Book picks similar to
Devil in the Dust by Cara Luecht


historical-fiction
fiction
christian
christian-fiction

The Devil and Pastor Gus


Roger E. Bruner - 2014
    Half a century old. Closer to the grave than cradle. And what does Pastor Gus Gospello have to show for his fifty years on earth? Not much. Shepherd of a small church. Married without kids. Faithful keeper of God's commands. Well, most of them, anyway. Gus longs to make a difference for God - to have an eternal legacy. Now, as he comes to grips with his mid-life crisis, Gus acknowledges he'll never be another John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, or Billy Graham. But can he become the next C.S. Lewis? His wife thinks so. Fueled with the unbridled hope of a naïve novelist, Gus sets out to craft a novel so rich in spiritual symbolism and truth that even the Devil takes notice. And that's never a good sign. The last time the Devil and Gus met, Gospello's pen hovered over the signature line of a dangerous contract - his soul in exchange for a child. But when Gus turned his back on the Great Deceiver, the news spread like Hellfire. Ever since, Satan's been obsessed with personally delivering Gus to Hell. With his eye on Gus's new novel, the Devil tempts Gus with a peek into the spiritual realm of good and evil for a truthful account of his rise, fall, and enduring success. The Devil will feed Gus information few mortals are privileged to know. In return Gus will craft what's sure to become a best seller. Of course, Gus has no intention of making the Accuser look as winsome as promised. Instead, Gus plans to write a scathing satire, exposing the Devil's excessive arrogance. But when the prologue to Gus's novel inexplicably appears in a popular Christian magazine and the Devil is shown to be a pride-filled fool, he seeks to destroy Gus and everything the pastor holds dear, including his precious wife. Gus, willing to lay himself on the line to turn his little flock back to God, makes one last deal and signs the dotted line. Satan finally has claim on Gus's soul, and with it, vindication. But Gus has a few tricks of his own. Win or lose, Pastor Gus is about to discover that striking a deal with Satan, even in jest, can have eternal consequences.

Saving Sailor: A Quirky Girl, A Faithful Dog, and One Unforgettable Summer


Renee Riva - 2007
    After spending the first half of summer vacation driving her Italian family crazy with her fake southern accent, 10-year old A.J. finds a soul mate on the other side of the island to divert her attention.She is intrigued to learn that Danny shares her same burning desire to know God and realizes that few people her age think as deeply as the two of them do.However, the depth of their newfound faith and friendship is soon tested when Danny's father betrays his wife.Set in a simpler time, Saving Sailor is a heartwarming tale of how hearts can change and relationships can be restored with God's help.

Vestige of Power


Sara Blackard - 2020
    Born and raised in the heart of the Rockies, Joseph can’t imagine a more exciting life. But when one wrong step lands him in the alleys of an unknown city, excitement takes a new turn. Will he get his bearings in time to help a stranger whose life’s about to be threatened? Though Victoria grew up in high society, her father encouraged her to follow her dreams. Now she wants everyone to have the same freedom she’s had. Freedom to an education, no matter your gender or social rank. Little does she realize speaking at a rally will change her life completely. Can Joseph and Victoria look past those grasping for power around them to their true destinies or will the shadows of doubt keep them from all God means for them? A Vestige in Time novella

The Discovery


Dan Walsh - 2012
    When he dies he leaves his Charleston estate to his grandson, Michael, an aspiring writer himself. Michael settles in to write his own first novel and discovers an unpublished manuscript his grandfather had written, something he'd kept hidden from everyone but clearly intended Michael to find. Michael begins to read an exciting tale about Nazi spies and sabotage, but something about this story is different from all of Gerard Warner's other books. It's actually a love story. As Michael delves deeper into the story he discovers something that has the power to change not only his future but his past as well. Laced with suspense and intrigue, The Discovery is a richly woven novel that explores the incredible sacrifices that must be made to forge the love of a lifetime. Author Dan Walsh delivers yet another unique and heartfelt story that will stick with readers long after they turn the last page.

Crime Scene Jerusalem


Alton Gansky - 2007
    While staying at a hotel in Jerusalem, he steps out to meet his driver and discovers he has been miraculously transported to ancient Jerusalem in the days following Jesus' crucifixion. According to his guide, the only way for Odom to return to his own time is by solving a historical crime—a conspiracy of the many to kill the One. Attempting to run a modern forensics investigation in the first century, he is forced to look at his own beliefs, attitudes, and life in a whole new light.

Coldwater Revival


Nancy Jo Jenkins - 2006
    A masterful debut, Coldwater Revival will forever be etched in your memories and upon your heart.Download the Readers' Guide.

Into the Free


Julie Cantrell - 2012
    But she’s the only one strong enough to break the family cycle.In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs. For answers,Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?Saturated in Southern ambiance and written in the vein of other Southern literary bestsellers like The Help by Kathryn Stockett and CrookedLetter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, Julie Cantrell has created Into theFree—now a New York Times bestseller—a story that will sweep you away long after the novel ends.

The Gilded Curse


Marilyn Turk - 2018
    Ten years before, the family quit coming to the exclusive Millionaire’s Club after a series of freak accidents. Her mother believed God cursed the island. Locals say it’s haunted. Russell Parker, whose family has worked at the Jekyll Island Hotel since it opened in 1887, knows many secrets. For the past ten years, he has kept his promise to Lexie’s brother to conceal the incident that ended the Smithfield’s resort vacations. When Lexie and Russell meet again as adults, familiar feelings of friendship mix with new ones of attraction. Set at a time when the resort’s popularity has waned due to the Depression and World War II, many of the cottages have been abandoned, casting a cloud of gloom over the island. Lexie and Russell face threats from the outside such as German U-boats offshore, as well as their own fears of exposure and rejection. Is Lexie’s destiny cursed by the family’s history, or will Russell help her learn the truth and find peace? Or does the truth threaten someone else, putting both their lives at risk?

Hidden Prospects


Karen Baney - 2014
    Because of the pain of her past mistakes, she has taken on a shy personality to protect her heart. When her father remarries and sends her away, she goes to Prescott, the town where her only friend lives. She never expected she would end up working for such an attractive business man. As her heart begins to hope for the future, she must keep her past from destroying it.After years of supporting his mother and siblings, Paul Lancaster now has his independence. He splits his time between his placer mine and the boardinghouse he built for his mother. When a spinster comes to town to visit a friend, he wonders if she could be the love he has waited so long to find. In the midst of it all, his life turns upside down and he stands to lose both of his businesses.Will the secrets of their pasts keep them from finding the hidden prospect of new love?

The Matchmaker’s Rogue


Regina Scott - 2020
    She is the hostess of the spa, arranging introductions and entertainments and playing matchmaker to the ladies and gentlemen who come to take the waters, promenade through the shops, and dance at the assembly. But when a rogue returns from her past, Jess finds herself suddenly at sea.Always an adventurer, Larkin Denby left Grace-by-the-Sea to right the wrongful death of his father. Now he’s back on a mission: to identify the mysterious Lord of the Smugglers who allegedly sails from Grace Cove and takes England’s secrets to France. But Grace-by-the-Sea is the perfect little spa town, run by the still oh-so-perfect Jesslyn Chance. When the village’s future is threatened, Jess must work with Lark to solve the mystery and protect the town’s own. In doing so, the matchmaker of Grace-by-the-Sea may just find that the best match for her is the rogue who stole her heart years ago.

The Widow's Plight


Mary Davis - 2018
    She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future? Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first, but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother. Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?

Dangerous Pursuits : 15 Stories From Today's Most Popular Mystery and Suspense Authors


Ronie KendigDana Mentink - 2021
    Cold Nights. Dangerous Pursuits.The chill of fall brings with it a hint of peril in Dangerous Pursuits, a clean and Christian suspense anthology featuring some of today’s most popular female authors.Start your fall off right with 15 gripping tales of Clean and Christian suspense from today's most popular ladies of mystery and suspense. Join Mary Alford, Lisa Harris, Therese Heckenkamp, Cynthia Hickey, Gina Holder, Ronie Kendig, Dana R Lynn, Shirlee McCoy, Dana Mentink, J. Carol Nemeth, Cara Putman, Sharee Stover, Terri Reed, Alana Terry, Lenora Worth on a dangerous journey filled with mystery and suspense that will keep you turning pages until the very. Last. One.

Harbor Secrets


Melody Carlson - 2018
    Deciding it’s time to repair bridges, Anna packs up her precocious adolescent daughter and heads for her hometown in Sunset Cove, Oregon.Although much has changed since the turn of the century, some things haven t. Anna finds the staff of her father s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief role, but her father insists he wants her at the helm. Anna is quickly pulled into the charming town and her new position…but just as quickly learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous secrets.With Oregon s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept along the seacoast and invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant to get to know her father again over the summer, but instead she finds herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen and trying to keep her daughter safe from it all.

Irish Encounter


Hope Toler Dougherty - 2015
    Perhaps she’ll find adventure during a visit to Galway. Her idea of excitement consists of exploring Ireland for yarn to feature in her shop back home, but the adventure awaiting her includes an edgy stranger who disrupts her tea time, challenges her belief system, and stirs up feelings she thought she’d buried with her husband. After years of ignoring God, nursing anger, and stifling his grief, Payne Anderson isn’t ready for the feelings a chance encounter with an enchanting stranger evokes. Though avoiding women and small talk has been his pattern, something about Ellen makes him want to seek her—and God again.Can Ellen accept a new life different than the one she planned? Can Payne release his guilt and accept the peace he’s longed for? Can they surrender their past pain and embrace healing together, or will fear and doubt ruin their second chance at happiness?

Against the Tide


Elizabeth Camden - 2012
    Now, she's finally carved out a perfect life for herself--a life of stability and order with no changes, surprises, or chaos of any kind. She adores her apartment overlooking the bustling Boston Harbor, and her skill with languages has landed her a secure position as a translator for the U.S. Navy.However, it is her talent for translation that brings her into contact with Alexander Banebridge, or "Bane," a man who equally attracts and aggravates her. When Bane hires Lydia to translate a seemingly innocuous collection of European documents, she hesitantly agrees, only to discover she is in over her head.Just as Bane's charm begins to win her over, Lydia learns he is driven by a secret campaign against some of the most dangerous criminals on the East Coast, compelled by his faith and his past. Bane forbids any involvement on Lydia's part, but when the criminals gain the upper hand, it is Lydia on whom he must depend.