Strands Of Truth by Colleen Coble
Publisher: Thomas Nelson / HarpersCollins Publishing
Publication Date: September 10, 2019
Format: Hardcover - 336 pages
Paperback - 336 pages
Kindle - 336 pages / 5603 KB
AudioBook - 8 Hours 9 Minutes
Nook - 336 pages - 5 MB
ISBN - HC: 978-0718085902
ISBN - PB: 978-0718085889
ASIN - AudioBook: B07KPLZ1DT
ASIN - Kindle: B07KF25NPS
BNID: 978-0718085896Genre: Christian Fiction / Romantic Suspense
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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my participation and book review in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.
Book Description:
Strands of Harper Taylor’s childhood are resurfacing—but will the truth save her . . . or pull her under?
Harper Taylor is used to being alone— after all, she grew up in one foster home after another. Oliver Jackson finally took her under his wing when she was a runaway teenager, and now Harper pours her marine biology knowledge into Oliver’s pen shell research. But she’s never stopped wishing for a family of her own.
So when a DNA test reveals a half-sister living just two hours away, Harper is both hopeful and nervous. Over warm cinnamon rolls, Harper and Annabelle find striking similarities in their stories. Is it just a coincidence that both their mothers died tragically, without revealing Harper and Annabelle’s father’s name?
Oliver’s son Ridge still sees Harper as a troubled teen even all these years later. But when Oliver is attacked, Ridge and Harper find themselves working together to uncover dangerous secrets that threaten to destroy them all. They must unravel her past before they can have any hope for the future.
Book Excerpt:
Prologue
January 1990
St. Petersburg, Florida
Lisa ran to her Datsun Bluebird and jerked open the yellow door. Her pulse strummed in her neck, and she glanced behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. She’d tried not to show fear during the confrontation, but it was all she could do not to cry. She couldn’t face life without him.
She’d been on edge ever since yesterday.
Twilight backlit the treetops and highlighted the hanging moss. Instead of finding it beautiful, she saw frightening shadows and shuddered. She slid under the wheel and started the engine, then pulled out of her driveway onto the road.
She turned toward the Gulf. The water always calmed her when she was upset—and she had crossed upset moments ago and swerved into the scared zone.
Her belly barely fit under the wheel, but this baby would be born soon, then she’d have her figure back.
She accelerated away from her home, a dilapidated one-story house with peeling
white paint, and switched on her headlights.
The radio blared full of the news about the Berlin Wall coming down, but Lisa didn’t care about that, not now. She switched channels until she found Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’ ”playing, but even her favorite tune failed to sooth her shattered nerves. Could she seriously be murdered over this? She’d glimpsed madness in those eyes.
She pressed the brakes as she came to a four-way stop, but the brake pedal went clear to the floor. She gasped and pumped the pedal again. No response. The car shot through the intersection, barely missing the tail end of another vehicle that had entered it before her.
Hands gripping the steering wheel, she struggled to keep the car on the road as she frantically thought of a way to bring it to a stop that didn’t involve hitting another car or a tree. The baby in her belly kicked as if he or she knew their lives hung suspended in time.
“We’re going to make it, little one. We have to. I can’t leave you alone.” No one would love her baby if she died. Her mother couldn’t care for her child. She cared more about her drugs than anything else.
Lisa tried to tamp down her rising emotions, but she’d never been so frightened. The car fishtailed on the sandy road as she forced it back from the shoulder. Huge trees lined the pavement in a dense formation.
Where could she drive off into relative safety? A field sprawled over on the right, just past the four-way stop ahead. If she made it through, it seemed the only place where they might survive.
Had the brakes been cut? What else could it be? She’d just had the car serviced.
Lisa approached the stop sign much too fast. The slight downhill slope had only accelerated the speed that hovered at nearly seventy. Her mouth went bone dry.
January 1990
St. Petersburg, Florida
Lisa ran to her Datsun Bluebird and jerked open the yellow door. Her pulse strummed in her neck, and she glanced behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. She’d tried not to show fear during the confrontation, but it was all she could do not to cry. She couldn’t face life without him.
She’d been on edge ever since yesterday.
Twilight backlit the treetops and highlighted the hanging moss. Instead of finding it beautiful, she saw frightening shadows and shuddered. She slid under the wheel and started the engine, then pulled out of her driveway onto the road.
She turned toward the Gulf. The water always calmed her when she was upset—and she had crossed upset moments ago and swerved into the scared zone.
Her belly barely fit under the wheel, but this baby would be born soon, then she’d have her figure back.
She accelerated away from her home, a dilapidated one-story house with peeling
white paint, and switched on her headlights.
The radio blared full of the news about the Berlin Wall coming down, but Lisa didn’t care about that, not now. She switched channels until she found Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’ ”playing, but even her favorite tune failed to sooth her shattered nerves. Could she seriously be murdered over this? She’d glimpsed madness in those eyes.
She pressed the brakes as she came to a four-way stop, but the brake pedal went clear to the floor. She gasped and pumped the pedal again. No response. The car shot through the intersection, barely missing the tail end of another vehicle that had entered it before her.
Hands gripping the steering wheel, she struggled to keep the car on the road as she frantically thought of a way to bring it to a stop that didn’t involve hitting another car or a tree. The baby in her belly kicked as if he or she knew their lives hung suspended in time.
“We’re going to make it, little one. We have to. I can’t leave you alone.” No one would love her baby if she died. Her mother couldn’t care for her child. She cared more about her drugs than anything else.
Lisa tried to tamp down her rising emotions, but she’d never been so frightened. The car fishtailed on the sandy road as she forced it back from the shoulder. Huge trees lined the pavement in a dense formation.
Where could she drive off into relative safety? A field sprawled over on the right, just past the four-way stop ahead. If she made it through, it seemed the only place where they might survive.
Had the brakes been cut? What else could it be? She’d just had the car serviced.
Lisa approached the stop sign much too fast. The slight downhill slope had only accelerated the speed that hovered at nearly seventy. Her mouth went bone dry.
My Book Review:
In Strands Of Truth, author Colleen Coble transports the reader to Dunedin, Florida for an intriguing Christian Fiction / Romantic Suspense story that will keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.
Marine biologist Harper Taylor is working on pen shell research with her mentor / business partner, Oliver Jackson. But growing up in the foster care system has left her longing for a family. Best friend Sara Kavanagh convinces Harper to submit a DNA test, with a result of a close family match, a half-sister named Annabelle Rice, who lives in Orlando. When Harper and Annabelle meet, they are both searching for their father, and find similarities in their mothers' pasts, especially when both mothers died tragically. As Harper and Annabelle search for the truth behind their mothers' deaths and the identity of their father, accidents and attempted kidnappings start to occur. Harper and Oliver's son Ridge Jackson investigate her and Ananabelle's past, but will they survive the danger around every corner as the strands of truth start to unravel?
Author Colleen Coble weaves a fast-paced and suspenseful tale written in the third person narrative that follows Harper and Ridge's investigative journey in search of the answers to Harper and Annabelle's pasts. When Harper and Annabelle's mothers cold-case murders intertwine with the present attacks, it will take a lot of digging and dangerous situations to find the truth.
The reader will be easily drawn into this well written story with its richly descriptive plot and setting. Strands Of Truth has enough drama, tension, action, flashbacks and clues from the past, romance, and unexpected twists and turns that will take the reader on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.
RATING: 5 STARS
About The Author
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Your review convinced me that I need to get a copy in my hands. Exceptional review!
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl! Thanks for the kind comment, I appreciate it. This was such an intriguing story, you literally are kept guessing until the surprising conclusion! :)
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