The Legacy by Gemma Malley

It is unheard of for people taking Longevity to die. But it is happening. People are dying. Pincent Pharma is blaming the Underground for sabotaging a batch of Longevity. Panic ensues and once again people are turning against the Underground, Opt Outs, Surpluses and anyone known to be sympathetic to them. Neighbor turns against neighbor.

Peter and Anna are hidden away with their family. Jude is monitoring Pincent Pharma while also feeling underappreciated. Sheila is still looking for her parents. Pip, the leader of the Underground, has many secrets.

Has Longevity been sabotaged or was there something wrong with it from its inception? Were people really meant to live forever?

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but it was worth reading. It took a bit to get into because the beginning was pretty boring with all of the rehashing of what went on before in the other two books(The Declaration and The Resistance). But once that was finished the story picked up the pace and ultimately turned into a page-turner.

Love Bites(Vampire Kisses #7) by Ellen Schreiber

Alexander's best friend Sebastian shows up in Dullsville. Raven is happy that Alexander has someone his own kind to be with until Sebastian meets her best friend Becky. Sebastian is instantly infatuated and thinks himself in love. Becky is flattered but very much in love with her boyfriend Matt. Raven and Alexander decide to throw a party for Sebastian so that he can meet someone else to be the love of his life. What they don't count on is the party being crashed by Trevor and his followers. What started out to be a small party turns into quite a blowout.

This installment of the Vampire Kisses series wasn't my favorite. With the way this book ended with a cliffhanger hopefully the next installment will be more exciting.

Little Mercies by Lynn Coulter

Little Mercies is a collection of inspiring true stories that the author has experienced throughout her lifetime. This book could almost be used as a daily devotional except that there aren't 365 stories, just 16. Each story has its own inspiration that the author then relates to stories that are in the Bible and verses that uplift and encourage. Four of those stories stood out for me.

Night Music tells about a friend that moved far away. The friend missed the sounds of the south and asked the author for a tape of night sounds. A beautiful story of friendship and appreciation for God's Creation.

Singing Behind the Plow tells of the authors visit to the John C. Campbell Folk School where she took a class on canning produce. One of the things that she talked about was how God honors our hard work. Also how important it is to pass on to our children and grandchildren skills that are becoming extinct like canning or even making homemade bread or biscuits.

Forgiven tells a story about when her father was a young boy. He was punished unjustly by his father for an incident he had no control over. The author talks about forgiveness being a gift and that we must forgive others.

Streetlight Dog is the story of a stray dog that the author tried to befriend. I loved how she compared her efforts with trying to be friends with the dog to how Jesus is alway pursuing a relationship with us.

I picked a few of my favorites out of this book, but really each story had something that spoke to my heart and reminded me to watch for those "Little Mercies" in my own daily life.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas arrives in the Glade with no memory of his former life. He doesn't remember who his parents were or what he did to deserve to be sent to this strange place. He is the new "Greenie" that is sent to the Glade once a month. A new boy has arrived in the Glade each month for the past 2 years. Thomas is frustrated because he wants to know everything about the Glade, but nobody is willing to tell him anything on his first day.

The next day the box arrives again with another new arrival. This is an unheard of event. And even more unheard of is that the occupant of the box is a girl. She arrives in some kind of coma with a message crushed in her hand stating that she is the last ever to arrive in the Glade. She arouses enough to whisper that "Everything is going to change."

Thomas is soon told about the Maze that runners go into each day before the walls close on the Glade. They have gone into the Maze each day for the past 2 years looking for a way out. The only problem is that each night when the walls close to the Glade the pattern of the Maze changes. So it is never the same. Each runner must return before the walls close because creatures that the boys call Grievers come out at night. Nobody has ever survived the Grievers after being locked out at night.

Thomas soon realizes that for some reason he feels that he needs to be a runner. There is something that seems to be familiar about that job to him. When their weekly supplies are cut off and a Griever is found dead in the Maze the boys realize that things definitely are changing. When Thomas sees 2 boys coming back from checking on the dead Griever just as the walls are closing he goes out to save them. They spend a frightening night outside the walls fighting off the Grievers. They are the first boys that manage to survive until the walls are opened once again. This gains Thomas respect and the right to run the Maze. His first day out in the Maze seems so familiar to him. He wishes he remembered why.

When Theresa comes out of her coma her and Thomas realize that they have a gift of communicating with each other through telepathy. The more that things change in the Glade the more they all realize that they must find a way to escape and get revenge on the Creators. Theresa remembers that she and Thomas helped in the creating of the Maze but as she comes out of the coma her memory starts to disappear. Thomas must venture one desperate attempt in order to bring back his memory to save them all.

The Maze Runner was a fast-paced exciting read. It definitely leaves you hanging at the end so I must get my hands on the sequel!

The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante

Agnes, her brother Benny and their parents live in Mount Blessing a religious commune led by Emmanuel. Agnes used to have fun like most other children. But when she turned 12 and received her book of "The Saints Way" she put aside having fun and started working on becoming perfect like the saints.

Honey is Agnes' best friend. Her mother left her at the commune when she was just a baby. All that she has of her mother's is a cat figurine that she carries around with her. Honey hates the commune. She hates Emmanuel and she hates all of the rules that they are made to follow. Honey is the one that usually gets herself and Agnes into trouble and causes them to have to visit the "Regulation Room."

The Regulation Room is a room that the Believers are sent to when they do something that is against the rules that Emmanuel has created for the commune. Nobody talks about the Regulation Room. But most of the Believers have been subjected to the discipline that is carried out in the room.

Agnes' grandmother Pete shows up unexpectedly for a visit. When she sees the results of the discipline that Honey and Agnes had most recently been subjected to, she is determined to get Agnes, Benny and Honey out of the commune.

Honey is thrilled to be leaving the commune. Agnes wants to go back. She is afraid of the consequences of leaving the commune. After all there is nothing bad going on there. Emmanuel is just trying to make them better believers. This puts a huge strain on Agnes and Honey's relationship. After meeting her father's sister, Agnes finds that there are still more secrets that Emmanuel and her family have held from them.

I didn't want to put this book down! It was heart-breaking reading about the abuse that the children are put through on the commune. I got angry at how gullible people are to a charismatic leader. I wanted to stand up and cheer when Nana Pete took Agnes, Benny and Honey out of the commune. I wanted to shake Agnes out of her brain-washed thinking! I loved Honey's feisty-ness and her ability to see how wrong the whole commune was in following Emmanuel.

In the Shadow of Evil by Robin Caroll

Layla is a contractor. An unusual profession for a woman. But she is very good at her work. In fact she has just been nominated for a prestigious award. When one of the homes that she has built burns down and a dead body is found in the remains Layla becomes a suspect.

Maddox is the detective working the case. He too is good at his job. His one regret is that he was never able to find the person who murdered his mother. With a broken relationship with his father, and resentment towards a God that would allow his mother to die Maddox is only too willing to believe the worst of Layla.

Layla decides that she is going to try to discover who burned the house and murdered the person inside. While seeking answers from the various people that she contracted to work the site the killer realizes that she needs to be warned off. Layla is side-tracked when people she knows are brought to the hospital with bleeding noses that won't stop and respiratory problems. The doctors can't figure out what is the common denominator in the symptoms and they can't identify what is causing the symptoms.

When Layla's sister Alana's fiance' is hurt in an explosion, Maddox and his partner decide that they need to protect Layla from whomever is trying to hurt her. With their growing attraction for each other sparks fly! But Layla's faith baffles Maddox. As the mystery unfolds and relationships are mended Maddox begins to see how faith is an important part of our existence.

As the killer becomes more desperate Maddox and Layla race the clock to find out the reason behind the killings. Will they be in time to prevent another tragedy?

Robin Caroll has written an excitement-filled story that will keep the reader wanting to turn the pages until the very end.

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