Wiser Than Serpents

Good Morning America is starting a new feature that offers people the opportunity to say thank you to someone who has touched their lives. Today's video was amazing. Click here and click on the Meet Your Savior video. As a mother of a five-year-old girl, I couldn't help but be moved to tears. It's a wonderful idea: encouraging gratitude and appreciation as well as acts of kindness.




PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR TO CHATABOUT WHAT LIES BETWEEN THE LINES: Melanie Wells Joins Readers on Online Bookstore Chat



WHO: Melanie Wells, author of the critically acclaimed Dylan Foster series – “When the Day of Evil Comes,” “The Soul Hunter” and the newly-released “My Soul to Keep.” Wells will join the family-friendly online bookstore, Abunga.com, to discuss her insights on the fiction series, writing, building story lines and using one’s creativity and imagination to shape character development.



WHAT: “Authors at Abunga” Chat with Melanie WellsWells’ Dylan Foster trilogy is packed with both humor and suspense. Each thriller tracks the mayhem surrounding Wells’ unlikely heroine, college psychology professor Dylan Foster. Wells, who is also a psychotherapist and accomplished musician, will provide insights into her writing style, how stories are created, and where characters come from.



WHEN: Wednesday, July 16, 200811 a.m. – Noon PDT / 1 – 2 p.m. CDT / 2 – 3 p.m. EDT (LIVE)At www.Abunga.com/AuthorsAtAbungaDETAILS: Wells is the first author to be featured on the newly-created “Authors at Abunga” chats by Agunga.com. A Texas native, Wells is an accomplished musician (she’s a fiddle player) a licensed psychotherapist, and the founder and director of Dallas-based LifeWorks counseling associates (http://www.wefixbrains.com/).



Beginning with “When the Day of Evil Comes,” each of Wells’ novels weaves a gripping tale in which the quirky, likeable Dylan Foster wrestles with her own personal demon -- Peter Terry – “a spiritual and emotional stalker,” Wells says, ”Peter Terry is a compelling character who rings true for all of us. He is a metaphor for the opposition we all have in our lives. And we can all relate to Dylan, who often feels like she’s fighting forest fires with a squirt gun.”

To check out my review of Melanie Wells' most recent book My Soul to Keep, click here.



Wiser Than Serpents by Susan May Warren: This book is part of the Mission Russia series and kicks off with FSB (the made over KGB) agent Yanna Andrevka going deep undercover (with no back up) to rescue her sister Elena who has been kidnapped in a white slavery operation. Yanna is quickly captured as well, as was her plan, but when she's meeting the head of the slavery ring, she also encounters her long time love David Curtiss who she hasn't heard from in months because HE was deep undercover. Although their agendas are different, they end up working together, sabotaging and rescuing each other from the Twin Serpents, a crime ring involved in arms, drugs, and prostitution. Warren has a terrific grasp of Russian culture, and I always enjoy reading her books. David and Yanna's relationship is unusual in that while they both deeply love each other, David is a Christian, and Yanna isn't, so he won't allow them to pursue their feelings until she comes to trust God. An intriguing plot twist that Warren works to maximum gratification. There is lots of suspense, and Yanna's ingenuity in her escapes are terrific. More frustrating is her regular insistence in running off alone and endangering not only herself but everyone else as well. It felt a little cliched at times to me, but Warren is using this book to help shine a light on white slavery in hopes that readers will become more aware of this issue and do something to help end it. And for that, I give the book 4 stars.



A note from Susan: Did you know that there are 27 million people around the globe held as slaves today – more thank 80% of them women and children, and up to 50% minors. In fact, there are MORE slaves today than were in the time of William Wilberforce. That leaves me horrified, and it was those stats that compelled me to write a story with a human trafficking plotline. 15% of all profits from this book go to International Justice Mission! And make sure you check out Susan's website; she's giving away a few signed sets of this series!