Are you a Biblical fiction lover? There’s a good line up for the first half of 2016! Click on the covers below to be taken to that book’s Amazon.com page.
Releases: Available now!
Publisher’s Description: Outspoken and fearless, Deborah has faith in God but struggles to see the potential her own life holds. As an Israelite woman, she’ll marry, have a family, and seek to teach her children about Adonai–and those tasks seem to be more than enough to occupy her time. But God has another plan for her. Israel has been under the near constant terror of Canaan’s armies for twenty years, and now God has called Deborah to deliver her people from this oppression. Will her family understand? Will her people even believe God’s calling on her life? And can the menace of Canaan be stopped?
My comment: I heartily recommend this book. For my full review, click here.
Releases: 1 March 2016
Publisher’s Description: Encounter the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth in this culmination of the Jerusalem Chronicles.
How could Jesus—who preached righteousness before God, and love and mercy toward neighbors—be so hated and pursued? To the Temple officials, he was a threat to the livelihood and authority of the priesthood. To Herod Antipas, he was a threat to his ambition to be the King of the Jews. And to the Roman overlords, he was seen as a dangerous threat; a man who commanded an army of the common people. He could heal wounds, offer miraculous provisions, and even raise from the dead. If Jesus had accepted popular acclaim and become an earthly king, he would have been unstoppable.
Jesus’s last days are explored through three people who interacted with him: Governor Pilate, for whom Judea will either make or break his career; Pilate’s wife, Claudia, desperately seeking aid for her much loved, crippled son; and Centurion Marcus Longinus, caught in the middle between loyalty to the Empire, love for Claudia, and an ever-increasing belief in Jesus as the Son of God. After encountering Jesus, none of them will ever be the same.
My comment: I feel like I have been waiting for this novel for years – which, considering I have been reading the AD Chronicles and Jerusalem Chronicles as they released (starting 2003), is pretty close to the truth! I can’t wait to review this one!
Releases: 5 April 2016
Publisher’s Description: A Story of Love, Desperation, and Hope During a Great Biblical Epoch
Sold into slavery by her father and forsaken by the man she was supposed to marry, young Egyptian Kiya must serve a mistress who takes pleasure in her humiliation. When terrifying plagues strike Egypt, Kiya is in the middle of it all.
To save her older brother and escape the bonds of slavery, Kiya flees with the Hebrews during the Great Exodus. She finds herself utterly dependent on a fearsome God she’s only just beginning to learn about, and in love with a man who despises her people. With everything she’s ever known swept away, will Kiya turn back toward Egypt or surrender her life and her future to Yahweh?
My comment: I’ve heard lots of good things about this book, and will be reviewing it in March. I love that the central character is actually Egyptian!
Releases: 1 May 2016
Publisher’s Description: Before Christ called her daughter . . .
Before she stole healing by touching the hem of his garment . . .
Elianna is a young girl crushed by guilt. After her only brother is killed while in her care, Elianna tries to earn forgiveness by working for her father’s textile trade and caring for her family. When another tragedy places Elianna in sole charge of the business, her talent for design brings enormous success, but never the absolution she longs for. As her world unravels, she breaks off her betrothal to the only man she will ever love. Then illness strikes, isolating Elianna from everyone, stripping everything she has left.
No physician can cure her. No end is in sight. Until she hears whispers of a man whose mere touch can heal. After so many years of suffering and disappointment, is it possible that one man could redeem the wounds of body . . . and soul?
My comment: I love fiction that brings the gospel encounters to life. Bodie & Brock Thoene’s AD Chronicles were the first to do this for me, and I look forward to seeing what Tessa Afshar has done here.
Shadow of the Mountain: Wilderness – Cliff Graham
Releases: 3 May 2016
Publisher’s Description: Action-driven and unique in Christian fiction today, Shadow of the Mountain: Wilderness begins with Moses sending Joshua, Caleb, and ten others to spy on and scout the country of Canaan, where the Lord has promised them a homeland. Asked to report back, ten talk only of the Anakites, a race of fearsome giants in the hills, their walled cities, and terrible human sacrifices to their gods.
Despite giants, Joshua and Caleb feel the Lord is on their side and the land will be worth it. But the hearts of the people are fearful and turned against God’s words. Their punishment will be forty years without a home, wandering the deserts until that generation dies out. But as the life of Caleb proves, God’s promises are real–for men young and old.
My comment: I haven’t read any of Cliff Graham’s books yet, but I’ve heard there’s lots of action. This series has been marketed as ‘Biblical fiction men want to read’, so I’ll be interested to see how this woman likes it!
Releases: 7 June 2016
Publisher’s Description: A Complex and Compelling Glimpse at One of the Bible’s Baddest Girls
Life is not easy in Philistia, especially not for a woman and child alone. When beautiful, wounded Delilah finds herself begging for food to survive, she resolves that she will find a way to defeat all the men who have taken advantage of her. She will overcome the roadblocks life has set before her, and she will find riches and victory for herself.
When she meets a legendary man called Samson, she senses that in him lies the means for her victory. By winning, seducing, and betraying the hero of the Hebrews, she will attain a position of national prominence. After all, she is beautiful, she is charming, and she is smart. No man, not even a supernaturally gifted strongman, can best her in a war of wits.
My comment: I can’t wait to see what Angela Hunt has done with this character. ‘Complex and compelling’ makes me rub my hands together with glee!
Which one are you most anticipating?
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