FuryBy Bill Bright and Jack Cavanaugh
Howard Books, September 2006
Trade Paperback, 384 pp.
ISBN: 1-582-29573-5
Witness to a murder, a young man flees for his life and travels to upstate New York where he discovers evangelist Charles Finney is powerfully preaching that the Holy Spirit is the unrelenting hound of heaven. But he is also being pursued by his worried uncle and the killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crime a secret. Set against the historic events of the Great Awakening, this thriller also presents a spiritual journey of a bitter skeptic whose heart is changed by the messages he hears and the friendship offered by a trio of young believers. Fury is ablaze with suspense and intrigue.
Review by Michelle Sutton
Fury starts out with a bang and doesn’t let up! Set in 1825-1826, Fury captures the message of repentence and forgiveness through Charles Finney’s preaching, when the revival now referred to as “The Great Awakening” shakes upstate New York. The main character, Daniel, is running for his life. As the reader, your pulse will pound with his as he tries to evade a killer hot on his trail. If only he had obeyed his uncle and stayed in bed. If only he hadn’t been out that night, he wouldn’t have seen his coworker murdered. Thus the story begins ...
Daniel cries for help so many times, but no one believes his story about being pursued by the killer. He’s angry with God, his uncle, and just about everyone for his losses. Daniel has also hardened his heart by resisting the Holy Spirit, but as he runs from the killer, he discovers that God had been there with him all along.
Fury is an engaging story demonstrating the power of deep faith, and the discouragement that often comes from battling fear, such as the real threats perceived by Daniel’s gut instinct. Many difficult choices have to be made, and often without much time. When Daniel is dragged to church by friends to hear Finney preach, his world is altered ... permanently.
Riveting and thought-provoking, Fury leads the reader down a dark path paved by the enemy, and places readers in various situations alongside the deceptive killer, the concerned uncle, the forsaken aunt, the runaway teen Daniel, and even Daniel’s wimpy boss. From each of their points of view the reader gets a healthy dose of each characters’ perspective.
There are light moments as well, to help break up the intensity of the story, such as when Daniel pretends to be a tree come to life to scare off some boys who were picking on a younger brother, whom Daniel fiercely identified with. There were also tender moments, such as when Daniel realizes for the first time that beauty in a woman is much more than skin deep.
Fury is a passionate story about life during hard times, death nipping at the heels of a young man, the redemption of lives, and the impact revival can have on an entire community. Fury comes with my highest recommendation, especially to history buffs. The anticipated release date is September 5, 2006, and the title is published by Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
Michelle Sutton
Writing truth into fiction...digging deeper, soaring higher
Great Beginnings finalist 2005
http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com
Writer/fiction reviewer
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7 comments:
FURY sounds great. A time period in which I've read very little. I'll be putting this on my TBR pile. Thanks for the review!
Lori
Lori,
Actually, I'm not familiar with any other historicals set during this period. I want to read this one too!
In fact, I'm working on setting up an interview with Jack Cavanaugh. If I get lucky, maybe we'll have a free copy to give away!
Hey Michelle - great review. Sounds like a book that would be an exciting read!
Blessings,
Hey, guys, if all goes well, we're going to have that interview with Jack Cavanaugh himself during my stint in October. Can't wait to find out what lead him to write about the Great Awakening period--and especially this particular story.
Joan,
That sounds great (the interview with Jack Cavanaugh). I look forward to it.
A few years ago I began reading A FREE MAN OF COLOR, by Barbara Hambly, the first in her Ben January series, set in the New Orleans of 1833--so that's a decade later. But it didn't hold my attention for one reason or another, and I never finished it. I keep meaning to give that series another try....
Lori
Lori,
I'm not familiar with Barbara Hambly at all. Not a good recommendation that the book didn't hold your attention. LOL! There was considerable religious ferment going on in the early 1800's, though, so she might have touched on it.
Joan,
I can't honestly recall now why I didn't continue with A FREE MAN OF COLOR. It might well have been that it was too gritty or dark for my tastes. It's an ABA murder/mystery, which isn't a genre I read very widely in, anyway.
What originally drew me was the blended racial identity of the main character (as you know, a subject very relevant to my WIP). Ben January is a physician who practiced for years in Paris, but upon his return to New Orleans, is forced to make his living as a musician, because he's too dark-skinned to pass for white, and thus practice medicine.
Lori
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