Book Review: Tested by Fire

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Tested by Fire     Amazon US TPB Amazon Canada TPB
Kathy Herman
Class/Genre:   Fiction
Series: The Baxters # 1
Multnomah, Oct 2001, $11.99, 320 pp.

After almost three decades of marriage, Rhonda Wilson still loves her husband Jed, but is very lonely. Every day Jed works and every night he joins his friend Mike McConnell and the other good ole boys at O'Brian's Bar. He always returns home drunk and goes immediately to sleep. Rhonda prays for a miracle in which her beloved Jed rediscovers his love for her, but she does not truly believe.

An explosion on Heron Lake occurs. Jed drives over to see Mike's houseboat in flames. The townsfolk of Baxter are stunned as the five McConnells are presumed dead. Instead of bringing Jed and Rhonda closer together, he rejects her offers of comfort and buries himself deeper in self-pity with beer. However, one of the McConnells survived the fire and Jed races against the Feds to find the missing person with his need to know the truth. Will Rhonda, who has turned to God for solace, remain waiting for her husband as he searches for life's meaning on his quest?

Although TESTED BY FIRE is overpopulated with too many secondary characters, readers will enjoy the basic story line because it is fascinating. The main theme centers on two people drifting apart so that even in a time of tragedy they cannot comfort one another. Kathy Herman provides a strong inspirational suspense novel that furnishes her audience with a clear message of hope if only couples will talk through their souls.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner