Unholy Hunger: A Novel

by Heather James

Overview

Evelyn Barrett wants to die. As long as her daughter’s murderer dies with her, she is ready to go. Why did this man—this stranger—destroy her family? Why has he not been brought to justice? Why is she forced to live a life of anger and grief? Amid a million questions she cannot answer, Evelyn knows one thing for sure: this murderer must be punished for his crime. Perhaps the harder lesson is this: the ultimate truth—of crime and verdict, of life and death—cannot be swayed by a mother’s revenge.

In this first book of a new, page-turning series, a woman will be brought to her limits before she finally recognizes the movement of the Holy Spirit and reconnects with the source of true peace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825442919
Publisher:	Kregel Publications
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Series:	Lure of the Serpent Series , #1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Heather James is a practicing attorney and newspaper columnist who writes on marriage, family, and parenting matters. She is the author of two novels, Unholy Hunger and Hands of Darkness.

Editorial Reviews

There is something unpalatable about this inaugural novel in the Lure of the Serpent series by first-time novelist James, and it partly centers on Evelyn Barrett. Barrett’s four-year-old daughter, Corinne, is abducted and murdered, and the agonized mother jumps right into craziness. Barrett screams at her mother during Corinne’s funeral, steals the case file from detectives, murders a suspect, leaves her husband, discovers she can smell pedophiles, and routinely butts into police business. She’s rude, demanding, and willful, too. Combine an unlikable protagonist with overwrought writing (“I let hot, voluntary tears commingle with the trickling water because even I couldn’t tell which was which”) and readers face trouble. Admittedly, Evelyn faces her demons and gives voice to the age-old battle between justice for wrongs and faith in God’s way. But readers will find this a difficult tale to swallow and difficult to feel anything but incredulous exasperation for the main character. Agent: Greg Johnson, WordServe Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Attorney Evelyn Barrett's life is shattered when her daughter is murdered. Seeking justice that she feels cannot be delivered by the police, Evelyn murders the man she believes is responsible—only to later learn that she may have been misguided. As her marriage suffers, Evelyn believes that she can smell evil—the "unholy hunger"—in some people and is determined to seek justice for the innocent. Is she correct? Will her daughter's killer be identified? Can Evelyn save her marriage and regain control of her life?

Wonderful analogies and language flourish in James' start to her Lure of the Serpent series. Despite seeking vigilante justice, Evelyn has a vulnerability to her that is charming. Without a strong connection to God, hate and evil can overtake us. This is evident in the vicious cycle that perpetuates abuse spanning generations. (Four Stars)

RT Book Reviews

Is there any sadness greater than losing a child. And when that child is taken suddenly, not by illness or accident, but by an unspeakable monster, luring them like a serpent to their death, the grief is unbearable. Evelyn Barrett knows that grief. At the height of a successful career as an attorney, Evelyn had everything, a wonderful husband, plenty of money, and a little girl that was the center of her universe. But, just when she thought things couldn't get any better, her world went spinning out of control. Her 4-year-old daughter, Corinne, was brutally murdered. Evelyn could hardly believe her ears when she answered the phone on that warm spring morning. Corinne's nanny was on the other end and telling her that Corinne was gone. Corinne had been kidnapped while the nanny had dozed at the park. Later that same day, a janitor at Mercy Hospital found Corinne's lifeless body near a seldom-used staff entrance. At that moment, Evelyn's life changed forever. Her only goal was to find the person who'd done this, and make them pay.

Unholy Hunger, "Lure of the Serpent" Book 1, by Heather James, is a novel that slaps you in the face and holds you in suspense, as you watch this grieving mother relentlessly pursue what's become her prey, the animal that took her daughter's life. -- Connie Maier, CBA Retailers + Resources

Connie Maier