Inside The Cover: Return To Me by Lynn Austin (a book review)

About the book in my own words:

Iddo was just a young boy when his life was ripped apart. He witnessed his closest family murdered in cold blood and his home devastated and abandoned. Now, after decades of exile, he is free to return to his homeland. This causes lots of mixed emotions for Iddo and his family. Nightmare memories come flooding back but so does the promise and favor God once gave the Jews. His sons, never living in Jerusalem before and used to the Babylonian life, do not share in his excitement and do not want to leave. This would have been the case for his grandson as well if he hadn't heard from God right before they were to leave. Zechariah (Zaki) was destined for great things.

The journey was generous with hardships and faith wavered pretty strong at times but never did Iddo lose sight of their purpose or his faith in God. Zaki chose to leave his father and mother, knowing that he may never see them again, to follow where God led. As time went on and it got closer to the time when he was to become a priest, he was given strong visions and proclaiming God's word. No one doubted that God was with them but God doesn't follow man's law. What would this mean for them and their future?

My thoughts:

The Old Testament can be hard to bite into at times and even if you can chew it, it can be hard to swallow. I sometimes have a hard time understanding the message that is meant to be given or know the difference between God and man and who is speaking at times and why. This book did a really good job of coloring the black and white photos and giving them animation. I was happily surprised at what I was able to back up in the Bible. Obviously lots were added to give you a realistic picture but Lynn did her research and took a story that is easily overlooked and put a spotlight on it.

This novel is the first in a saga that Lynn has started called The Restoration Chronicles. Even though I thought there was a gap that could have been filled out a little more towards the end, I am looking forward to reading the next book in line. There will be 3 books in this series and it focuses on Ezra and Nehemiah. I passed this book onto the local library for a couple reasons. I liked it but didn't LOVE it but I also thought it was a great book to add because Christian Fiction is not the most popular genre but in a small town library it may be just what the older kids need to get into, not only the genre ,but the Old Testament.

I would recommend this book for any of Christian Fiction or Historical Fiction. I thought that Lynn did just a wonderful job at showing you the characters of the book were just like us. They may have had more audible or visible signs of God's presence but they still fought with jumping off that "faith cliff" and doing what God wanted them to do. You can purchase your own copy from Amazon by clicking the image below.

Thanks for reading!

About The Author:

Biography
For many years, Lynn Austin nurtured a desire to write but frequent travels and the demands of her growing family postponed her career. When her husband's work took Lynn to Bogota, Colombia, for two years, she used the B.A. she'd earned at Southern Connecticut State University to become a teacher. After returning to the U.S., the Austins moved to Anderson, Indiana, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It was during the long Canadian winters at home with her children that Lynn made progress on her dream to write, carving out a few hours of writing time each day while her children napped. Lynn credits her early experience of learning to write amid the chaos of family life for her ability to be a productive writer while making sure her family remains her top priority.

I received this book from Bethany House for the purpose of review. The opinions in this post are 100% my own and may differ from yours.