Red Runs the River

This book is very good. It is intriguing and hard to put down. Anthony Bollback, having visited China as a missionary, relies on his knowledge of the country to write a very realistic drama. He writes it as fiction, although most of the incidents actually happened. The subplot of Meiling and Anching's love for each other is an interesting inclusion that helps keep the book from becoming too boring. One distracting quality that I found is that the characters seemed to express themselves over-descriptively. That might just be how people talk in China, but it seemed somewhat strange to me. Otherwise, this book is a very good book and a definite "page-turner". Overall, this was one of the best books I have read for a while and it was well worth the time. I would highly recommend this book, as well as "Exiles of Hope", the second volume in the two-book series by Bollback. Also, I would recommend Bollback's two other books about China: "To China and Back", an autobiography, and "Giants Walked Among Us", a biography about Paul and Ina Bartel. Read and enjoy.

this book is a good read and hard to put down. the realism is good and it is obvious the author knows his stuff. historical accuracy also seems to be good. but the drama is there and the love story angle helps keep this from being too dry. obviously the underpinning storyline of persecution is a tough one.

this has been an inspiring book to lead my people in praying more clearly for our brothers and sisters in christ who suffer persecution.

In this first volume of a proposed 2 volume series the author has captured the anguish of believers in China faced with the very real persecutions of their faith. As a western believer the story caused me to be thankful for my own freedoms. Written from the perspective of a novel, I was pleased yet humbled to learn that all the facets of this story are based on actual accounts with real people in China. This well written story will captivate you as it did me and will keep you reading until you are done.