The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

Review by Rachel

The Hourglass Door is a fun young adult fiction book. The book is about high school senior Abby who is finding her routine to be a little suffocating. Enter Italian foreign exchange student Dante with stunning good looks and mysterious air and Abby gets the shake up she’s been wanting. As Dante’s secret unfolds she finds her life will never be the same again.

I enjoyed this book. It was a light read and the plot had a Twilight-esque feel to it (for me that is a good thing). I connected with and came to care about the characters. Despite a few predictable things and some slow spots I felt the author overall did a good job of drawing the reader into the story and keeping things suspenseful. As a girl I appreciated the romance but thought it was done tastefully so that even those less-inclined to such could still get through it. The language is clean and the romance stays appropriate throughout. I would enjoy reading a sequel which possibility is left open by the ending.

The Last Waltz by G. G. Vandagriff

Review by Susan

In The Last Waltz, G. G. Vandagriff departs from her well-known series of genealogical mysteries to craft a sweeping historical drama. The story begins in Vienna just before World War I where Amalia Faulharber is an Austrian young socialite whose Prussian baron fiancé breaks their engagement to return home to prepare for war. How she responds to this disappointment leads her in directions she could not have anticipated. Her journey to maturity takes her through horrific experiences during World War I, changed family fortunes afterward, a growing interest in democracy and political freedom, and choices between two men who love her. She becomes a strong, loyal woman of strength in the face of the gathering storms preceding another war.

This is a book of substance and complexity that is still very readable. One of the themes that impressed me the most was that of being true to the light that is within us no matter what darkness lies around us. During Amalia’s darkest days during World War I, her good friend and mentor from the Catholic hospital where she volunteered brought Amalia back from a dark abyss with these words: “The price we pay for immortality is to know both this darkness and the light and to choose between them. You are a particularly radiant person. You must not let the darkness win, Amalia.” How Amalia uses the light within her to combat the darkness is a story well worth reading.

Maggie McKenzie Mysteries by Lynn Gardner

Review by Susan

Lynn Gardner, the author of a series of precious stone suspense stories (Emeralds and Espionage to Topaz and Treachery), continues a new series about Maggie McKenzie, an adventuresome young journalist. Vanished, the first book, was previously published and has just been released in paperback. The story begins as Maggie reports for a new job as a reporter for a small-town California newspaper and discovers she has an apparent double who vanished several years before under mysterious circumstances. She decides to investigate while she is traveling on assignment for the newspaper, and with the help of Dr. Floyd Flynn, a research psychologist who is drawn into the mystery and to Maggie, she discovers a strange connection to the missing girl which spurs her onward in her quest. In Pursued, the second Maggie McKenzie mystery just recently released, Maggie flies to England on assignment and uses theopportunity to try to clarify questions about her family left unanswered the end of Vanished. In the process she unwittingly becomes involved in uncovering a far-reaching terrorist scheme and becomes a target to be eliminated.

Maggie comes across to me as perky, adventuresome and very persistent when it comes to solving

mysteries that intrigue her. The author keeps the plot moving quickly with lots of action and suspense. A certain amount of suspension of disbelief may be necessary to swallow some of the plot twists, but I liked how Maggie was true to her beliefs and standards even under duress and turned to faith and prayer to help her through. These two novels are both fast-paced fun escapes into adventure and suspense.