This week's Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is featuring MaryLu Tyndall and her 3rd "Christian pirate" novel THE RELIANCE.
SHE'S GONE AND DONE IT AGAIN:
Frank Creed's review of The Reliance, sequel to The Redemption, by M.L. Tyndall: Christian piracy sails on.
Tyndall's second installment to her LEGACY OF THE KING'S PIRATES trilogy, The Reliance, is another swashbuckling page turner. Chapter one of this "historical romance" opens with our hero and heroine lounging on a beach in Porto Bello, Panama—where we'd all love to lounge.
Three paragraphs later, still on page one, musket and cannon fire shatter all romance. Our sunbathing lovers are interrupted by pirates sacking the town. That's how fast Tyndall moves.
Not fast enough? Captain Morgan sacks San Lorenzo. Merrick and Charlisse fight their way out of town on Don Deigo's stallion, pistol and musket fire snap close behind. On the road out of town, they find a church full of abandoned orphans. How to save them from advancing pirates? Merrick leaves Charlisse to hide the children in the church, and goes in search of a wagon. As Merrick rides away from the church, the building, where he's just left his wife, explodes. As does his soul. That's page twenty-three, the end of chapter two.
Not fast enough? By page twenty-six we discover that Charlisse is alive, but kidnapped by Captain Kent Carlton, leftover bad-guy from book one, The Redemption. Merrick searches the rubble, then sinks into despair's depths.
If you're wanting a romance novel about dating and what to wear, this ain't it. Well, Charlisse does cross-dress a couple of times, in order to visit a pirate port, and captain her husband's vessel. Yes, chick-lit readers, Charlisse captains the Redemption. She even gives the order to fire a broadside at her rum-swilling soon-to-be-ex-husband's new flagship, the Satisfaction.
In the course of middle chapter soul-wringing, we're tortured by main characters' ships that pass in the night, their honest motivations and terrible pain.
The Reliance has many plot subtleties, but peel these onion layers for yourself, and enjoy. This Tyndall woman can write. If you're able, start with The Redemption, in order to meet living characters in living color.
Summary:
A YOUNG BRIDE separated from her husband just as a child has been conceived . . .
A GRIEVING HUSBAND tempted to take his anger out through the vices of his past . . .
A MARRIAGE AND A SHIP threatened to be split apart by villainous Caribbean pirates . . .
In THE RELIANCE, Edmund Merrick tormented by the apparent demise of his pregnant wife Charlisse, sails away to drown his sorrows. He turns his back on God and reverts to a life of villainy, joining forces with the demented French pirate Collier. When his mind clears from its rum-induced haze, will Edmund find the will to escape?
Seemingly abandoned by her new husband, Charlisse battles her own insecurities as she is thrown into the clutches of the vengeful pirate Kent, who holds her and Lady Isabel captive.
Will she be swept away by the undertow of treachery and despair? Can Edmund and Charlisse battle the tempests that threaten to tear them apart and steer their way to the faith-filled haven they so desperately seek? Or will they ultimately lose their love and lives to the whirlpool of treachery and deceit?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764228188
Check out what other reviewers have to say about The Reliance.
KC Reviews
The Law, Books and Life
Edgy Inspirational Author
StraightJacket Chillers
and the original post: A Frank Review
1 comment:
I devoured this one, too :) My review is up at my blog.
Post a Comment