House of Mercy by Erin Healy

~ Book Review

House of Mercy

by Erin Healy

ISBN: 978-1-4016-8551-5

Thomas Nelson, August 2012

$11.54 (paperback)

$8.79 (kindle)

 

What Happens When a Natural Healer Can’t Heal Herself?

About the book:

Beth has a gift of healing—which is why she wants to become a vet and help her family run their fifth-generation cattle ranch. Her father’s dream of helping men in trouble and giving them a second chance is her dream too. But it only takes one foolish decision for Beth to destroy it all.

Beth scrambles to redeem her mistake, pleading with God for help, even as a mystery complicates her life. The repercussions grow more unbearable—a lawsuit, a death, a divided family, and the looming loss of everything she cares about. Beth’s only hope is to find the grandfather she never knew and beg for his help. Confused, grieving, and determined to make amends, she embarks on a horseback journey across the mountains, guided by a wild, unpredictable wolf who may or may not be real.

Set in the stunningly rugged terrain of Southern Colorado, House of Mercy follows Beth through the valley of the shadow of death into the unfathomable miracles of God’s goodness and mercy.

My Thoughts:

I reviewed Erin Healy's book The Baker's Wife last October and when I had the chance to read and review House of Mercy I was very excited. I loved The Baker's Wife enough to hand it off to my Grandma with instructions that I wanted it back so I could read it again. =D

House of Mercy wasn't quite what I expected. Erin's writing is a little hard to get involved with and you have to think some with her books especially with her first book. I have a hard time connecting but once I do I love her books. I had also forgotten that she is actually a "Christian" supernatural type of writer and I usually wrestle a little with that. In House of Mercy it's a wolf who appears to attack Beth as she's riding and causes the accident - it's a wolf no one seems to see and it seems to speak to her. Could it be the "spirit" of God speaking to her?

Don't let that hold you back from trying one of her books.

House of Mercy isn't just Beth's story - there are multiple stories layered. There is the story of Beth's parents and the rift between her mother and maternal grandfather. There is the story behind the doctor in town who isn't what she seems and she wrestles with the dishonesty of what she's doing. There is Beth's story and the shame and sorrow of her "great mistake" and then there is the story of the young man who manage's her parents ranch and their work with the handicapped and those who have nowhere to go. It's a little hard to keep up with it all but once I connected it got much easier.

One thing I love about Erin's books is the layers - everytime you read the book you find a new layer.

Find out about Erin's books, see book trailers and more on her website @ http://www.erinhealy.com/ and her blog @ http://www.erinhealy.blogspot.com/

You can also find her on: Facebook and Twitter 

About the author:

Erin is known for creating distinctive settings that go hand in hand with the themes of her books, and House of Mercy is certainly no exception as her volatile emotional struggles match the challenging physical settings as she traipses across the rugged Rockies. At the same time, she wrestles spiritually with the notion of modern-day miracles.

Garnering accolades from numerous sources, including being named Book of the Year finalist, Healy consistently turns out highly readable, captivating and informative novels that are awaited eagerly by her huge following of readers. Her previous best-sellers include Never Let You Go, The Promises She Keeps and The Baker’s Wife. She also co-authored with Ted Dekker best-sellers Kiss and Burn, and with House of Mercy, her readers will be thrilled once again.

The story’s realism comes from Healy’s personal encounter with Colorado wolves, the Rocky Mountains and research done with Colorado ranchers. The reader will experience a “you-are-there” feeling as Beth’s adventure takes them through the craggy gorges, across tumbling rivers and finally to the mountaintop of mercy. It’s an adventure you don’t want to miss.

I was given a copy of House of Mercy to read & review on GivingNSharing. I was not required to write a positive review and no money exchanged hands.

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The Baker's Wife
by Erin Healy
Published by Thomas Nelson
Purchase on Amazon for $10.98

About the Book:
Before Audrey was the baker's wife, she was the pastor's wife. Then a scandalous lie cost her husband a pastoral career. Now the two work side-by-side running a bakery, serving coffee, and baking fresh bread. But the hurt still pulls at Audrey.

Driving early one morning to the bakery, Audrey's car strikes something-or someone-at a fog-shrouded intersection. She finds a motor scooter belonging to a local teacher. Blood is everywhere, but there's no trace of a body.

Both the scooter and the blood belong to detective Jack Mansfield's wife, and he's certain that Audrey is behind Julie's disappearance.


But the case dead-ends and the detective spirals into madness. When he takes her family and some patrons hostage at the bakery, Audrey is left with a soul-damaged ex-con and a cynical teen to solve the mystery. And she'll never manage that unless she taps into something she would rather leave behind-her excruciating ability to feel other's pain.

My Thoughts:
This is the story of a couple in the middle of a major trial in their lives. After losing his ministry due to a false accusation Geoff and his wife Audrey open a bakery using a skill that they had nurtured over the years of their marriage. Baking had been a means for them to strengthen their marriage and yet still serve those in their church and community who were hurting and need a little love in their lives - and now it was the means for them to make a living.

The main story focuses on the disappearance of Julie who is the detective's wife. The detective "Jack" believes that he is sinless and blameless before God and everyone else should be too. He believes that others suffer because they are sinners (depression, illness, death, loss of jobs, etc) and he believes that if the law won't take care of the problem then he will.

This outstanding book had only one thing that I am still trying to process and am unsure about. Audrey has the ability to connect with others and feel their pain. She believes this feeling comes from God and uses it to help others. To me this feeling is very close to what a physic does and I can't help but wonder if God would give that ability to someone. (Or is this the spiritual gift called discernment?) As you can see I'm not sure what to think here and have emailed the author to get some clarification. 

Update: 
My question was: "I wanted to ask about the 'gift' that Audrey has. I'm having a hard time understanding it, to be honest. Is it a psychic gift or a gift of discernment? I know that God does not give a gift of being psychic so I'm a little surprised this is in a Christian book. In many ways I know she feels she's being led by God to those who need help, but does He really work this way?"

You can find the author's answer here:  
http://erinhealyblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/is-my-heroine-psychic.html

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm sure you will too. It's very fast paced and you won't want to put the book down. Parent's I'd suggest that you read the book first if you're going to leave it around for your kid's to pick up. Your kid may have questions. There are also questions in the back for discussion and book groups.


Read chapters 1-4.

Erin Healy is the award-winning fiction writer who has worked with many writers. She began working with Ted Dekker in 2002 editing 12 of his heart pounding thrillers. She has personally written 3 novels and released them in the last year: 

The Promises She Keeps and Never Let You Go

I'm going to get both of these and add them to my library!
To see other reviews about The Baker's Wife click here.