~ Jacquie Ream's Book Reviews ~
--- "Forcing the Hand of God", About the Book Reviewed In Forcing the Hand of God, Jacquie Ream weaves a multi-layered story about a time both revered and reviled in American history -- that of the great war, World War II. At the center of the tale is Rodger Browne, a man caught in a web of conflict -- a soldier who must decide when to kill and when to show compassion, a husband and father who must choose between fighting the enemy abroad or serving his country stateside. But woven within the woof and warp of Rodger¹s narrative are the stories of so many others: the Chinese mechanic LinChing, and his daughter, Mary Elizabeth, wiser than any ten-year-old should be; Rodger¹s wife, the woman who abandoned her own burgeoning career to start the family he so wanted; the priest and nuns who run the ramshackle mission in Yunnan Province; Rodger¹s uncle, the dashing, man-about-town who woos the woman who gave Rodger the nurturing his own mother couldn¹t; and so many others who add to the tapestry of this tale. This is the story of people who fight the good fight, without and within. They are flawed, to be sure, but they continue to do their best as they fulfill their need to help one another as they move through this turbulent time. Rich in history, filled with unforgettable characters, posing those questions that haunt a nation decades later, Forcing the Hand of God makes for an engrossing and timeless read. --- Review by Jennifer Wilson, Anacortes, Wa Engagingly written, Forcing the Hand of God gives us a peek at what it meant to be a pilot during World War II and what it took to love and support a man in the military. The author does an amazing job of intertwining love and longing with family complexities into a compelling tale of a fighter pilot and the internal decisions he must make for himself and others. An intricately woven story about relationships that push traditional boundaries, I felt compelled to understand them for myself as well as the characters. This novel explores the complexity of human behavior and relationships in all their various forms and shows the reader how things are never as clear as we might think. Forcing the Hand of God is both thought provoking and memorable; an irresistible novel that was hard to put down. --- Review by William R.Stampe, CMSgt, USAF, Ret. Within the pages of Forcing the Hand of God, you will enter as a silent visitor among the private lives of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times. Where love and desire compete with duty and honor, you become a witness to the intense passion for life that only appears when death threatens. A master story teller, Jacquie Ream weaves her web of words that will entangle every emotion that drives our need to embrace love and to exude anger. At the end of this tale, you will emerge with a greater sense of appreciation for life's gifts as well as its trials, while learning more about the heart and soul of the common man. And you may even learn a bit more about yourself. --- Review by Heidi Clarke Prepared for a sense of WWII from a pilot’s point of view, I was moved by the interspersing of life on the home front. Having recently read letters written home by my own father, this gave me a certain insight as to what loved ones went through as daily life continued. The ever present shadow of fear clouding the mundane. --- Review by Stephany Watson From the start, one is drawn in, first to the family, then to the dilemmas, then to the feeling that I was with the pilot, in the left seat, throttles full open as the wheels broke free of the runway. Through the words and minds of these characters, I am the mother, wife and son existing each day torn apart not just by geography, but by the beating heart of each person. This book is pure pleasure and a must read!
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Contact Jacquie Ream by email at
jacquieream@reamink.com