Name: Chasing Fireflies
ISBN: 9781595540560

Charles Martin

After a woman on a suicide mission kicks her abused young son out of a car, Chase Walker, a reporter for the Brunswick Daily in Glen County, Georgia, looks into the case and finds the boy's abandonment bringing up issues from his own childhood of neglect.

Chasing Fireflies

You can knock me over with a feather. I cannot believe that the best new-to-me book is in this genre because it's so rare that this happens! It was so good that while I started it one night, the next day it was not only the only fiction I wanted to read, I stayed up late to finish it.

This is not fluffy or light, but the writing is good--the protagonist very believable. What I loved was the STORY, and it is haunting, as the blurb says, and the people, even though there was tragedy, had been abused, etc. Yes, there are a very few people who gave this 2 stars (well, I have given low rating to some brilliant literary books--that's life). The mystery might be hard for some people to understand, especially with certain spoilers I won't give here, but so what?

There is heartbreak, tragedy, abuse, dysfunctional families--this isn't your fluffy Christian novel, nor are there any church scenes, prayers or pastors in it--at least one character is one of your worst nightmares of a hypocrite in a local church (but we all know this happens!). 

I plan to read more by Charles Martin, but will try to go to the next book with full skepticism again, because I don't want to assume he's always this good as I have made that mistake with many authors before. However, I am hoping he is at least as consistent as Christa Parrish was when she was writing BUT he has a different style.

Karin

You can knock me over with a feather. I cannot believe that the best new-to-me book is in this genre because it's so rare that this happens! It was so good that while I started it one night, the next day it was not only the only fiction I wanted to read, I stayed up late to finish it.

This is not fluffy or light, but the writing is good--the protagonist very believable. What I loved was the STORY, and it is haunting, as the blurb says, and the people, even though there was tragedy, had been abused, etc. Yes, there are a very few people who gave this 2 stars (well, I have given low rating to some brilliant literary books--that's life). The mystery might be hard for some people to understand, especially with certain spoilers I won't give here, but so what?

There is heartbreak, tragedy, abuse, dysfunctional families--this isn't your fluffy Christian novel, nor are there any church scenes, prayers or pastors in it--at least one character is one of your worst nightmares of a hypocrite in a local church (but we all know this happens!). 

I plan to read more by Charles Martin, but will try to go to the next book with full skepticism again, because I don't want to assume he's always this good as I have made that mistake with many authors before. However, I am hoping he is at least as consistent as Christa Parrish was when she was writing BUT he has a different style.

Natasha Musa

A definite must read. I heard it on audiobook and cried like four times listening to it on the way to work. The characters are rich and developed well. The storyline was engaging and touching. The narrator was perfect, reading the characters in a different voice and delivered the story well. This will be my new favorite book.