A Slow Burn by Mary E. DeMuth - REVIEWED

MY REVIEW:

“His arm is long. His reach stretches into the most wretched places.” (p.209)


Mary E. DeMuth’s novel, A Slow Burn, carries the reader into the most wretched places of a depraved woman’s life. Emory Chance, an addict and a neglectful mother, is reeling from the news that her beloved daughter Daisy has been murdered. The residents of Defiance, Texas mourn with Emory, but they mourn from a distance because they don’t know how to reach out to a woman whose addiction to drugs holds her in its hellish grasp. Hixon Jones is obedient to God’s voice, and even though he doesn’t understand the command, he reaches out to Emory despite her angry efforts to push him away. As Daisy’s killer roams the streets of Defiance, Hixon has vowed to protect Emory, no matter the cost.


Emory Chance is a character in fiction that takes the reader into the depths of drug-addicted depravity. No matter who reaches out to her, no matter who offers friendship, forgiveness and grace, Emory pushes them all aside for one more hit of dope. Wallowing in the grief of regret following Daisy’s death, she seems helpless to do anything other than listen to the hellish voices of her past – the voices that tell her how worthless, how hopeless, how utterly unworthy she is to even draw another breath.


Yet God sends the most unlikely parade of people into Emory’s life to share another message with her shattered heart. Hixon, Muriel, Ouisie, Big Earl, and even Jed and Susie play a part in reaching out to Emory in the face of the darkest night of the soul you can imagine. Truly, God’s reach extends much further than any of us can fathom, and A SlowBurn paints a beautiful, albeit a sometimes disturbing picture, of what it means to become an adopted child of the King of Kings.


Dear reader, if you want to read a story of true love, of grace, mercy, sacrifice and restoration, please, read Mary DeMuth’s Defiance, Texas trilogy. Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn are the first two novels in the series, and are beautifully written stories that trumpet the message of God’s grace and create believable characters whose lives will touch your heart for a very long time. Be prepared to laugh, to mourn, to cry as you read these stories, and more importantly, be prepared for your heart to be challenged and changed with the message of grace.


I cannot recommend these books highly enough. Amazing! I eagerly await the final book in this powerful trilogy!



Many thanks to Zondervan and the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my copy of this incredible book!

Learn more about the author and her work!