Sunday, January 27, 2008

Nancy Moser does it again!

Solemnly Swear...by Nancy Moser

My thoughts:
The lead-in on the back cover of this novel piqued my interest – a story about the members of the jury on a murder trial. The fact that the story was written by an author I greatly admire and enjoy made this a must-read for me. I was not disappointed.

For you see, as in all of Nancy Moser’s work, the story was much deeper, much richer than the telling of a murder trial and its jury members. As each page turns, the reader learns about another layer in the lives of the four main characters. As each layer is revealed, the ethics and morality of their choices becomes more complex. Why? Because no one is who they appear to be. By the time you reach the end of the story, you find yourself looking in your own mirror a bit more closely…a bit more honestly. What masks do we choose to wear? What decisions have we made that cause us to change our mask to suit our circumstance? What will it take for us to trust God enough to remove those masks and become the person He has created us to be?

This story is woven from many threads. In the beginning, you are sort of teased with just enough information about each character to keep the pages turning. By the time you are well into the story, you are discovering there is a lot more taking place between the members of the jury than just deciding a murder trial. What you find is that each person in the story looks at trial through the lens of their own life experience. They make assumptions about each other based on those same opinions. Yet as they discover each other and begin to examine the evidence, they begin to take a close look at their own lives outside the courtroom. And therein lies the story…and the many layers that are to be discovered as these characters begin to slowly look beneath their own masks.

I encourage everyone to enjoy this rich story! You will be entertained. You will be shocked. You will be challenged. This is superb! Nancy gets better with each story she tells! Check out all of her work here. You won't be disappointed!

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