Necessary Proof by Camy Tang

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me.

Necessary Proof by Camy Tang

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Alex has gone after a meth-producing gang, and now he’s being framed for the death of a cop. The evidence on an encrypted laptop can prove his innocence, but he’ll need the help of a software engineer, Jane, before the gang can take back the laptop—and possibly take Alex’s and Jane’s lives in the process—in Necessary Proof by author Camy Tang.

Nope, I haven’t read any of the other books in this ChristFic romantic suspense series. Though there was some background that might have made more sense and some names mentioned I might have cared about if I’d read some of the preceding books, the main story here made quite enough sense on its own for me to appreciate it.

While some of the events and emotional development felt rushed, I found the story intriguing, with a fitting mix of dialogue and action, and a journey of faith runs through it. An enjoyable way to spend a relatively short amount of time.

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Sonoma Series

The Messenger by T. Davis Bunn

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me.

The Messenger by T. Davis Bunn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Description: An angel-in-training is sent to Philadelphia on a surprise assignment and finds her task complicated by the theft of her pass card needed to return to heaven.

My thoughts: Having always appreciated this ChristFic author’s command of language and versatility of genres, I jumped into this novella from the ’90s with about 2% knowledge of what I was really in for.

The aspects that felt somewhat contrived or like pretty clichéd evangelistic writing weren’t my favorites. But I liked the more supernatural aspects, reading this tale about people and angels as I would a fantasy story, not a strictly theological one.

I also enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book.

The Misadventures of Strylun and Xerk by Wayne Thomas Batson

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me.

The Misadventures of Strylun and Xerk by Wayne Thomas Batson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Strylun Petrov and Xerk Felmark: two bounty hunters, each determined to capture the other to earn a large sum of gold. But the hunters’ fight against each other may be no way to stop the deadly work of a greater enemy out there in The Misadventures of Strylun and Xerk by author Wayne Thomas Batson.

Well! The first phase or two of this ChristFic fantasy novella is high and mighty and ridiculous—in a good way. The laugh-worthy humor had me wondering if the whole story would be a comedy, but it isn’t, although it does have dashes of comedy throughout.

This is an adventurous, bloody tale of battle with an intriguing combination of moving parts and themes of tragedy, vengeance, and friendship. Now, I was a little jarred by technical errors in places, especially some small words that are either wrong or missing, but the errors aren’t excessive. I think this story takes place in a world that exists in other books by this new-to-me author, and the ending certainly does signal at more to come…

But I’ve not found a Book Two to follow this Book One, which was published some years ago. As I enjoyed the read, I might have to do some more digging into this author’s works sometime.

Orchidelirium by E.B. Roshan

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me. I received an advance reading copy of this book for an honest review.

Orchidelirium by E.B. Roshan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description: An heiress, a tiger, an artificial arm, and a hatbox of stolen orchids in an alternative Edwardian England: each one is a vine in the tangle of Opal Morris’s life. As she begins to discover how they all connect, she will find herself re-evaluating not only her botanical studies, but her whole life.

My thoughts: While I read my share of murder mysteries, I find murderless mysteries to be a refreshing change of pace, as this story was for me. I’m guessing the matter of prosthetics and the presence of an airship are what makes the setting an alternative Edwardian England, though to me, the read pretty much just felt like a standard historical cozy.

By that I mean a mysterious read with a clever and quirky kind of style. The illustrations are quirky as well and added an endearing quality to the characters and the overall flavor for me. But what I probably find the most remarkable is that I enjoyed the story so much even with its rather unlikable heroine.

Through much of the book, I was thinking that in large part, Opal’s got more tolerance and compassion for plants than for people, and it’s evident that she has some sort of psychological condition. Yet, it also seems evident that she and those who care about her don’t know or understand what that condition may be. It’s an unfortunate reality that many people with various conditions have and do go through life undiagnosed and misunderstood.

Seeing Opal’s shortcoming and struggle in the area of human relationships, and getting glimpses of how that struggle affects her heart, gave me a different appreciation for her character, even without my fully understanding her. (Because that’s how life is with real people sometimes.) Her struggle also made the ending in regard to her rather Sense-and-Sensibility-esque relationship with her sister such a picture of grace at work, along with the conclusion Opal eventually reaches about people. A conclusion helped along by the meaningful perspective of a certain foreign character.

Beyond the technical details of the mystery, the story of human connections between flawed people is what I loved most about this novella. A truly satisfying read for me.