The Canary List

Price: $13.99 for paperback

Format: Trade Paperback/ebook

ISBN: 9780307446466

Release: 6.21.2011

Fiction - Suspense

Book Summary: Protected by the dark of night, Jaimie Piper, a twelve year old foster child runs. Why? The reason she runs is because all of her life Evil has hunted her. The twelve year-old has been bumped around from one foster home to another and finds herself assigned to school classes for challenged kids, those lagging in their test scores or with behavioral issues. Her challenge, or real problem, is that she can sense something the other kids can’t—something dark. Something is compelling her to run for her life. Crockett Grey, her teacher, simply wants to mark the anniversary of his daughter’s death alone with a bottle of booze. But when Jaimie shows up at her house, terrified, her need for protection collides with his grief, and a tangled web of bizarre events sends them both spiraling toward destruction. Crockett’s one hope of getting his life back is to uncover the mysterious secrets of Jaimie’s past and her strange gift. It isn’t long before his discoveries lead him to a darker conspiracy, secrets guarded by the highest seat of power in the world—the Vatican.
About the Author: Sigmund Brouwer is a well-known author with books published by mainstream and evangelical publishers. He has written scores of books across many genres, from children's picture books to scientific thrillers, and more. A favorite cause of Brouwer's is to encourage children to love books. He visits 80,000 students per year at schools across North America to present Rock And Roll Literacy, drawing on the theme that great stories, like great songs, engage our feelings. To help with the literacy cause, he has also co-written two hockey fiction books in French with Gaston Gingras, who won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986. Brouwer also frequently presents Rock and Roll Literacy with six-time Stanley Cup Champion and NHL Hall-of-Famer Bryan Trottier, all in efforts to hook reluctant readers. Sigmund Brouwer has nearly 3 million copies of his books in print. Want to know more about him? Visit his website at http://www.sigmundbrouwer.com/
My Thoughts: As a Southerner I know the responsibilities canaries carry out in mines. I was not sure how that was going to fit into a book about a foster child, a man accused of a crime he did not commit, and the Vatican. I wondered what the three had in common. The Canary List was not at all what I had expected the storyline to be. Although the book is about the Vatican there was no Christian message in the plot at all. I found the book to be a kind of Nicholas Sparks vs. Angels and Demons story. The book is fiction and I am not sure how much of the information it gives about the Catholic Church is true and how much is embellished but after reading the book it drove me to go online and research much of the information about the Catholic Church and its rituals and ceremonies. The antagonist of the story, EVIL, seems to be present everywhere, even in the Vatican and Catholic church. This book was interesting-but it may not be for everyone. From the moment I began the book I did not want to put it down and I had to finish it to see what would happen in the end and even then I was not very satisfied with the finale and wanted more. The Canary List was a good read but not a five stars read. I did like Brouwers style and will read another book by him.  This was my very first ebook.  I consider myself somewhat of  a reading purist and love the feel of a real book in my hands.  I liked the ebook concept.
Disclaimer: This book was given to me by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Company to review, I was not paid or rewarded for my review in any way.