Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble

Published by Thomas Nelson Fiction July 11, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Christian

Pages: 368 pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Publisher’s Description

Dana has already learned that love isn’t safe . . . but could it be different in Rock Harbor?

As a 911 dispatcher, Dana Newell takes pride in being calm in tough circumstances. In addition to her emotionally-charged career, she’s faced enough emergencies in her own life. She recently escaped her abusive fiancé to move to tranquil Rock Harbor where she hopes life will be more peaceful.

But the idyllic town hides more danger and secrets than it first appeared. Dana is continually drawn to her new friend Boone, who has scars inside and out. Then she answers a call at her job only to hear a friend’s desperate screams on the other end. Soon the pain in her past collides with the mysteries of her new home—and threatens to keep her from the future she’s always wanted.

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Story Notes

Colleen Coble’s return to Rock Harbor brings mystery, danger and enough suspense to keep readers engaged from the first page to the last.

As a long-time fan of Colleen Coble I was excited to return to Rock Harbor with her in her latest story. Rather that keeping the focus on Bree Matthews, nee Nicholls, Ms. Coble chose to have the story told through the eyes of Bree’s friend Dana Newell. There were a few other characters viewpoints added in, mainly that of Boone Carter, but the main story centered around Dana. Dana has come to Rock Harbor in search of peace and safety after her boyfriend, Garrett, attacked and stalked her back in Washington state. She plans to stay with her adoptive brother, Chris, and work as a 911 dispatcher for the area, a job she was happy to be able to continue from her life in Washington. But coming home brings with it much more excitement and danger than Dana has anticipated: from a possible new relationship with Boone, to the presence in town of Garrett who is seeking to get even, to the missing persons/murder case that Dana inadvertently finds herself in the middle of, Ms. Coble includes a wonderfully terrifying number of situations that make you hold your breath until you see how they turn out. I always enjoy a good mystery in which the author uses assumption and distraction to keep the real culprit hidden. I did manage to figure out the guilty person before it was revealed but not too soon, which makes me feel like I “beat” the characters to the right conclusion – which, I’m sure, is Ms. Coble’s clever intention. It was also fun to be ridiculously scared for Dana when she confronted Garrett and later, the killer. If I don’t feel like the characters were in actual danger it makes the book a bit boring, but Ms. Coble definitely strove to keep you glued to the pages of her story to find out “who dunnit?” and why. Ms. Coble also used one of my favorite character building plots – strength training and self-defense. Dana had a lot of fear in her life and had so little confidence in her ability to take care of herself when in danger that I was glad to see her grow strong throughout the story. Boone taught Dana to not only prepare her body to defend herself, but also to use mental and spiritual strength to give her defensive moves the power needed to fight off possible attackers. Dana, in turn, taught Boone to be less-defensive about his past physical and spiritual scars and let others see the kind and helpful side of himself. Dana’s faith in the face of all her problems teaches Boone that God gives strength to those who ask for it and will be there to catch His children when they fall. As their relationship grows, they will find themselves tested to their absolute limits, and thankfully, they come out even stronger both individually and as a couple. I was further glad to see that Lauri finally realized that she’s not as smart as she thinks she is, especially when it comes to men. She’s had some rough years and done some growing up in the past couple of books but I hope Ms. Coble is finally going to have her take time to mature a little in her ability to read people and in her spiritual life. Perhaps the next book will tell more of her story – one can always hope! The only problem I find with a good book such as this is that it ends before I’m ready to be finished. I’ve really loved the Rock Harbor series so far and hope Ms. Coble will be adding more books very soon. I will definitely recommend both the series and this book in particular to others, hoping they will enjoy it as much as I did.

I received this E-book free of charge from Thomas Nelson Fiction via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation from either company for this review.