tBook #3 in the Cape Refuge Series, ‘River’s Edge’ brings us the drama surrounding the town of Cape Refuge. Morgan & Jonathan are struggling with infertility issues. Jonathan is also embroiled in a mud-slinging mayoral race with two prominent community members. All the while, they’re running Hanover House, a transitional housing facility. Their two foster children have been thriving, but now their mother may receive an early release from prison. tBaby Seth & his teen sister Sadie have been a respite for Morgan as she strives to achieve her dream of motherhood. Meanwhile, police chief Cade is trying to keep his job while dealing with romantic feelings for Morgan’s sister Blair. But it all takes a backseat when one of Jonathan’s opponents announces his wife is missing. Lisa has been a good friend to Morgan & now the whole town launches a massive search for her. tMost of the townspeople know that Lisa isn’t the type to just run off. That would mean that one of their own has done the unthinkable. Although the town is no stranger to scandal, they can’t imagine anyone would hurt Lisa. As the investigation continues, the Chief of Police will have to wade through a shady psychic, unethical doctors, & a boatload of gossip. What is really going on in Cape Refuge?tEven though this is number 3 in the series, it can stand alone. When I took it for review, I hadn’t known that it was a series. Our author includes enough past details for us to keep up. Initially, the book was a bit slow-going, but certainly picked up speed. Cape Refuge has a great deal of small town charm & readers will have no problem finding it a believable setting.tMost of the characters are also very relatable & believable. Morgan felt a bit self-righteous & there were a few times that I wasn’t quite sure I liked her. Cade, the Police Chief, was by far my pick for favorite. He’s what every town would want in their chief. He’s a strong, Christian man who stays true to his beliefs throughout the novel. tReaders will find a squeaky-clean, well-written story that isn’t difficult to stay involved in. I look forward to reading more from this series & hopefully, they’ll all be of this caliber. It’s a 5 star rating from me.I received a copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
This book was a little tough for me to get into at first; but, once I got into it, it was a really great book! Being the 3rd book in the Cape Refuge series, there's already been a foundation laid for the story and there are quite a few references to things that happened in the first 2 books. It's definitely not a stand-alone book. If you haven't read the first 2, then don't read this one yet, because you'll miss a lot.I really enjoyed reading about Blair's growth from rejecting God to accepting Him and learning more about Him. I also liked Cade's willingness to hold off on a relationship with Blair while trusting God to bring her to Him rather than rushing into a relationship and hoping that he could change her himself.The struggles Morgan and Sheila went through were pretty awful. No matter which situation you were in, it would be really hard to do what was right and what needed to be done. I loved the way the relationship between the two of them turned out. :)As for the killer... I usually either figure it out or have a pretty good idea who the guilty party is; but this time, I was pretty surprised and had no clue until the characters in the book figured it out.Really enjoyable read! And now I'm off to get my hands on book 4 in the Cape Refuge Series: Breaker's Reef. :)
Do You like book River's Edge (2004)?
Another enjoyable read though the ending was a bit of a stretch not so much in being realistic but for the setting of the Refuge series.The main murder plot though kept the reader in suspense, the sub-plot of Sadie's mom was so so and don't want to say more as to be a spoil but thought it was let's just say just to quick, better if stretched over two book.In summary I'm enjoying the Refuge series but it seems to have lost the small southern town simplicity. Blackstock seems to be almost wishing the small town was more of a large town to allow more sensationalistic drama, the map of Cape Refuge found in the first two books was missing from this book as if wanting the reader to loose the the image of Cape Refuge's smallness. I may be over critical but then again I'm as my wife says I'm a tough customer.Plan to read Breaker's Reef right away just to perhaps get the Refuge series done. I do hope it returns to a more simpler plot.Terri Blackstock
—Scott K
I enjoy reading books penned by Terri Blackstock. This is book 3 in the Cape Refuge Series...yeah, I did it again and began in the middle of a series. But after reading this book I'm not sure series is a good word. To me this is a stand alone read unless I missed something and didn't know it.Lisa Jackson has disappeared...gone missing the day before her husband, Jonathan, is throwing in his hat for the mayoral race. Oh!my!what!turmoil! The whole town hears of the affairs that Ben Jackson has been involved in. It sure looks like Ben had motive to kill his wife.But on the other of town...Blair Owens, newspaper owner, and the Police Chief have a different idea of why and where Lisa Jackson may have disappeared.This is quite a read. Suspicion, murder, suspense galore! I think Terri Blackstock must be the Queen of Christian Suspense! What a grand read!
—Tammy
I just finished reading Terri Blackstock's "River's Edge". I loved it, and I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a clean and easy read. Great characters, great storyline, and lessons we can all relate to. It's a tale of suspense revolving around a small town murder. You'll be inspired by the mission of the Hanover House, a halfway house supporting people in life transition. You'll cheer for the romance between the chief of police and the owner of the newspaper. You'll long for the main characters to have children of their own. You'll find yourself silently campaigning for mayoral candidates. You'll get lost in the story. This is a great book for any reader age 16+.I received this book as a gift from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
—Ann Saylor
