Valiant Hope
by Donna Fleischer
This is the third book in a series of stories about Chris McIntyre. Although I had already read the first one, the book is written in such a way that you don’t have to read the two previous books to understand what’s going on. The author uses flashbacks and memories to fill in all
the important details.
The “cast of characters” is basically the same in this book. There’s Erin, her closest friend since their meeting in Iraq during Desert Storm. Chris now lives in an apartment upstairs from Erin. There is Erin’s husband, Scott. In the original book Scott wasn’t too sure about Erin’s friendship with Chris. He’s now decided that it’s okay and has become a friend of Chris himself. When the book opens Erin is eight months pregnant. Other characters include Cappy, another friend from Desert Storm and now Chris’s roommate, Ben, one of the officers she served under, and Sonya his wife. There are several new characters, Jason, a paramedic, and Alaina, a young girl Chris has befriended.
This book focuses on the impact that Chris’s childhood has had on her life. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to get away from the fact that her father abused her when she was a child. She has a rage deep down insider her that at times scares her very best of friends. It haunts her in her dreams in the form of horrible nightmares during which she relives the abuse over and over. But it also gives her insight into the haunted look on Alaina’s face. As the book progresses Chris risks her own life to save Alaina and heads on a journey to deal with the demons inside her once and for all.
Although you can read this book without reading the first two, I would suggest you start at the beginning to get the full effect. I highly recommend this book!
Reviewed by Lynn Worley
Recent Comments