Forget Me Not (+giveaway)

Title: Forget Me Not
Author: Vicki Hinze
Genre: Christian Suspense/Thriller
Page Count: 329
Why I read it: blog tour for publisher
Grade: C+

Synopsis:
Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He’d failed to protect his family.
Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace.
The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts? 

My review:
I spent a lot of the time while reading this book being confused.  I couldn't quite figure out what was happening, or who was who, or much of anything, to be honest.  There seemed to be too many characters doing too many different things.  Most of the time I'm not a fan of books that slowly unveil what's going on, layer by layer, leaving me feeling lost and confused for a good share of the book, and this was no exception.

That being said, the writing was good.  It was suspenseful, even if I didn't quite buy a lot of the things that were happening.  I'm okay with that in fiction, though.  Sometimes it's okay to suspend belief for awhile, and just go with the story.  This one was very fast-paced with a lot of stuff going on.  The story switches viewpoints almost constantly.

If you're not a fan of religion in your books, skip this one, because it does tend to get rather preachy and in your face.  The Christianity in this book is not subtle at all.  On the other hand, if you like your characters to rely heavily on God, and to have their whole character shaped around their faith, then you might really enjoy this book.

I don't read a lot of Christian suspense type novels, so I can't really say how this compares to others of it's genre, so it's hard to recommend this one or not.  I'd say it relies heavily on personal preference here.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.  To find out more about this book, click here.

And lastly, I've got one copy of this book to giveaway to one of my readers.  To enter, just leave a comment here.  You must be a follower of this blog to enter (that way I can easily find you if you win).  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, and will end on April 19th.