Stories & Reflection

READ: Review, THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME by Cynthia Ruchti
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 by Marti

Categories: Cynthia Ruchti / Read

A review--and a drawing to win this exciting new book!

Fear. Stark, gripping fear.

They Almost Always Comes Home opens with a fear that closes in on Libby Holden as she realizes her husband, Greg, is missing. Alone on what he intended as his dream trip through the Canadian wilderness, he hasn’t returned. Not yet. And maybe not ever.

Libby’s fears compound as the search begins. They magnify as she confronts her true feelings about her failing marriage, her missed opportunities, and her own failures. As she, her best friend, and her irascible but wilderness-savvy father-in-law embark on a journey to find her husband, Libby doesn’t realize she’s on a journey to discover much more.

As I read this debut novel, I found myself turning the pages and drinking in great gulps of story as though someone might snatch it away before I quenched my thirst. Ruchti’s plot captured me. Her characters moved me. And her gifts of language and imagery left me in awe.

Every great novel has the goal of story and the result of inner change. They Almost Always Come Home tells a compelling tale that moved me to reexamine myself and my own often-selfish approach to life and relationships. As it moves back and forth between fear and faith, the book leaves the reader with a sense of satisfaction—and a longing for more.

I’ve decided to give a little background for the authors I know personally. I won't review a book I can't recommend, but I think it's appropriate to tell you when my acquaintance goes beyond Facebook or hearsay.

Cynthia and I had corresponded through an online writers' group but became instant friends this spring when we served on faculty together at the Quad-Cities Christian Writers’ Conference. My only regret about our connection is that many miles separate us. Cynthia lives in Wisconsin where she makes potato corn chowder for her husband of 37 years, loves on her three kids and five grandchildren, writes and produces a daily radio broadcast called The Heartbeat of the Home, edits and writes for the radio ministry magazine Backyard Friends, writes devotionals for TheChristianPulse.com, and serves as the current president of the 2,000-member American Christian Fiction Writers. Read more about Cynthia and her stories of hope that glows in the dark at www.cynthiaruchti.com.

Sound like a book you'd love to read? Leave a comment here (or through the "contact" form on my website--click "contact" to the right of this post) and I'll enter you to win an autographed copy of They Almost Always Come Home. I'll announce the winner on Friday, June 11, so leave your comment before midnight Eastern Time on the 10th. Make sure to include your email address and a few words about your interest in this book.


Previous Posts

Review: Keeping Christmas by Dan Walsh
Marti

11/18/2015

Words with Friends: Cynthia Ruchti
Marti

10/23/2015

Review: An Endless Christmas by Cynthia Ruchti
Marti

10/22/2015

Review: The Caregiver's Notebook by Jolene Philo
Marti

3/17/2015

Pray: Top Ten Signs You've Just Returned from a Short-Term Mission Trip
Marti

7/29/2014

READ: Just 18 Summers by Rene Gutteridge and Michelle Cox
Marti

5/6/2014

READ: 12 Pearls of Christmas, Day 4: The Nativity by Lynn Austin
Marti

12/17/2013

WRITE: Words with Friends: Becky Harling
Marti

12/12/2013

READ: Review, The 30-Day Praise Challenge by Becky Harling
Marti

12/10/2013

READ: Review, Engaging Today's Prodigal by Carol Barnier
Marti

12/3/2013

READ: Review, Breaking Invisible Chains by Susan Titus Osborn, Jeenie Gordon, and Karen Kosman
Marti

11/5/2013

READ: Review, Experiencing God's Presence by Linda Evans Shepherd
Marti

10/22/2013

READ: Review, I'm Too Young to Be This Old by Poppy Smith
Marti

10/15/2013

READ: Why I'd Like to Review the Sword Study (But Can't)
Marti

9/27/2013

READ: Review, Harriet Beamer Strikes Gold by Joyce Magnin
Marti

9/25/2013

READ: Review, CAKE by Joyce Magnin
Marti

1/12/2013

READ: Review, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Marti

4/4/2012

READ: Review, Because You Care by Cecil Murphey and Twila Belk
Marti

3/16/2012

YA Friday: READ--Vote for SUSIE Magazine
Marti

3/9/2012

READ: Review, Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter
Marti

2/14/2012

READ: Review, Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker (Emma Rae Creation Se
Marti

2/7/2012

READ: Review, Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Marti

2/1/2012

READ: Review, Cooking the Books by Bonnie S. Calhoun
Marti

1/10/2012

READ: Review, The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp
Marti

1/5/2012

READ: Review, There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones (YA Friday)
Marti

12/30/2011

READ: Review, When Someone You Love No Longer Remembers by Cecil Murphey
Marti

12/20/2011

YA Friday: READ Review, Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis with Beth Clark
Marti

12/16/2011

READ: Review, Blame it on the Mistletoe by Joyce Magnin
Marti

12/14/2011

READ: Review, Called to Serve by Lt. Col. Tony Monetti & Penny Monetti
Marti

9/2/2011

READ: Review, Simply Salsa by Janet Perez Eckles
Marti

8/9/2011

READ: Attitude-inize by Jan Coates
Marti

6/9/2011

READ: When You Can't Find God by Linda Evans Shepherd
Marti

6/3/2011

READ: One Year Alone with God by Ava Pennington
Marti

5/31/2011

READ: Review, Knowing God, Knowing Myself by Cecil Murphey
Marti

3/23/2011

READ: Review, Following God One Yes at a Time
Marti

3/15/2011

READ: Review, Griselda Takes Flight by Joyce Magnin
Marti

3/1/2011

READ: Review, The Me Project by Kathi Lipp
Marti

2/23/2011

READ: Review, 31 Days to a Younger You by Arlene Pellicane
Marti

2/15/2011

READ: Review, Broken Heart on Hold by Linda W. Rooks
Marti

1/25/2011

READ: Review, Unless It Moves the Human Heart by Roger Rosenblatt
Marti

1/18/2011

READ: Review, Bound by Guilt by C.J. Darlington
Marti

1/11/2011

READ: Review, If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn
Marti

1/5/2011

READ: Review, The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers
Marti

12/21/2010

READ: Review, Flourish by Catherine Hart Weber, Ph.D.
Marti

12/14/2010

READ: Review, Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes
Marti

11/19/2010

READ: Review, The Smart Stepmom by Ron L. Deal and Laura Petherbridge
Marti

10/20/2010

READ: Review, Paperdoll by Natalie Lloyd
Marti

10/8/2010

READ: SUSIE Magazine
Marti

9/22/2010

READ: Review, FINDING HOPE FOR YOUR JOURNEY THROUGH BREAST CANCER by Yvonne Ortega
Marti

9/8/2010

READ: Review, D.I.V.A.S. OF THE DIVINE by Donna McCrary and Sherri Holbert
Marti

8/10/2010

READ: Review, GOD ALONE IS ENOUGH by Claudia Mair Burney
Marti

6/18/2010

READ: Review, THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME by Cynthia Ruchti
Marti

6/8/2010

READ: Review, LIFE WITH LORD BYRON by Peggy Nelson
Marti

5/26/2010

READ: Review, Life's Too Short to Miss the Big Picture: Making the Most of What's Important by Steve
Marti

5/15/2010

READ: Review, The Plan a Woman in a Plan B World by Debbie Taylor Williams
Marti

4/20/2010

READ: Words of Comfort for Times of Loss by Cecil Murphey and Liz Allison (Blog Tour--and Two Opport
Marti

3/30/2010

READ: Review, White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner (Waterbrook, 2009)
Marti

3/23/2010

READ: Firm Foundations, Fulfilled Dreams: An Interview with Author C.J. Darlington (Part III)
Marti

3/15/2010

READ: Firm Foundations, Fulfilled Dreams: An Interview with Author C.J. Darlington (Part I)
Marti

3/8/2010

READ: Introducing Sexy Christians and the Sexy Christians Workbook
Marti

3/1/2010

READ: The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin (Abingdon Press, 2009)
Marti

2/22/2010

READ: "My name is Marti, and I am a bibliophile."
Marti

2/17/2010