Healing Sands

I loved this series. The raw real life issues the characters face, the journey to healing and growing through pain. Accompanied with snippets of Sullivan crisps (the professional counselor) own pain and journey to healing. Beautifully written as well as intriguing - I never want to put them down once I start. I’m on the hunt for any books I can find similar to these ones!

Healing Sands is the 3rd book for Nancy Rue and she did not hold back in this book on the strong characters. We should keep in mind that, as Christians, we can have strong feelings and this includes anger towards God and family. At first I thought Ryan was very overpowering and wondered how one person could "be in your face" to such an extent. Yet, as the book develops, she realizes that to have a relationship with her boys and ex-husband, she has to back off and let them breathe too. I thought it interesting that her soccer Mom's stuck with her inspite of her very strong personality. The developing story of Sully was excellent and oh so glad that he found love after 13 years. Very well written and highly recommended for church libraries. I have all three of the Sullivan Crisp Series in my library.

Let me set the stage. After returning from Africa, Ryan Coe lands a job as the photographer for the local newspaper in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She is great at what she does and has a passion to tell the story through pictures. She gets called out to a scene where a local boy is hit by a truck and in critical condition. She arrives on scene snapping away. That is until she sees who the police pull out of the front seat of the truck. Her son. And that's the first chapter. And it made me want to read more. I loved the author's choice of words to tell the story. It made me want to keep reading. I always like it when a book does that. There's plenty of drama that weaves its way into the book, but it's also a beautiful story of a life changed, justice found, and relationships strengthened. I really liked this book. This was one of my favorite parts of the book... "When I was in college, I took a literary criticism class, and we spent one whole session talking about whether there's anything in the Humpty Dumpty poem that indicates he's actually an egg...we think of him as this giant ovum because that's what's always in the picture. I think that's one of the things that sealed my decision to become a photographer. Pictures have an even more powerful influence that words." Maybe it's because I love photos but I just love that!

Before reading Healing Sands by Nancy Rue and Stephen Arterburn, I knew I wanted to read the first 2 books in this series. I didn't want to come in to a story mid-plot, and be lost not knowing the character, Sullivan Crisp. I started with book 1, Healing Stones, then read book 2 Healing Waters. All 3 books touched me in different ways, all of them good. Each one with its own message, and own way of making you sit back, and think, then ask God... Lord, is this me? Sullivan Crisp is a therapist that uses game-show props, sounds, and references to get his point across, oh, and he's chasing demons of his own. He brings a quirky, compassionate, yet tortured view to each of his patients situations, all while trying to find the woman he holds accountable for his wife's death years earlier. When Ryan Coe walks into Sully's office, she expects miracles in a short time frame. Totally encompassed with anger, she knows that for her own mental state, and for the sake of her relationship with her two sons, she has to get her anger under control. Sully is her last resort. The Sullivan Crisp novels are all wonderful reads, bringing into focus issues that everyone has experience with to some extent, whether through personal or watching loved ones go through these problems. I got so lost in Healing Sands, I felt like I was sitting in Sully's office right beside Ryan, and walking side beside her as she dealt with the day to day issues, like and ex-husband, a son accused of murder, the clique of soccer moms, and the ex husband's very jealous girlfriend. That's enough to make even the calmest person angry. I hope the authors decide to keep this series going, I find myself clamoring for more Sully.

HEALING SANDS is a powerful tapestry woven of drama and mystery, shot through with sparkling threads of humor and poetry. This compelling story grabbed me and held me until the wee hours of the morning with laugh-out-loud and take-my-breath-away moments. Arterburn and Rue's writing reveals nuanced characters in compelling situations in settings that shimmer in their clarity. You'll blink sand from your eyes, and take new perspectives with you when you close the cover. I will read this book again--and highly recommend it to you (as I do Healing Stones (Sullivan Crisp Series #1)and Healing Waters: Sullivan Crisp Series #2 (Women of Faith Fiction) (2009 Novel of the Year).