Weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Kate Mitchell’s husband, Daniel, is still missing. He had not arrived back in Missouri on his scheduled flight after attending an industry conference in New Orleans the week before the hurricane. Hundreds of miles away, one of the thousands of Katrina refugees settles in a small town in Tennessee. Quiet and unassuming, he slowly gains the trust and acceptance of Maggie, a recent widow who accepts his reserve as reasonable because of the loss of his family. Why then is he furtively accessing Kate’s blog? When New Orleans police and the FBI make little progress, Kate begins her own search. But the devastated city is dangerous and does not give up its secrets easily. Her perplexing discoveries make little sense until she finds herself asking the unthinkable . . . did my husband walk away from his life?
Chris Link lives in the Ozarks with his wife of 33 years and their horses and dogs. They have one grown son. Chris has been a voracious reader for most of his life, enjoying books of many genres, both fiction and nonfiction. His favorite books influence people to live differently, to be aware, perceptive and appreciative, to risk love in all circumstances.
Chris’ debut novel, Exit Katrina, draws from his love of reading, life experiences, his faith in God, and a story that once considered, would not leave him alone.
When not reading and writing, Chris enjoys teaching and consulting with people in their careers, hiking and photography, playing and listening to music, and riding his motorcycle. He is always looking forward to the next adventure and the next idea that refuses to be dismissed.
My Impressions:
Exit Katrina is the debut novel of R. Chris Link inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A mystery unfolds around the disappearance of a man who was attending a conference in the days leading up to the storm. With little to go on, his wife embarks on an investigation to discover what happened. Meanwhile, a mysterious refugee from the hurricane has landed in a small town in Tennessee. A man with little interest in God, Jonas becomes a part of the community while maintaining secrecy about his past life.
Link maintains the mystery throughout the novel, making the the reader speculate as to what the truth really is. Twists and turns abound, and you can never be sure whom to trust. The book had a bit more tell than show than I would have liked and lagged a bit, but the premise of the book is good. There is a strong faith message throughout. I liked many of the characters, especially Maggie and Jimmy Dean. Main character Jonas definitely is a mystery man, but one who shows true heroism.
While I found this just an okay read, Exit Katrina has a number of 4 and 5-star reviews on Amazon. Make sure to check those out.
Audience: adults.
To purchase this book, click HERE.
(Thanks to the author for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
The Berenstain Bears Living Lights, series continues to attract young readers through creative and engaging stories that not only entertain but teach values and life lessons. Now, five of the series’ favorite titles are available in a great new hardcover. This Berenstain Bears Living Lights treasury called Friendship Blessings Collection is sure to be a popular choice for Berenstain Bears fans.
The summer of 1972 was the most pivotal of Matt Plumley’s childhood. While his beloved Pirates battle for back-to-back World Series titles, Matt’s family moves from Pittsburgh to Dogwood, West Virginia, where his father steps into the pulpit of a church under the thumb of town leader Basil Blackwood. A fish out of water, Matt is relieved to forge a fast bond with two unlikely friends: Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed-race boy, and Jesse Woods, a tough-as-nails girl with a sister on her hip and no dad in sight.
These 100+ little words tell a lot about the Bible! 
Hope grows when seeds are planted—even in the muddy middle of life.
Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope. She’s the award-winning author of 17 books and a frequent speaker for women’s ministry events. She serves as the Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers, where she helps retailers, libraries, and book clubs connect with the authors and books they love. She lives with her husband in Central Wisconsin.
Sometimes going home means leaving everything you have ever known. When the doctor pronounces “incurable cancer” and gives Bobbie Blake one year to live, she agrees to accompany her niece, Tracie, on a trip back to Austria, back to The Oasis, a ministry center for refugees that Bobbie helped start twenty years earlier. Back to where there are so many memories of love and loss. Bobbie and Tracie are moved by the plight of the refugees and in particular, the story of the Iranian Hamid, whose young daughter was caught with a New Testament in her possession back in Iran, causing Hamid to flee along the refugee Highway and putting the whole family in danger. Can a network of helpers bring the family to safety in time? And at what cost? Filled with action, danger, heartache and romance, The Long Highway Home is a hymn to freedom in life’s darkest moments.
ELIZABETH MUSSER writes ‘entertainment with a soul’ from her writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France. Elizabeth’s highly acclaimed, best-selling novel, The Swan House, was named one of Amazon’s Top Christian Books of the Year and one of Georgia’s Top Ten Novels of the Past 100 Years (Georgia Backroads, 2009). All of Elizabeth’s novels have been translated into multiple languages.
Hope Harbor police chief Lexie Graham has plenty on her plate raising her son alone and dealing with a sudden rash of petty theft and vandalism in her coastal Oregon hometown. As a result, she has zero time for extracurricular activities–including romance. Ex-con Adam Stone isn’t looking for love either–but how ironic is it that the first woman to catch his eye is a police chief? Yet wishing for things that can never be is foolish.
Irene Hannon is the best-selling author of more than 35 novels. Her books have been honored with the coveted RITA Award from Romance Writers of America, the HOLT Medallion, the Reviewer’s Choice Award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine and the Daphne du Maurier Award for mystery/suspense. Irene and her husband make their home in Missouri, USA. Irene invites you to visit her at her website, 
In the newest Berenstain Bear Living Lights title, The Berenstain Bears Bless Our Pets, Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear love their pets Little Lady, Gracie, Swish, and Cutsie … they are just like part of the Bear family. So when Preacher Brown holds a special Blessing of the Pets service on Sunday, the Bear family joins in. But what starts as a peaceful gathering of Bear Country neighbors and their animal friends on the lawn of the Chapel — including dogs, cats, rats, goats, and even a snake or two — ends up needing a little heavenly intervention.
“I believed it would have been a sin to stay inside when God had sent us such fine weather. According to Pastor Ezra Anderson, sin was the reason we’d got in the dusty mess we were in. The way I saw it, that day was God’s way of letting us know He wasn’t mad at us anymore. Just maybe He’d seen fit to forgive us.”
“Beauty can indeed come from ashes.” Calysta Daniels met Brendan Keefe at a time when she was embracing the true meaning of beauty and he was becoming the embodiment of a beast. Several years later, their paths crossed once again, and she agreed to a strange request to save her father from imprisonment: to live under the beast’s roof for four years. It didn’t take long for him to realize that there was something about her that a part of him hated – something sacred threatening to expose all his scars. Scarred as they both were, she was holding on to a secret that kept her sacred, while he was holding on to a past that kept him scarred. Thus, the battle of wills raged within the beauty and the beast over what price had to be paid to make a person truly beautiful.
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