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whiskeyinthejar's review
3.0
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
Star Witness is an inspirational romantic suspense story, this means it has a religious tone and in this case Christian ideology influences. As someone who doesn't typically read this subgenre, I found the beginning focused more on the suspense side and the ending dealt more with what the characters felt could be their salvation. The Christian values were never overly off putting and if a reader enjoyed such aspects they would enjoy how it is weaved in.
Mackenzie has lived the last several years of her life alone and isolated due to a Colombian drug lord. A lifetime ago Mackenzie used to be known as Lani and she was a huge up and coming pop star with the world at her fingertips and a spoiled outlook on life. This all changed when her manager failed to pay back the money he owed to Carosa, the drug lord, who's brother gunned him down in front of Lani. Lani and her bodyguards were also shot but only Lani survived. After testifying against the brother and sending him to jail, Lani becomes Mackenzie through the Witness Protection program. Years have passed with Mackenzie still in hiding when her car tires get slashed and she senses someone following her. Calling her witness protection officer, Eric, she only reaches his voicemail. As she is walking home a car starts to follow, she takes off and the chase is on. Mackenzie is about to enter a coffee shop when shots are fired but luckily she runs into Eric as he is coming out and he pulls her to the ground and gets her to safety. The coincidence seems a little too fortuitous and it actually is, the Eric she ran into is in fact his twin brother Aaron. When this all gets figured out it turns out Eric has been investigating a potential rat in his office who could be compromising witness identities so he asks his brother Aaron to watch over Mackenzie for him. Luckily, Aaron is a Delta Force soldier so he is physically up to the task but after a botched last mission, mentally he is not quite stable yet.
The beginning started off intense as Mackenzie was running for her life and figuring out who she could and couldn't trust. Aaron was a cool casual keep it together guy even when the bullets were flying but due to his day job this was understandable. Mackenzie came off a bit needy and too demanding of Aaron at times. At one point in the book they are surrounded by four gunmen and she is sad and disappointed when Aaron "just lets them take her". Let's cut the guy a break, he is Delta Force not Superman. There are other instances in the book too where her lack of trust, which is suppose to demonstrate that their relationship is building, instead came off as a lack of common sense. Mackenzie starts off a sympathetic character but dips into annoying at times throughout the book. While Mackenzie had the tendency to become annoying she did have depth to her, Aaron was one dimensional for a chunk of the story. The main thing on his mind was how he mismanaged his first time as team leader. The point of this was to obviously add broodiness to him but his fixation was basically the same three thoughts over and over that lacked to give it substance.
Even though the main characters had their profoundness problems the overall story arc was suspenseful enough to keep me reading. The main villain is not up front and center but the threat of him and how Mackenzie and Aaron have to stay on the move keep the excitement going. Secondary characters such as Aaron's friends Doug and Sabine, who enter the scene to help add extra dynamics, work to keep things interesting. As I said before the ending starts to get heavy handed with the religion but if you enjoy this aspect to your stories then Mackenzie and Aaron's eventual acceptance to their own personal enlightenment will add a pleasant quality to the story for you.
The writing, pace, and overall story is solid and entertaining. If looking for a quick read that integrates suspense and Christian themes, Star Witness would be a good purchase.
Star Witness is an inspirational romantic suspense story, this means it has a religious tone and in this case Christian ideology influences. As someone who doesn't typically read this subgenre, I found the beginning focused more on the suspense side and the ending dealt more with what the characters felt could be their salvation. The Christian values were never overly off putting and if a reader enjoyed such aspects they would enjoy how it is weaved in.
Mackenzie has lived the last several years of her life alone and isolated due to a Colombian drug lord. A lifetime ago Mackenzie used to be known as Lani and she was a huge up and coming pop star with the world at her fingertips and a spoiled outlook on life. This all changed when her manager failed to pay back the money he owed to Carosa, the drug lord, who's brother gunned him down in front of Lani. Lani and her bodyguards were also shot but only Lani survived. After testifying against the brother and sending him to jail, Lani becomes Mackenzie through the Witness Protection program. Years have passed with Mackenzie still in hiding when her car tires get slashed and she senses someone following her. Calling her witness protection officer, Eric, she only reaches his voicemail. As she is walking home a car starts to follow, she takes off and the chase is on. Mackenzie is about to enter a coffee shop when shots are fired but luckily she runs into Eric as he is coming out and he pulls her to the ground and gets her to safety. The coincidence seems a little too fortuitous and it actually is, the Eric she ran into is in fact his twin brother Aaron. When this all gets figured out it turns out Eric has been investigating a potential rat in his office who could be compromising witness identities so he asks his brother Aaron to watch over Mackenzie for him. Luckily, Aaron is a Delta Force soldier so he is physically up to the task but after a botched last mission, mentally he is not quite stable yet.
The beginning started off intense as Mackenzie was running for her life and figuring out who she could and couldn't trust. Aaron was a cool casual keep it together guy even when the bullets were flying but due to his day job this was understandable. Mackenzie came off a bit needy and too demanding of Aaron at times. At one point in the book they are surrounded by four gunmen and she is sad and disappointed when Aaron "just lets them take her". Let's cut the guy a break, he is Delta Force not Superman. There are other instances in the book too where her lack of trust, which is suppose to demonstrate that their relationship is building, instead came off as a lack of common sense. Mackenzie starts off a sympathetic character but dips into annoying at times throughout the book. While Mackenzie had the tendency to become annoying she did have depth to her, Aaron was one dimensional for a chunk of the story. The main thing on his mind was how he mismanaged his first time as team leader. The point of this was to obviously add broodiness to him but his fixation was basically the same three thoughts over and over that lacked to give it substance.
Even though the main characters had their profoundness problems the overall story arc was suspenseful enough to keep me reading. The main villain is not up front and center but the threat of him and how Mackenzie and Aaron have to stay on the move keep the excitement going. Secondary characters such as Aaron's friends Doug and Sabine, who enter the scene to help add extra dynamics, work to keep things interesting. As I said before the ending starts to get heavy handed with the religion but if you enjoy this aspect to your stories then Mackenzie and Aaron's eventual acceptance to their own personal enlightenment will add a pleasant quality to the story for you.
The writing, pace, and overall story is solid and entertaining. If looking for a quick read that integrates suspense and Christian themes, Star Witness would be a good purchase.
booksoneveryshelf's review
4.0
Great new book from Lisa Phillips!
Star Witness is Lisa Phillips’ newest book from Love Inspired Suspense. It comes after Double Agent, though you don’t have to read them in order. I have quickly become a big fan of Ms. Phillips’ books and am happy to say that I really enjoyed this one!
Lisa does an excellent job of building the suspense and drawing you into the story. The descriptions and details were great, not overwhelming, but still enough to give you a clear picture. I confess that I don’t remember much about Double Agent, but despite that, I really enjoyed Sabine and Doug being back in this book. They bring a little comedic relief (Doug) and wisdom (Sabine).
I loved Mackenzie White, the heroine. I quickly connected with her and found her to be a very realistic character. She is sweet and kind, but she is also determined and stronger than she thinks. While she is on the run from mercenaries, she doesn’t focus on herself, but rather tries to take care of Aaron and others she comes in contact with.
Aaron Hanning is an interesting character. He is strong, a Delta Force soldier, but sees himself as a failure. He doesn’t want to help Mackenzie as first, because he is afraid of failing her and his brother. He doesn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s life. While he is strong, blunt, a little rough around the edges, there is also a brokenness in him that drew me in. I found that like Mackenzie, I wanted to help him heal.
I really enjoyed Aaron and Mackenzie’s relationship. It didn’t seem too fast, even though most of the book only covers a few days. It was sweet at times, but not really the focus of the story. They kind of start out as awkward friends. They are thrown together in the beginning and Aaron doesn’t want to get close to anyone, so he pushes Mackenzie away. But Mackenzie pushes back just as hard, determined that if she’s stuck with Aaron, she has to know him to be able to trust him.
My favorite part of the book is the spiritual theme: redemption. Mackenzie has spent the last 16 years trying to make up for her past life. She is determined to be a better person than she was before. She believes she has to atone for the past before she can come to God and ask for forgiveness. I love this quote from page 189, “Undeserved, just like God’s grace. She didn’t have to do anything to earn it. God would always love her no matter what she did or the kind of person she was.” I love the realization in this. So often we believe we must do something to be “good enough,” but as Mackenzie learns, you can’t earn grace. It is a gift, freely given.
Aaron also struggles with grace. He doesn’t really believe in God. He says a prayer once in a while, but feels God is more a crutch than anything. He feels trapped by his mistakes, by his failures. I love this quote from Sabine Laduca, “I had to give up my preconceived notions of what faith is like, but now I know. It’s freedom.” Aaron needed that freedom from all the burdens he had piled on his shoulders.
I admit to struggling to get into the story, at first. I had to really push myself to keep reading through the first 2 or 3 chapters. It didn’t draw me immediately like I’m used it, but made up for it later on when I was so hooked I didn’t want to put it down.
My only real complaint is that I was confused about how much time had passed at the end. A little “this many months later” note would have been nice, but I’m a nut about that stuff. It throws me off when I’m trying to guess how long it’s been.
I highly recommend this book if you enjoy mystery and suspense.
I received an advanced copy from the author for my honest review, which I have given. I was not required to write a positive review and have not been compensated for it in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.
*All quotations used with permission from the author. No infringement intended.
Star Witness is Lisa Phillips’ newest book from Love Inspired Suspense. It comes after Double Agent, though you don’t have to read them in order. I have quickly become a big fan of Ms. Phillips’ books and am happy to say that I really enjoyed this one!
Lisa does an excellent job of building the suspense and drawing you into the story. The descriptions and details were great, not overwhelming, but still enough to give you a clear picture. I confess that I don’t remember much about Double Agent, but despite that, I really enjoyed Sabine and Doug being back in this book. They bring a little comedic relief (Doug) and wisdom (Sabine).
I loved Mackenzie White, the heroine. I quickly connected with her and found her to be a very realistic character. She is sweet and kind, but she is also determined and stronger than she thinks. While she is on the run from mercenaries, she doesn’t focus on herself, but rather tries to take care of Aaron and others she comes in contact with.
Aaron Hanning is an interesting character. He is strong, a Delta Force soldier, but sees himself as a failure. He doesn’t want to help Mackenzie as first, because he is afraid of failing her and his brother. He doesn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s life. While he is strong, blunt, a little rough around the edges, there is also a brokenness in him that drew me in. I found that like Mackenzie, I wanted to help him heal.
I really enjoyed Aaron and Mackenzie’s relationship. It didn’t seem too fast, even though most of the book only covers a few days. It was sweet at times, but not really the focus of the story. They kind of start out as awkward friends. They are thrown together in the beginning and Aaron doesn’t want to get close to anyone, so he pushes Mackenzie away. But Mackenzie pushes back just as hard, determined that if she’s stuck with Aaron, she has to know him to be able to trust him.
My favorite part of the book is the spiritual theme: redemption. Mackenzie has spent the last 16 years trying to make up for her past life. She is determined to be a better person than she was before. She believes she has to atone for the past before she can come to God and ask for forgiveness. I love this quote from page 189, “Undeserved, just like God’s grace. She didn’t have to do anything to earn it. God would always love her no matter what she did or the kind of person she was.” I love the realization in this. So often we believe we must do something to be “good enough,” but as Mackenzie learns, you can’t earn grace. It is a gift, freely given.
Aaron also struggles with grace. He doesn’t really believe in God. He says a prayer once in a while, but feels God is more a crutch than anything. He feels trapped by his mistakes, by his failures. I love this quote from Sabine Laduca, “I had to give up my preconceived notions of what faith is like, but now I know. It’s freedom.” Aaron needed that freedom from all the burdens he had piled on his shoulders.
I admit to struggling to get into the story, at first. I had to really push myself to keep reading through the first 2 or 3 chapters. It didn’t draw me immediately like I’m used it, but made up for it later on when I was so hooked I didn’t want to put it down.
My only real complaint is that I was confused about how much time had passed at the end. A little “this many months later” note would have been nice, but I’m a nut about that stuff. It throws me off when I’m trying to guess how long it’s been.
I highly recommend this book if you enjoy mystery and suspense.
I received an advanced copy from the author for my honest review, which I have given. I was not required to write a positive review and have not been compensated for it in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.
*All quotations used with permission from the author. No infringement intended.
soulwinds's review
1.0
God can wipe it away.
1.5 stars for Star Witness
MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!!
Thought and Plot
Have you ever read a book and went okay maybe it's not so-nope,I was wrong!
I tried to like this book. I really did. What's not to like about a deta force, military man protecting a women from a drug lord/ drug lord's kid on behalf of his brother who is SUPPOSED to be protecting her but is too busy trying to stop the leaks in the boat from sinking his entire organization? A lot apparently. But I ignored the chippy writing and the near insta-love (at first) and tried to just enjoy the story. And I almost got there...until I hit this part:
God can wipe it away. He takes our sins and makes it as though it never happened.
Okay, seriously??? I may have burst out laughing in surprise and slight disgust at this terrible terrible line. Did you sin? Just leave it in God's hands and forget about it!!! That's not right at all! What christian religion is this book based off exactly, and how did it get into this particular book? It just steam rolled down the negativity cliff from there.
There was some nice gentle under tones of a religious faith laying just under the surface of our main gal's (Mackenzie/Lani) character and then you get to somewhere in chapter 18 and the religious message comes hurling out of the pages so unexpectedly and so hard I'm surprised my eyebrows stayed on my face the way they shot up. I laughed, but not because it was funny, but because it was so bad. And it just. kept. getting. WORSE!!!!
And let's not forget to get the man of broken faith to magically see the light through a few spoken words. Guh!
And what is with the near insta-love feeling going on? How long have you guys known each other? Week or so? Tops. What was it, three, four days before your friend is loudly announcing that she the one for you??? GGGUUUHHHH!!!! I HATE THAT!!! No insta-love and no declarations of WE KNOW SHE'S THE RIGHT PERSON FOR YOU EVEN THOUGH WE LITERALLY JUST MET HER TEN MINUTES AGO!!!! It's written all over you face dude....guh just give a girl a break and stop heaping the trash all in one place (Chapter 18, right next to the dam break that started the unexpected God flood). I want to vomit just thinking about it. Let's not mention the marriage proposal about a week into the relationship. Is it really so impossible to write a realistic love story???
Things I didn't like (the summary list)
-Insta-love
-God flood
-Magical faith finding
-the vomit-comet of insta-mush
-"It's all really technical, and I don't really understand it-" let's skip over actually sort of explain how your IP address can't be tracked due to how you set up your internet bulls**t.
-The cliche "everybody I cared for is in hospital because of me! (Lani)" "I'll let you cry while I cradle you on my lap and promise to never leave you!! (Aaron)" Bleh!!
-So...you blocked the front door, but did nothing to the back door???? And you people are special forces and ex-CIA????? Good Lord! You let the person you're protecting go into the bath that has a window...before the fire fight started..uhuh. NOT BELIEVEABLE!!!
-Excessive self sacrificing
-Witness Protection fails that would honestly never happen in real life (I hope)
-A suicidal, rich, drug lord's son, bad guy who is killing himself (and her) willing for no good reason. Uh, what???
-The conversation with said suicidal drug lord's son.
-and the mush talk in chapter 18 and beyond...double bleh!
-that girlfriend, girlfriend. Nahuh!
-That ending...UGH!!!!
Things I did like.
-Aaron... until he turned into a mushy idiot.
-Aaron's team's forgiveness, because it was a nice subtle message about forgiveness and moving on with people you care for.
-The friendship factor between Aaaron and all his friends
-Doug's lame ass jokes. Actually kind of funny.
-Not much else
Conclusion
I would suggest to others not bother reading this book (personally). I've read cliche YA romance novels that worked better (and were more believable) than this story. But it's your time if you choose to read it and see it for yourself. I personally am disappointed that the quality went down rather than up as we neared the climax of the story-line.
Pity. It had potential.
1.5 stars for Star Witness
MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!!
Thought and Plot
Have you ever read a book and went okay maybe it's not so-nope,I was wrong!
I tried to like this book. I really did. What's not to like about a deta force, military man protecting a women from a drug lord/ drug lord's kid on behalf of his brother who is SUPPOSED to be protecting her but is too busy trying to stop the leaks in the boat from sinking his entire organization? A lot apparently. But I ignored the chippy writing and the near insta-love (at first) and tried to just enjoy the story. And I almost got there...until I hit this part:
God can wipe it away. He takes our sins and makes it as though it never happened.
Okay, seriously??? I may have burst out laughing in surprise and slight disgust at this terrible terrible line. Did you sin? Just leave it in God's hands and forget about it!!! That's not right at all! What christian religion is this book based off exactly, and how did it get into this particular book? It just steam rolled down the negativity cliff from there.
There was some nice gentle under tones of a religious faith laying just under the surface of our main gal's (Mackenzie/Lani) character and then you get to somewhere in chapter 18 and the religious message comes hurling out of the pages so unexpectedly and so hard I'm surprised my eyebrows stayed on my face the way they shot up. I laughed, but not because it was funny, but because it was so bad. And it just. kept. getting. WORSE!!!!
And let's not forget to get the man of broken faith to magically see the light through a few spoken words. Guh!
And what is with the near insta-love feeling going on? How long have you guys known each other? Week or so? Tops. What was it, three, four days before your friend is loudly announcing that she the one for you??? GGGUUUHHHH!!!! I HATE THAT!!! No insta-love and no declarations of WE KNOW SHE'S THE RIGHT PERSON FOR YOU EVEN THOUGH WE LITERALLY JUST MET HER TEN MINUTES AGO!!!! It's written all over you face dude....guh just give a girl a break and stop heaping the trash all in one place (Chapter 18, right next to the dam break that started the unexpected God flood). I want to vomit just thinking about it. Let's not mention the marriage proposal about a week into the relationship. Is it really so impossible to write a realistic love story???
Things I didn't like (the summary list)
-Insta-love
-God flood
-Magical faith finding
-the vomit-comet of insta-mush
-"It's all really technical, and I don't really understand it-" let's skip over actually sort of explain how your IP address can't be tracked due to how you set up your internet bulls**t.
-The cliche "everybody I cared for is in hospital because of me! (Lani)" "I'll let you cry while I cradle you on my lap and promise to never leave you!! (Aaron)" Bleh!!
-So...you blocked the front door, but did nothing to the back door???? And you people are special forces and ex-CIA????? Good Lord! You let the person you're protecting go into the bath that has a window...before the fire fight started..uhuh. NOT BELIEVEABLE!!!
-Excessive self sacrificing
-Witness Protection fails that would honestly never happen in real life (I hope)
-A suicidal, rich, drug lord's son, bad guy who is killing himself (and her) willing for no good reason. Uh, what???
-The conversation with said suicidal drug lord's son.
-and the mush talk in chapter 18 and beyond...double bleh!
-that girlfriend, girlfriend. Nahuh!
-That ending...UGH!!!!
Things I did like.
-Aaron... until he turned into a mushy idiot.
-Aaron's team's forgiveness, because it was a nice subtle message about forgiveness and moving on with people you care for.
-The friendship factor between Aaaron and all his friends
-Doug's lame ass jokes. Actually kind of funny.
-Not much else
Conclusion
I would suggest to others not bother reading this book (personally). I've read cliche YA romance novels that worked better (and were more believable) than this story. But it's your time if you choose to read it and see it for yourself. I personally am disappointed that the quality went down rather than up as we neared the climax of the story-line.
Pity. It had potential.
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