EYES OF ELISHA
by Brandilyn Collins
The murder was ugly.
The killer was sure no one saw him.
Someone did.
In a horrifying vision, Chelsea Adams has relived the victim's last moments. But who will believe her?
This snippet from the back cover of Brandilyn Collins' Eyes of Elisha; doesn't do justice to the experience of reading this novel. "Ugly" doesn't begin to describe living, and dying, through the victim's eyes, and "sure" is but a drop of oil in the vat that is the killer's slick confidence.
New believer Chelsea Adams has been given the Spiritual gift that St. Paul teaches is the one we should desire.
Chelsea has been given the gift of prophecy.
She didn't ask for it, and she doesn't always appreciate it. She goes so far as to ask God to take it back until she is more prepared...because Chelsea doesn't like what she sees or what God calls her to do about it. And she has no idea who to turn to.
Her husband Paul is personally at odds with Chesea's new faith, and he can't accept that her "visions" are sent from a God he doesn't believe in. He does, however, love his wife, and he trusts her. Even though he doesn't agree with her, he stands with her (though cringing), and never fails to support her.
I would say that a husband like Paul could only exist in make believe if it weren't for Chelsea's constant prayers that he see and know the Truth.
I admire Ms. Collins for not whitewashing her Christian characters. Chelsea prays, questions, doubts, and is compelled to talk about her faith. I personally identify more with Officer Reiger, a believer who isn't as bold as Chelseay, but wishes he were.
Brandilyn Collins has a knack for ending each chapter with a cliffhanger; she forced me to keep turning "just one more" page as the clock wound late into the night. If you don't want to be similarly entrapped, then don't read this book. But if you love an enthralling story, characters that become friends, and a theme that will be engraved on your heart and cause you to ponder the limits of your own beliefs, then I definitely recommend you read Eyes of Elisha.
My rating:
4.5 out of 5
Catrina Bradley
"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes."
Psalm 18:24 (Msg)
