Hunter’s Moon by Don Hoesel is the story of best-selling author C.J. Baxter. With his personal life falling apart, C.J. returns to his hometown in Upstate NY for the first time in 17 years to attend his grandfather’s funeral. His return is met with mixed reactions from his family and old friends. He soon realizes that the old wounds that kept him away for so many years have never healed. He discovers the family secrets are still buried and that his brother and father will stop at nothing to keep them buried.
I enjoyed reading this book and found it both entertaining and suspenseful. I didn’t find it to be particularly Christian however. Apparently C.J. was saved about a month before the beginning of the book. That is not mentioned until well into the plot, and then quite vaguely. In addition, there is a renewed love interest in his former girlfriend who is now married to his cousin. There were things that occurred between the two of them that were definitely inappropriate since they were married to other people. It’s not really the behavior that I found as disturbing as much as the lack of repentance or conviction of sin that was expressed by either C.J. or Julie. I do recognize that many believers do struggle with inappropriate feelings towards members of the opposite sex, and I think the author missed an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how a Christian should respond to those feelings.
If you’re looking for a suspenseful book without bad language and graphic descriptions of violence, then I would recommend this book. If you’re looking for a book that is inspiring and causes you to think about your Christian faith, this is not it.
This is the 16th book I’ve completed in 2010 as part of the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, M.D.
Not a Sparrow Falls by Linda Nichols
Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp
Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure by Susan K. Marlow
Let us know how Anna Karenina is. 🙂