“Tromp weaves a complex historical tale incorporating love, suspense, hurt, and healing—all the elements that keep the pages turning.”
~ Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Perennials
Charlotte Anne Mattas longs to turn back the clock. Before her husband, Sam, went to serve his country in the war, he was the man everyone could rely on—responsible, intelligent, and loving. But the person who’s come back to their family farm is very different from the protector Annie remembers. Sam’s experience in the Pacific theater has left him broken in ways no one can understand—but that everyone is learning to fear.
Tongues start wagging after Sam nearly kills his own brother. Now when he claims to have seen men on the mountain when no one else has seen them, Annie isn’t the only one questioning his sanity and her safety. If there were criminals haunting the hills, there should be evidence beyond his claims. Is he really seeing what he says, or is his war-tortured mind conjuring ghosts?
Annie desperately wants to believe her husband. But between his irrational choices and his nightmares leaking into the daytime, she’s terrified he’s going mad. Can she trust God to heal Sam’s mental wounds—or will sticking by him mean keeping her marriage at the cost of her own life?
Debut novelist Janyre Tromp delivers a deliciously eerie, Hitchcockian story filled with love and suspense. Readers of psychological thrillers and historical fiction by Jaime Jo Wright and Sarah Sundin will add Tromp to their favorite authors list.
To read an excerpt of Shadows in the Mind’s Eye, click here.
If you like being immersed in a story through the setting, dialogue and storyline, you're not going to want to miss this one!
Literally from the first scene we're pulled into the world of a man, Sam, returning from war with the horrors he faced chasing him. Re-entry into the life he knew isn't at all what any of his family expected and that's where everything begins to unravel.
Sometimes it's so interesting having the perspective as the reader because you're pretty sure what the truth of the matter is, but putting all of the pieces together isn't as easy as you thought. The one saving grace through all of this story, the rock, the sure and steady one, is Dovey May, Sam & Peter's mama. Her unshakable belief in her son and her wisdom bolsters everyone, even if it's for just a little while.
Seeing the world through the eyes of those surrounding Sam has a huge impact on how we see him as well. The chapters go back and forth between him and Annie and their views on their lives in that moment. The reader can see nuances through each of their eyes and it's a great example of how perception is everything. While Sam may see Doc, his best friend, as being to close to Annie, she may see it as Doc just being the protective friend.
The grammar of the country folk of Arkansas really makes this story come to life in the imagination. The way the author contracts the sentences, even if the grammar isn't good or proper, all of it feels right and makes sense.
How it all comes together, or falls apart, and gives the answers we're seeking, there's a lot of room for "Ooooh" and "ahhhh"! I also had a couple moments of "what in the...". The ending is not at all what I expected. You've gotta love that!
A firm believer in the power of an entertaining story, Tromp is also a book editor and published children’s book author. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband, two kids, two crazy cats, and a slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog.
You can find her on Facebook (@JanyreTromp), Instagram (@JaynreTromp), Twitter (@JanyreTromp), and her website, www.JanyreTromp.com where you can download a free copy of her novella, Wide Open.
You're going to want to enter to win this giveaway here:
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to comment!