Higher Hope by Robert Whitlow

If I accomplished nothing else over the past few days, I did finish the book that I was reading. (Well, I did do a few scrapbook pages, but am never going to make it to Mt. Rushmore in the book at this rate.)

The book up for review tonight... Robert Whitlow's Higher Hope. Having read all the authors previous books, including the first in this series, this book had been on my "want to read list for a while" and required me begging my mom to buy it for me. Actually, I really didn't have to beg. We have a bit of an arrangement. I supply her with books to read - either from work, from blog tours, or my own purchases - and every once in a while she has to buy me a book that I end up passing along to her to read. I don't totally control my mom's reading list, but I do have a good chunk of influence. Now that she just finished book three in a series that we both started at book three, I think I'll have a couple of other new books coming my way.

I'll start out with the back cover copy for this book:

The Tides of Truth series follows one lawyer's passionate pursuit of truth--in matters of life and the law.

Competition is tough at the Savannah law firm where Tami Taylor serves as a law clerk. But Tami's work sets her apart--and the firm's partners see something special in her. So they assign her to a libel case against an abrasive, outspoken preacher who is either a prophet or a lunatic.

On the surface it appears to be an open and shut case; the preacher seems fully outside the bounds of law. And Tami's strict religious upbringing could be the firm's ace-in-the-hole. But as the investigation continues, Tami is troubled by the preacher's uncanny prophetic abilities. And their client seems to be hiding something.

Tami returns to her hometown, struggling with several critical choices--as two very different men from the firm vie for her heart. Just when the challenges seem insurmountable, hope for Tami arrives from a surprising place. And it's a higher hope than she's ever imagined.


I wasn't terribly crazy about this book. Oh yeah, I'll read the next one in the series, but this in all honesty wasn't my favorite recent read.

More than anything, I think the hang-up was with the religious traditions outside of my own beliefs. For example, prophetic female preachers on one end. Tami's visit home with her strict family upbringing was interesting though on the other. The best way that I can describe their lifestyle would be think the Duggars on a farm instead of running a used car lot - with fewer kids.

Tami was a bit too uptight this time around for me. But, that was kind of understandable. She's trying to figure out how to be an adult making her own decisions and working on her own relationships rather than doing everything the exact same way her parents would. Her growth from the beginning to end was good to see.

The legal side of each of Whitlow's books is always educational and interesting, and his main characters certainly vary from book to book. I wouldn't call any of them predictable. If you like legal thriller type books, I would recommend checking out Higher Hope and Robert Whitlow to you. Even if it wasn't my favorite, it was worth reading.

Comments

Pam said…
The Duggars running a used car lot? Now that would be interesting!
Audra Jennings said…
Josh Duggar does run a used car lot!