Ginger Garrett's Wolves Among Us ~ Reviewed

Wolves Among Us: A Novel (Chronicles of the Scribe) [Paperback]
Ginger Garrett
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (April 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0781448859

Description

This richly imagined tale takes readers to a tiny German town in the time of “the burnings,” when pious and heretic alike became victims of witch-hunting zealots. When a double murder stirs up festering fears, the village priest sends for help. But the charismatic Inquisitor who answers the call brings a deadly mix of spiritual fervor and self-deceptive evil. Under his influence, village fear, guilt, and suspicion of women take a deadly turn. In the midst of this nightmare, a doubting priest and an unloved wife—a secret friend of the recently martyred William Tyndale—somehow manage to hear another Voice…and discover the power of love over fear.

Dinfoil, Germany, 1538. In a little town on the edge of the Black Forest, a double murder stirs up festering fears. A lonely woman despairs of pleasing her husband and wonders why other women shun her. An overworked sheriff struggles to hold the town—and himself—together. A priest begins to doubt the power of the words he shares daily with his flock. And the charismatic Inquisitor who arrives to help—with a filthy witch in a cage as an object lesson—brings his own mix of lofty ideals and treacherous evil. Under his influence, ordinary village fears and resentments take a deadly turn. Terror mounts. Dark deeds come to light. And men and women alike discover not only what they are capable of, but who they are…and what it means to grapple for grace.

Review:

In a medieval German village, a double murder stirs up festering fears. The overworked sheriff is baffled, so the village priest sends for help to solve the mystery. But the charismatic Inquisitor who answers the call brings with him a deadly mix of spiritual fervor and self-deceptive evil. Under his influence, ordinary village fears and resentments take a deadly turn, and soon women are the targets of his crusade. Terror mounts. Dark secrets come to light. But in the midst of it all, a man and woman—the priest and the sheriff’s unloved wife—somehow dare to listen to another Voice…and discover what it means to love instead of fear.

Author Ginger Garrett pounds out another breathtaking, heart-pounding story that’ll leave you on the edge of your seat until the last page. And I won’t even mention the full range of emotions her writing invokes. Oops. Did I mention that?

Wolves Among Us is a historical piece of fiction…or is it? The setting and the culture is definitely middle ages but the characters, well, let’s just say even in contemporary times the average reader will relate to the wolfish spiritual predator she depicts. In fact, if her villain, the Inquisitor Bastion, were to pop through a time-machine door, I have no doubt he’d be a TV evangelist.

While at times I was a little angry with heroine Mia for being such a doormat, I think the true source of my rage was that I saw a lot of myself in her. She was a very real kind of gal with lots of ‘how come’ questions and ‘I must’ attitudes.

Wolves Among Us is a simultaneous peek into a bygone era and present-day Anytown—a tough feat to accomplish but skillfully pulled-off by Garrett.

Can’t wait to see what she does next.

Reviewed by: Michelle Griep