is also enjoyable for adults.

Dawn

When I read the two Amazon reviews, I went in with very high expectations, but I have to say I was actually disappointed.

The dialogue was a little cheesy, there wasn't much description about the characters and their surroundings, and the writing overall has a lot of 'telling' and not much 'showing.' Lines like "Natalie was smart, pretty, and cheerful" make me wonder how someone could say this is an amazing piece of writing.

Maybe the rest of the book is better, or maybe my expectations were just too high.