Brandilyn Collins' Violet Dawn~Reviewed

Violet Dawn
By Brandilyn Collins
Published by Zondervan, Sept. 2006
ISBN-10: 0-310-25333-7

Paige Williams slips into her hot tub in the blackness of night—and finds herself face to face with death. Alone, terrified, fleeing a dark past, Paige must make an unthinkable choice.

In Violet Dawn, hurtling events and richly drawn characters collide in a breathless story of murder, the need to belong, and faith's first glimmer. One woman's secrets unleash an entire town's pursuit, the truth proves as elusive as the killer in their midst.

I am not a reader of suspense. I'm the self-dubbed secretary of The Big Honkin' Chicken Club (Deb Raney and Robin Lee Hatcher are the President and Vice President, although loyal fans of Brandilyn's women's fiction). My mistake came when I auditioned for the Kanner Lake town blog (be watching blogdom for the Scenes and Beans blog). I had to read the book. What a ride! Breathless (yes, I forgot to breathe) as a victim running from her stalker, I sprinted—literally flying from a scary page to scary page.

But Collins is a high-caliber writer. So much so that I couldn't put the book down until I turned the last page. Okay, I'll admit it—I cheated—at one point, I had to look ahead to the outcome, before I could go back and read every page. Hey—I'm in The Big Honkin' Chicken Club—we're allowed. However scary as it is, Violet Dawn has a great story and colorful characters you can't help but love. Well, all but the killer. Brandilyn Collins spices her seatbelt suspense with a dash of humor and heart-wrenching predicaments.

Who knows? When the next book in the Kanner Lake series arrives, I may try again. Oh yeah … don't forget to breathe.

Reviewed by Ane Mulligan
http://www.anemulligan.com/