Reviews of 'Leviathan with a Fish-hook'

An Excellent Read

Sue Russell's first novel is an excellent read. Eileen, her main character, is trying to live in a true Christian way and finds great help and comfort in extracts from the Bible. How can she ignore a desperately needy young man? Surely they were brought together for a reason. The story unfolds as she tries her best to help him given the restraints of all her other commitments.
A totally absorbing read, with many thought provoking facets without necessarily requiring a Christian faith to enjoy the experience.

A Refreshingly Honest Account

'There is a trend amongst so-called "opinion formers" to separate out people who profess a religious faith from the "rest" of society. SLRussell's novel refuses to bend to such artificial divisions. She draws Eileen, her main character, convincingly as a person of faith, but not one cocooned from reality. Indeed she faces some of the most difficult issues of our society. Drug abuse, mental illness, fraught human relationships are all interwoven into a compelling storyline. There are no easy answers, and Eileen is not presented as a saint. Here is the authentic messiness of real life, with all its loose ends. Eileen faces these dilemmas through the lens of faith, searching to see where the signposts of faith are pointing. This is the more effective because Eileen is not a religious "professional" or trained theologian, but the classic "person in the pew." Redemption, hope and grace are not found cheaply. In a beautifully descriptive work, SLRussell gives a refreshingly honest account of what it means to seek to live by the standards of the Christian faith in the 21st century.'

The Right Reverend Nigel Stock, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

'Enthralling and very readable.'

G.Ellen

'I couldn't put it down.'

I.M.Reynolds

An Absorbing and Original Story

'An absorbing and original story of considerable depth which stays with you long after you've read the last page. Well-written, with three-dimensional characters who are brought to life with such a sure touch they all but step off the page to tell you their story over a cup of coffee. Recommended reading for students of human nature - the main character's journey of faith, which underpins the plot, in no way detracted from this atheist's enjoyment of the story.'

S.A.Rule, author of the Shaihen Trilogy

A Rare Writer

'Sue Russell is that rare writer who is willing to write of the myriad choices of conscience which confront today's thoughtful Christian. By which I don't mean those who put it on for Sunday best, but those for whom Christianity constitutes the very fabric of their being and who daily face, with patience and long-suffering, an increasingly hostile and post-Christian world.'

M.M.Bennetts, author of 'May 1812' and 'Of Honest Fame.'

'Like nothing I'ver ever read.'

P.J.Reynolds

'Such deft description and portrayal of characters that you will believe yourself a part of their world.'

N.S.McVeagh

Beautifully Crafted

'This is a book that will stay with you long after you've read it. The story is about a modern-day Job, in this case, a woman who is gradually stripped of everything and at a time of crisis comes face to face with her own weakness. The shock of self-knowledge adds to the tension as events gather pace. The story is beautifully crafted and all the way through there is a sense of gentle unseen presence. At the end it is clear that "underneath are the everlasting arms." '

Edith Powney

A Very Human Character

'I like the way the heroine struggles with daily life and tries to think through her Christian values and how she should use them to solve the problems she faces. She is a very human character with whom all Christians can empathise.'

The Ven. Malcolm Squires, Archdeacon of Wrexham

'I found this book very thought-provoking, with a touch of H.E.Bates.'

Rodney

'Leviathan with a Fish-hook is well-written and a joy to read. I can't wait to find out what happens to Eileen in the next book.'

Melanie

Human reality

'It's not often that you can find Christian fiction of such quality. Sue Russell brings her characters - especially Eileen, her central character - into the focus of human reality that is both absorbing and understandable. The book is free of easy answers or judgment but shows how many struggle with their own demons or the demons of others. "Leviathan" is the first of a trilogy of books. I am looking forward to reading the next one.'

John Bloor

A review by C.F.Dunn, author of 'Mortal Fire'

With all her doubts and frailty, Eileen's gentle but gutsy lead character draws us into her life in this sensitive exploration of a woman's search for greater understanding of herself and her relationship with God. In a head-on collision with the everyday, 'Leviathan' combines a thought-provoking spiritual depth with earthy - sometimes cruel - reality. S.L.Russell avoids polemics, succeeding in engaging the reader on a number of levels with well-developed central characters and lively dialogue.

Beautiful and often elegant prose brings the English landscape vivdly alive, providing a backdrop to the gathering pace of this tale of humanity, until the tender, touching conclusion. 

Reviews of 'The Monster Behemoth'

A rare work of fiction

'After a breakdown, Eileen takes bold steps to start a new life but finds she is held back by something from her past. The story is set in the grim reality of 21st century life but is lit up by the wisdom of Scripture from both Old and New Testaments that is woven seamlessly into the narrative.

Eileen discovers that the only way forward is to go back and forgive the person she blames for her breakdown. The other characters in the book are drawn with the same honesty seen in Eileen's own reflections and as events gather pace, the suspense grows.

This is a riveting piece of fiction that illustrates the truth of Scripture and the desire of its Author to 'bind up the broken-hearted and set the prisoner free.'

It is a book of wide appeal and one that is full of hope.'

Edith Powney

A fantastic page-turner

'In S.L.Russell's sequel to 'Leviathan with a Fish-hook', Eileen continues her struggle to live as a good Christian and come to terms with her past. Another fantastic page-turner which will appeal to a wide audience. It's a gripping read leaving the reader eager for the next instalment. The romantic element deepens and Eileen tries to forgive and not forget the past.'

Maureen H, Wales

The trilogy so far!

'I have enjoyed reading both books even though I am not a Christian. The excellent way they are written draws you in; Eileen's a very believable character, and her past plus her everyday struggles and joys keep you well and truly hooked and wanting more. So looking forward to the next chapter in Eileen's life.'

Sandra Colyer, Kent

Review by Regina K. Foster, Hope for Women Magazine

'The Monster Behemoth' is a spiritually challenging fictional encounter set in the United Kingdom that shares the principal character Eileen's quest to respond Biblically to the effects of change in her life. Eileen closes the door on her relationship with Christopher, sells her home in Holton, and moves to Allerton, beginning a new life. Eileen becomes a friend you walk with through her life transitions, while learning from the challenges that change causes her to face.

REVIEWS OF 'THE LAND OF NIMROD'

Mari Howard, author of 'Baby, baby'

I enjoyed 'Nimrod', the last of the trilogy, very much. I warmed to the new characters and to Eileen's development over the book. Eileen, very much the main character, continues to develop along her journey of life. And this writer definitely sees our lives as a journey, not a series of random happenings. Having been forced to face up to desperate loss near the start of the book, Eileen departs from the trilogy with purpose and new goals.

This is a book you might lend to a friend who has suffered a traumatic change of direction - tactfully, and at the right time after the initial shock and grieving have subsided sufficiently. Russell tracks Eileen through meet-ups with friends from which she then returnes to face her loneliness and grief, charts the efforts of those friends to help, and then with sure touch takes her protagonist to places and the person where she finds the wisdom to discern her path.

She doesn't avoid the issue of Eileen being a person of faith and the part her belief plays in her decision-making as well as in her dialogue with God. This thread is by no means either sentimental or emotional: it deals in facts and it doesn't waver about the foibles and weaknesses of humanity, and God's use of the wounded healer to heal others.

If there is a weakness in the writing it is in the introduction of too many characters: Eileen's world buzzes with humanity, even though at the centre of it all, she is alone.This is hard to handle as fiction, and the reader might be not so much confused as left thinking 'I wish we'd known what happened to those people we met at the beginning, instread of meeting new ones near the end.'

And I am not sure who was to inherit her cat!

fjcb

I really enjoyed these books and missed Eileen and her family. I was hooked from the beginning, wanting to know how Eileen copes with the ups and downs of life and how her faith helped her when the going got tough!

It was an insight how life as a Christian can be challenging with problems that we could encounter in our lives every day.

The books made me think and reflect on my own journey.

Can't wait for this lady's next book.

Maureen H, Wales

In the last book of the trilogy, Eileen experiences even more of the trials and tribulations of life. She deals with them by relying on her Christian faith and eventually allows her friends and family to give the help and support she desperately needs.

Within the first few chapters a calm descends which in no way prepares the reader for the disaster that befalls Eileen. We feel her pain and live through her worst nightmares. Her life will never be the same again and decisions must be made for the future. She strives to find peace and in the process strengthens her beliefs.

Sue Russell has done it again, proving her ability to produce a thoroughly absorbing read.

Extracts from 'The Gospel according to Eileen,' a review article by A.R.F Carter

(In...) Russell's novels we find no denominational leaning, even if the main character is an Anglican, nor is there any hint of two miracles before breakfast; such miracles as we find are those to be observed by the sensitive Christian open to God's initiatives in everyday life. Nor do we find many of the Christian cultural assumptions common to the 19th C novel; the world in which Russell's characters move is fully (and accurately) drawn in all its post-modern, post-Christian secularism...

For Eileen the gospel must be redemptive both personally and socially, or it is no gospel at all. On the personal level her gospel has its bedrock in Bible study and prayer as well as regular worship, and is allowed to develop for her socially via her deep personal desire to work out her salvation in practical involvement with the lives of others in whose personal struggles she, through her own, is able to share...

...how does this trilogy of novels stand up in their own terms, as depicting the demands of living a faithful Christian life in a post-Christian world?.. In portraying such a world through the eyes of a character such as Eileen the author has faced a bold challenge and in many respects has succeeded in her response. 

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