A Cry From the Dust

Title: A Cry From the Dust

Series: Gwen Marcey #1

Author: Carrie Stuart Parks

Genre: Suspense, Christian Fiction

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Source: Own

Challenge: Literary Escapes

My review:

I love reading Carrie Stuart Parks books! I did not realize this was her debut novel until I started writing this review 😀 A Cry From the Dust is the first in the Gwen Marcey series. While each can stand alone, I recommend reading them in order.

I kept thinking Gwen was familiar, and I finally realized I had read books two and three but had not read this one. I don't recommend doing that, LOL!

Gwen is a great character who is going through a lot. She is strong and determined, but at times naive. She is a unique, sympathetic character with dry humor. Her profession is fascinating, and it was neat to see what a forensic artist does.

This book is like an onion. The more you read the more, layers are revealed! It is fascinating, gripping, and hard to put down. There are so many facets to this book, yet they all come together seamlessly. There are several twists that you don't see coming. I had a hint of who the antagonist was but wasn't completely sure until it was revealed.

This book was different from what I was expecting. I am not sure how else to explain it, just different. I enjoyed it, enjoyed the unique story line and the solid writing. Having read the first book, I now want to go back and reread the second and third books before reading the fourth. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a solid suspense novel with unique story lines.

★★★★/5

Challenge: 

Utah

Synopsis (Goodreads): 

A secret from a grim page of American history threatens to destroy thousands of lives.

Gwen Marcey was tops in her forensic field. Then cancer struck, her husband left, and her teenage daughter engaged in active rebellion. Gwen's best chance to start a new life was a temporary job in Utah reconstructing faces from an 1857 massacre site.

The Mountain Meadows Interpretative Center asked Gwen to reconstruct the faces of three intact bodies that were discovered from the wagon train massacre of more than 120 people by Mormon fanatics calling themselves Avenging Angels. But just as she is nearing completion on her reconstructions, things around the center turn deadly.

Gwen discovers the ritualized murder of a young college student with a stolen identity and is called on by the local police to use her forensic art skills to aid the investigation. Soon she discovers an uncanny resemblance between one of her reconstructions and the death mask of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church. And realizes that she's the next target of the recreated Avenging Angels who believe she has an icon from the grave.

Gwen must weave through a labyrinth of Mormon history, discovering secret societies and festering grudges in a race against time.

Will she be able to stop another massacre?