Review of "Healing Promises" by Amy Wallace

Healing Promises by Amy Wallace, book 2 in the Defenders of Hope Series

Description:

Facing a new threat.
When FBI Agent Clint Rollins takes a bullet during a standoff, it might just save his life. But not even the ugly things he’s seen during his years working in the Crimes Against Children Unit could prepare him for the overwhelming powerlessness of hospital tests revealing an unexpected diagnosis. If only Sara weren’t retreating into doctor mode…he needs his wife now more than ever.

Frozen in fear.
Sara Rollins is an oncologist with a mission–beating cancer when she can, easing her patients’ suffering at the very least. Now the life of her tall Texan husband is at stake. She never let the odds steal her hope before, but in this case, the question of God’s healing promises is personal. Can she hold on to the truth she claimed to believe?

Faith under fire.
As Clint continues to track down a serial kidnapper despite his illness, former investigations haunt his nightmares, pushing him beyond solving the case into risking his life and career. Clint struggles to believe God is still the God of miracles. Especially when he needs not one, but two. Everything in his life is reduced to one all-important question: Can God be trusted?

About this series:

Missing Children
	Shattered Dreams
		Hidden Truth

That’s where Defenders of Hope come in. FBI agents Steven Kessler, Clint Rollins, and Michael Parker risk their lives and hearts serving in the Washington DC Crimes Against Children Unit.

Every day these FBI agents work cases that constitute a mother’s nightmare. The hardest cases evoke haunting questions. What is justice? What part does faith play? And the hardest question of all… why?  Read more at the website: http://www.defendersofhope.com/index.html

What Amy Wallace says about this book and the first book:

FBI Agent Clint Rollins is one of my favorite characters to write, but the challenges he faces in book two were the hardest to put into words. This story grew out of a painful time of wrestling with God and doubting His goodness when two dear friends and a vibrant young adult in my church’s student ministry faced life threatening illnesses. These amazing people all play cameo roles in Healing Promises. But the book is dedicated to Ken Whaley and his family, who showed me in action that even when circumstances don’t go the way we prayed, God is on His throne and He is very, very good. Always.

Writing about a married couple whose deep love for each other is tested right along with their faith stretched me in ways I’m still decoding. The intimacy and history between marriage partners was both fun and painful to put into words. Clint and Sara’s love sizzles at a deeper level than new romance, but inherent in that depth is the possibility of even more pain with loss.

In Ransomed Dreams I wrote about one of my greatest fears, that of losing my children. With Healing Promises, the fear I grappled with was not only losing my spouse, but also the reality of living in a fallen world with bodies that aren’t always healed this side of heaven. My hope for readers of Healing Promises is that as they watch Clint and Sara’s journey, they’ll be challenged to ask their own deep questions. In doing so, I pray they’ll find that understanding isn’t the key to survival, but believing the truth is where the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) begins.

My Review:

Wow. This book grabbed me and held on to me from the beginning to the end.  A beautiful book that speaks of hope and trust in times when hope and trust are hard to find.  The characters are protrayed wonderfully and their stuggles are painted with authenticity and an almost raw humaness.  I put myself in their shoes as they wrestled with God and battled to understand the reasons for their suffering.

Cancer. It is a frightening word. Clint is an FBI agent whose job it is to find missing children.  That makes him a hero already. But to have to face cancer is an enemy that he can't take down with his gun.  Plus cancer battles the person and his entire family and friends as well. I know personally. My mother  had cancer and it was our whole family's battle for a time. His wife Sara's battle to "do it all" during Clint's chemo treatments reminds me of my own struggle to run my mom's household at age 16.  The questioning of God and the waiting on Him was as profound for me then as it is for Sara and for Steven, Clint's partner, as they pray and pray and look for answers.

Wallace does a wonderful job of showing that trusting God doesn't always mean the answer that we want. Some cancer patients live and some don't and we don't know why. All we can know is that God is on His throne and He is always good.

I highly recommend this book.  I reminded me again that though life is known to be hard, God is faithful. 

Get this wonderful book for yourself! Healing Promises

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1601420102

Comments

[Amy Wallace]

Your review and beautiful words not only touched my heart but reminded me of what a sacred trust and privilege it is to write stories about the struggles of life and God's goodness. Thank you.

Your personal journey with cancer and your reminder that even when "life is hard, God is faithful" resonated deeply. What a joy to visit your blog today!

[Kat Bryan]

Cancer touches us all sometime in our life. Thanks for having this contest.