Someone to Blame by C.S. Lakin
Zondervan – October 2010
(Advance reading copy)
Small towns have big problems—or so it seems—when a shifty-eyed drifter moves into Breakers, California about the same time as the Moore family, what’s left of them anyway. Matt, Irene, and Casey need a new beginning, but moving to Breakers comes with its own brand of pain and mystery. Thefts, fires, vandalism—who is to blame? The fill-in sheriff can’t seem to get a handle on it. The town’s new pastor doesn’t have any answers. The locals start pointing fingers. The Moores aren’t finding the peace they were looking for—not at all.
I had been waiting—impatiently—to read Susanne Lakin’s contest winner, Someone to Blame, since Zondervan announced her name at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in 2009. What a joy to be chosen as a pre-release reader—and what a thrill to read this fabulous, suspenseful novel. Definitely a page turner. Never boring. Believable characters in a plot that never seemed contrived.
The theme of our human nature needing to look outside ourselves for the causes of “bad things” happening is well-developed and appropriately presented in the setting of a small coastal town among people who only think they know each other well, and know their own motivations even less. The Christian elements in the storyline weave through seamlessly and realistically. Bad things do happen to “good” people, to believers, and even to pastors’ families. None of us is exempt from calamity. The grace we both give and receive is what helps us survive it. The question Lakin raises is: can we accept the grace?
Someone to Blame is scheduled for release in early September. I suggest you order a copy now before they sell out! I’m looking forward to Lakin’s next, next, and next!
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