Book Review: "Amber Morn" by Brandilyn Collins

In book four of the Kanner Lake Series, a Saturday morning celebration at Java Joint coffee shop for the "Scenes and Beans" bloggers turns into terror when three gunmen burst into the coffee shop, shoot one person, and hold the rest hostage. Their demand: world attention. The stakes: the lives of over a dozen Kanner Lake citizens.

This was my favorite book of the series. I felt that it had all the right elements of a suspense novel. There was just enough suspense and action with the right amount of scare factor without being over dramatic or unbelievable. I really liked the inclusion of the blog in this book. It was very unique to bring it into the story because the gunmen didn't really know how it worked. Therefore even in times of great suspense there was humor because of general bafflement on both sides.

The strength of the novel for me was the inclusion of all the characters that have been featured throughout the series. To some, this might be overwhelming but if you can keep track, it's wonderful to see everyone included. No one gets left out as each character gets their point of view shown. The situation with the gunmen and hostages is something that's taken right from the headlines. Therefore I felt that it was the most realistic situation out of all the other books in the series. I felt really drawn into the story and could connect with everyone. I found myself getting frustrated with the gunmen but only because I didn't have all the details. It was very nerve wracking reading the book!

This is a Christian suspense novel but I didn't feel this book, as the same with the other books in the series, to be preachy at all. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I personally thought it was the best book of the series. I really liked seeing the entire Kanner Lake gang together. Everyone is really close and seeing them having to depend on each other in a time of great need was very moving. As this is the fourth book, I would recommend reading the other three books in the series first. This is because this book is about the townspeople and to fully understand them you need to read the other books to get a feel of their characters. I'm sad that this is the last book but I felt that Collins gave the town and the characters a fitting end. Hopefully one day a return will happen in the near future.

Amber Morn by Brandilyn Collins is published by Zondervan (2008)

This review copy was provided by the publisher