Sunday, March 02, 2014

Book Review: The Proof by Cheryl Colwell, Historical Adventure

The Proof by Cheryl Colwell

A Fun Adventure backed by Excellent Writing

I belong to a Yahoo Group made up of Christian authors who act cooperatively to help one another become successful in the book business.  One of the really great parts about being in such a group is that I get to read unknown or barely known authors.  Of course, this could be a great blessing or a real drag.  Not all folks who think they can write, should.

After a few months and around ten reads from the group, the overall quality has been better than I would have ever imagined.  You can find several of the reviews here on the blog.

Cheryl Colwell's new book was no exception to this string of outstanding books.  Her novel, The Proof, did just about everything you could ever want a novel to do:  Captivating characters who you came to care about and want to know more about; scene development that was so clear you could almost reach out and touch the walls; adventure (even including swords), that kept the pages turning as fast as possible; plot turns and twists that were surprising, yet believable; historic and geographic settings that were like travelogs and time machines in their clarity; and gentle teachings about both truth and character.  Did I leave anything out that you hope to find in adventure fiction?

Oh!  The writing!  I guess I alluded to that earlier, but in truth that is often the missing ingredient in otherwise delightful Christian writing.  Actually excellent writing is sometimes commonly missing in major best sellers like Killing Jesus.  Cheryl is a seriously good writer.  Bill O'reilly take note if you ever consider changing writing partners.

The book is primarily set in Italy, but the adventures take place over 20 centuries as a religious relic is fought over by good guys and thugs.  The relic is believed to possess supernatural power, not just monetary value, setting up the ongoing tension.

If you like mystery, suspense, adventure, and intrigue in historic settings, you can't possibly go wrong with The Proof.