Book Review: The Grace Painter

Once again The Overnight Bestseller is pleased to host a Tribute Books blog tour. This time we welcome Mark Romang as we take an inside look at his novel The Grace Painter.   

The Grace Painter: Book Summary

Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is the one reflecting back at you from inside a mirror. Matthew London can attest to this difficult truth. Ever since the former NYPD hostage negotiator changed his identity and fled New York City for the backwaters of Louisiana, regret has ruled his life.

For eight years London has lived like a hermit in a declining plantation house. Only his talent for painting Renaissance-style murals and paintings keeps the inner-demons from totally destroying him. Each day the disgraced hostage negotiator longs for a chance at redemption, never expecting it to actually happen. But then a down-on-her-luck FBI agent shows up on his doorstep one evening. It turns out Jean-Paul and Sebastian Boudreaux, two local brothers famous for lawlessness have inadvertently kidnapped a little girl.

London is quickly thrust into the starring role of a daring rescue attempt. But before he can rescue the child from the dangerous Boudreaux brothers, he first must find a way to forgive himself for a past misstep, a blunder that forever altered his once promising life. But in the Atchafalaya Basin swampland, nothing is promised. Grace cannot be purchased or earned. It can only be given.

Price/Format: $0.99 ebook
Pages: 303
Publisher: self-published
Release: November 26, 2012

Kindle buy link ($0.99):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADWZ4M4?tag=tributebooks-20

Nook buy link ($0.99):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-grace-painter-mark-romang/1113848026?ean=2940015785463

Smashwords ($0.99):
http://www.smashwords.com/b/259249
 

Mark Romang: Biography

Mark Romang was born in 1967. He is self-described as an avid reader, suspense novelist, faithful husband, baffled father, factory worker, reformed head-banger, failed musician, contact sports lover, MMA enthusiast, distressed KC sports fan, Lord of the Rings geek, workout fiend, dog owner, nature lover, proud American, disgruntled voter, pistachio addict, caffeine-riddled screw-up and saved-by-grace sojourner.

Our Review of The Grace Painter

Mark Romang has a colorful prose style with plenty of alliterations, similes and metaphors reminiscent of pulp-style detective novelists.On his website, the author talks of his love for the action adventure novels of Clive Cussler, and it is obvious from the start to finish of his debut novel The Grace Painter that he is writing in the tradition of the suspenseful, action-packed thriller.

In addition to the protagonist Matthew London, there are many secondary characters and sub-plots in The Grace Painter to reinforce the themes of forgiveness and redemption, as well as the underlying battle of good versus evil. However, the author is successful in maintaining the momentum of the novel and also manages to introduce a plot twist at the end that readers did not see coming.

Readers of Christian suspense thrillers by such novelists as Steven James and Ted Dekker will no doubt enjoy this new voice in the genre.

Best of luck with your next novel, Mark. It sounds as if it will be equally suspenseful!

 
Related Sites 

Rafflecopter GIVEAWAY HTML embed code:
<a id="rc-2bf06782" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2bf06782/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>(for a chance to win $20 or one of ten copies of the novel)

Mark Romang's Web Site:
http://www.markromangbooks.com/

Mark Romang's Facebook:
http://facebook.com/mark.romang.18

Mark Romang's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6606226.Mark_Romang

The Grace Painter's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16210809-the-grace-painter

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

The Grace Painter's blog tour site:
http://thegracepainter.blogspot.com/