Sophie Bauer aspires to become an investigative reporter at St. Louis Times – and not just the lady who writes obituaries and reviews restaurants. This earnest desire to prove that she can make something of herself is fueld by her past, one that involves leaving her former life as Sophie Wittenbauer in the town of Kingdom. Nancy Mehl’s Rising Darkness is a novel that presents how far would a person go for that coveted frontpage byline.
Sophie saw an opportunity to write her breakthrough piece in a robbery case from eight years ago. Two men, Terrance Chase and Richard Osbourne, ran off with six million dollars after robbing an armored car and killed two guards. The money has never been recovered and the perpetrators never got arrested. Her newspaper received a letter from a prisoner named Tom (whom Sophie knew in Kingdom) saying that he knows where Terrance Chase might be hiding. After visiting Tom, she got the lead that Chase might be in Sanctuary, a small town in Missouri. Sophie decided to go to Sanctuary and find Chase there but her search led her to confront her past life in Kingdom and regain faith in God.
Nancy Mehl’s Rising Darkness is the third among the three-part Finding Sanctuary series but it can stand as a singular book on its own.
As this is a Christian novel, there is strong emphasis on God and his works manifested in his creation. One of the main characters is an unmarried pastor named Jonathan Wiesse, who leads Agape Fellowship Church. Co-existing with the Agape Church is a Mennonite congregation led by Pastor Jacob Troyer and some of the little town’s most interesting characters. There’s Esther who loves to open her home to visitors, the mother and daughter tandem of Mary and Rosey who runs a café, and then there’s Nate whose car broke down one day and is now living at the Agape church. Will any of these persons help Sophie in finding Terrance Chase?
There are several episodes in this story that are quite a drag. An example is the love angle between Sophie and Jonathon. There was just too much drama that sometimes it feels unreal. I understand though that these scenes are made to build up and deliver the values of waiting for your true love at the right time but the delivery just didn’t sit well with me. I was actually inspecting more action. I had to remind myself that this novel is categorized under the romance-suspense genre so I may not be reading a lot of shooting, cartwheeling, and flying punches.
I don’t know if the author is planning to write a fourth book in the Finding Sanctuary series because there seems to be a couple of unresolved issues such as that of Esther’s children and that of Martin’s aloofness. Or perhaps the author will keep it at that. Some issues are better left unresolved.
You can finish this book in two four-hour sessions (well, depending on your reading speed). This book presented several moments of reflection and introspection from the main character, Sophie. While it can be boring, I, nevertheless, liked the way Mehl interspersed Biblical teachings in conversations and setting examples in between. Spreading God’s words in that case was not much of a hard sell.
I give this book six out of 10 stars. It can be boring and dragging and some of the characters may be repetitious but it is still worth reading if only to “see”an example of how two religions co-exist in a small town. And… to find out if Sophie indeed found Chase and got that byline.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for honest review. I was not required to write positive reviews. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
