I was impressed with CJ Darlington’s debut novel, Thicker than Blood, because the story kept me reading until all of the conflicts resolved. There were some things that I thought would certainly happen and they didn’t. But the story had a satisfying ending with room for my imagination to take my guess into the unwritten chapters after the end. Will there be a sequel? I don't know. I hope so!
The scenes which included facts about the antique books were quite interesting. Many authors choose to write on subjects they already know something about. Darlington did a great job with those antiquarian bookseller details.
I was among the crowd of Brandilyn Collins’ blog followers (June 2005) who read on her Forensics & Faith blog the public critique of CJ’s bold offering, a portion of this book. Since then, many have awaited the release of this novel. It was well worth the wait.
This novel is about big issues. I won't list everything that struck me as important because it would give away too much. But I will mention that God was seen in this book as a God of love who can handle all our desperate times.
It's about sisters. I think the conflict between the sisters drew me in emotionally because I have always enjoyed a great relationship with my sister. As I read the story, my heart was pulling for their reunion.
I hope this book proves to be a ginormous success. It's a well-drawn story with big issues, but written with such intimacy that the characters feel real.
From the back cover:
CJ Darlington is the winner of the 2008 Jerry B Jenkins Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel contest for Thicker than Blood, which she began writing as a 15-year old homeschool student. She has been in the antiquarian bookselling business for over a decade, scouting for stores before cofounding her own online bookstore. She also cofounded the Christian entertainment web site TitleTrakk.com. Visit her web site at cjdarlinton.com.
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