Amy Wallace's Healing Promises ~ Reviewed

Healing Promises
By Amy Wallace
Published by Multnomah
ISBN 978-1-60142-010-7

Back Cover

When FBI Agent Clint Rollins takes a bullet during a standoff, it might just save his life. But not even the ugly things he's seen during his years working in the Crimes Against Children Unit could prepare him for the overwhelming powerlessness of hospital tests revealing an unexpected diagnosis. If only Sara weren't retreating into doctor mode...he needs his wife more than ever.

Sara Rollins is an oncologist with a mission—beating cancer when she can, easing her patients' suffering at the very least. Now the life of her tall Texan husband is at stake. She never let the odds steal her hope before, but in this case, the question of God's healing promises is personal. Can she hold on to the truth she claimed to believe?

As Clint continues to track down a serial kidnapper despite his illness, former investigations haunt his nightmares, pushing him beyond solving the case to risking his life and career. Clint struggles to believe God is still the God of miracles. Especially when he needs not one, but two. Everything in his life is reduced to one all-important question: Can God be trusted?

Review

With the release of Healing Promises, Amy Wallace has joined the ranks of authors like John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer. The second in the Defenders of Hope series, Healing Promises delivers spellbinding action and characters so vivid they'll live on in your memory long after you shelve the book.

I was amazed by the depth of emotion Wallace gave her characters. Clint battles not only cancer but the ego-depleting realization he can't do what he needs to. The rage he feels over his inabilities and the impatience for God's healing are gut-wrenchingly authentic. The once confident Sara no longer believes what she knows as truth. Fear stalks her as surely as the kidnapper stalks his next victim. The deep spiritual truths they both learn are insightful and life-changing.

And you get to journey with them as they navigate these roads of faith and hope. Normally, I'm not a reader of suspense or FBI thrillers, yet I found myself mesmerized, turning page after page, so engrossed in the story I forgot all about everything else. The impact of Healing Promises was profound, and this reviewer gives it five stars—a must read.

Reviewed by Ane Mulligan

Bonus Review:

In Amy’s first book Ransomed Dreams we are introduced to Gracie and the overwhelming incident in her life. Gracie experiences every mother’s nightmare. The story is fast paced, compelling and full of amazing scenes of forgiveness. I found it exciting, thought provoking, heartfelt and a very rich story. While Gracie’s investigating the facts of her nightmare she meets FBI Agent Steven Kessler working in the Crimes Against Children Unit. Clint Rollins is Steven’s partner. Clint’s wife Sara is an oncologist. This group of people rooting for the same team encourages each other in and out of work. They all face impossible challenges in their lives day in and day out. They all have a strong faith in God. They live their faith out loud in the middle of unnerving situations. You’ll want to read this book first so you’ll experience the richness Healing Promises has in store for you.

In Amy’s new book Healing Promises, all the same characters are back. Faith as they knew it and life as they all were comfortable with is threatened. Clint is tested in every aspect of his existence while he fights for his life. Clint is also on a mission to save children’s lives and catch the serial killer –it’s becoming so confusing for Clint. But he is determined to be an overcomer.

Clint is not going to let this disease get him down and stop him from getting this bad guy. Clint and his wife struggle with the reality that “In our weakness God is Strong.” Both Clint and Sara are used to being at the top of their game, in control. They both struggled with letting go of control – and letting God work in every fiber of their being. They wonder can it be done?

Both Clint and Sara didn’t even want to entertain this thought “In Our weakness.” That was a very uncomfortable place for them both to be, yet it was the very place God was taking them. This is a fast paced story with a great sense of family unity. Amy introduces a new character Hanna Kessler, Steven’s sister. We will learn more about Hanna in the third and final book of this series. Parts of this book made me feel uncomfortable. If you have a family member or friend dealing with a serious illness this will grip you. Amy has a way of getting to the heart of the matter. Treatments can be brutal on the patient and the family members as well. I have known some people very close to me deal with this disease. I had a new appreciation for what that family has gone through. This will definitely open your eyes to many things medically which I felt were necessary to the story.

Clint came to the conclusion “He was weak, but God was strong. God was God. God was in control.” Control that is what Clint wanted; Sara wanted; we all want. Read how Amy’s story gives a clear message of this very passage. This book will leave you with the message of hope and what God’s love looks like. This book will take you deeper if you let the message of God’s Love grip your heart.

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent

Bonus Review:



“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21…. This verse being the only words on one sheet of paper is how this novel began and it truly was fitting and needed before diving into this book. “Healing Promises” is the second book in the “Defenders of Hope Series” by Amy Wallace. This book picks up almost where the first book ended with a new camera lens shift from the main character in “Ransomed Dreams” which was the first book. The view is focused not on Steven Kessler and his son’s teacher Gracie Lang as the first. Instead, it’s on Steven’s partner Clint Rollins, an FBI Agent in the Crimes Against Children Unit, and his wife Sara. For all of you fans of Mrs. Wallace’s books, she did keep Steven and Gracie as sub characters of this book. The focus on Clint, who was shot in a standoff with a serial killer of small children, found him diagnosed with Cancer. His wife did not pick up on the signs during the running of procedural tests for gunshot victims. Why is that important? Sara Rollins is an Oncologist.

“Healing Promises,” dealing with a diagnosis of cancer and how a patient and a doctor deal with it as husband and wife, becomes real and personal on many levels. Sara’s dealing with it as a doctor, showing that lens, was perfectly told by Mrs. Wallace… as was the behavior modifications and desires of Clint as he tries to remain an agent.

I recommend this book to anyone that has dealt with or is dealing with the disease of Cancer. It’s also for those in their late teens and older if you have be blessed to not have encountered this diagnosis. You will be educated by the information presented during the story and the beautiful testimonies that are written by real life Cancer survivors or their families discussing this serious subject at the end. I think Amy Wallace, yet again, impressed this reviewer’s take on how she paints the pictures in words and beautifully shows all emotions in her storytelling. I give this book 4 out of 4 bookmarks.

Be blessed!

Brad