8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb inspirational thriller..., November 16, 2006
Tracie Peterson completes her Alaskan Quest trilogy with Whispers of Winter. The story opens with Jayce Kincaid and Jacob Barringer stranded on an Artic island. Leah Kincaid, her infant twins, and Helaina Beecham are in Last Chance Creek, awaiting news of their men.
While watching for the spring thaw and hoping for search parties, Jayce and Jacob struggle with hopelessness, malnutrition, and a mutiny. Leah's and Helaina's shared faith sustains them, as well as the help received from friends and neighbors. But even after a reunion, life continues to make demands. A stroke, influenza, deaths, and moves around the territory continue to test the faith of all. Another shipping disaster threatens the peace and prosperity the two families finally achieve.
Peterson knows her characters, the setting, and the hardships common in Alaska in the early 20th century. Her reader feels the chill as the spring thaw brings floods to the village. We hear the snow crunching underfoot and the dogs whine as Helaina cares for them. We can taste the oily seal meat stew along with Leah. The excitement of settling a new land is contagious as the Kincaids and Barringers follow the railroad and other business opportunities across the frozen land.
Peterson does a good job of weaving faith into her plot. There is some preaching and teaching, but it does rise organically from the character's issues. Life and death does challenge our faith and our ideas about God and His love. The Kincaids, Barringers, and other families grapple with these subjects as they bury loved ones, battle the elements, and take risks.
Fans of the first two books in the series, Summer of the Midnight Sun, and Under the Northern Lights, will enjoy Whispers of Winter. Characters from the earlier books return and we see them respond to their own challenges. Storylines are completed, spirits are tested, and faith is triumphant.
Armchair Interviews says: Alaskan tribulations captured so you really feel their lives.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
exciting early twentieth century inspirational saga, November 5, 2006
In 1917 in the Alaskan Territory, with their ship sinking into the icy waters, Jacob Barringer, Jayce Kincaid and others are in trouble as they struggle to survive the freezing weather. They pray a rescue team will find them before each of them dies.
At the same former Pinkerton Agent Helaina Beecham and Leah Kincaid pray for the safe return of their loved ones who have been away much longer than expected. Perhaps it is this common fear for their missing soul mates, but the close friendship between Helaina and Leah turns stronger as they turn to one another and to God for solace. Whereas Leah begins to doubt her Jayce will return to her, Helaina believes that Jacob will come home to Lost Chance, but not necessarily to her as he never told her he loved her; still all she prays for is the safe return of all the missing men.
The final Alaskan Quest tale (see UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS and SUMMER OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN) is a superb inspirational historical thriller that hooks the audience from the start as the women worry about the men stuck on some ice floe with little hope of rescue. Readers will appreciate the two subplots as the citizens of Lost Chance struggle with concern and with a debilitating epidemic while the men try to survive their ordeal (you will need a winter coat, gloves, a hat, and a scarf as the reader will feel the frozen temperatures). Tracie Peterson provides a terrific climax to an exciting early twentieth century inspirational saga.
Harriet Klausner
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