Inescapable {Book Review with Giveaway}

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Inescapable is the story of twenty-three year old Lizzie Engel, who had fled her Mennonite hometown of Kingdom, Kansas, shortly after the birth of her daughter, Charity. The pain of growing up with a strict and unforgiving father was only compounded by the shame of having a baby out of wedlock, so Lizzie has tried to make a new life for herself in Kansas City. She thought she had found a safe haven at the Harbor House, a shelter for abused women.

Sylvia, the director there at Harbor House, had taken Lizzie under her wing, giving her a job and helping her adjust to life in the “real world.” Unfortunately, Sylvia has now resigned for health reasons, and her replacement seems intent on making Lizzie’s life miserable. She has even gone so far as to accuse Lizzie of stealing money from the shelter. This, combined with the stalker who has been following Lizzie and leaving her threatening notes, forces her to do the unthinkable—return to Kingdom.

Upon arriving in Kingdom, Lizzie finds that, although her father continues to reject her, many people in the town are more than willing to receive her with open arms, even providing her a job and a place for her and Charity to live. The comforting presence of her childhood friend Noah Houseman is causing Lizzie to reexamine her feelings for him when her tentative stability is complicated by the return of the mysterious stalker and the arrival of someone from her past. In the midst of this, Lizzie must decide who to trust and, more importantly, whether to turn back to the God she walked away from when she left Kingdom.

I found Inescapable to be a wonderful mix of realistic characters, a fascinating setting, and a plot with equal parts suspense, romance, and faith journey. The initial story unfolds fairly quickly and the suspense builds rapidly after the initial lull where Lizzie thinks she is safe back at home. And while this is book one in her new Road to Kingdom series, each book will center on a different character from the town of Kingdom, which means the reader is not left hanging with regard to Lizzie’s situation.

If you are a fan of Christian fiction and like a little suspense in your books, Inescapable would be a great addition to your summer reading list.

A longtime fan of both Christian fiction and suspense stories, Trish blogs at In So Many Words.

• Find out how to enter a special giveaway from author Nancy Mehl and how to connect with her at the author chat on 7/26 at 5 Minutes for Books.
• The winner of our book giveaway that is closing today, a copy of the fantastic middle grade collection Guys Read: The Sports Pages is #16 Beth.
• You still have a week left to enter a copy of Jennifer Weiner’s book The Next Best Thing, so click through and enter now.

We have one copy to give away to a lucky reader. Please follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter below to enter. We’ll announce the winner in our book review and giveaway column on 7/30. US/Canada mailing addresses only, please.

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