Monday, April 25, 2016

A Flight of Arrows by Lori Benton

by Andrea Renee Cox

“We must pray for peace but strengthen our arms for battle.”
A Flight of Arrows by Lori Benton

The sequel to The Wood’s Edge has left me breathless. Despite a few explicit words used within its pages, A Flight of Arrows is stunning and exquisite, threaded with turmoil and sorrow and redemption and much love. It is a story that will most assuredly stay with me for a long time after turning the final page.

One thing I really admire about this book is how Ms. Benton placed each scene in the perfect order. Time and time again I found myself amazed at how this scene had to come at that time in order for this other scene to make sense when it came around. Everything was woven together so seamlessly and completely, leaving me weeping through the last several chapters.

(If you want to know what moved me to tears, you’ll just have to read A Flight of Arrows for yourself. But, I recommend you get the first installment of the story first, by grabbing a copy of The Wood’s Edge. To get the full effect, these stories are best read in chronological order.)

In the book, the Revolutionary War is in full swing. Lori handled the battles in such a way that transported me to the forests in which the battles of that war took place. Her research, attention to detail, and writing prowess combined to create incredible, realistic scenes of a country tearing itself apart in more than one way. With each book of Lori’s I read, I continue to be even more taken aback by the finesse and tenderness with which she handles the toughest scenes.

Her skills also lent themselves well to welcoming me into the world of various Native American tribes. I have long admired the original residents of my country, and I think Lori Benton has captured the essence of each of the tribes she wrote about in A Flight of Arrows. I felt swept away, taken to a world of which I had only read about in history books. But Lori’s writing immersed me in the land and culture of the People my favorite character, Two Hawks, called family. Those scenes spent in Kanowalohale and on the battlefields with the various tribes are so precious, for vastly different reasons, and I felt glued to the page as I read them.

The only reason this book earned four stars instead of five from me was because of the four expletives used.

Thank you to the publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah, for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.


About A Flight of Arrows:

Hearts are divided. 

Loyalties will be tested. 

The fates of two families hang in the balance.

Twenty years past, in 1757, a young Redcoat named Reginald Aubrey stole a new-born boy--the lighter-skinned of Oneida twins--during the devastating fall of Fort William Henry and raised him as his own.

No one connected to Reginald escaped unscathed from this crime. Not his adopted daughter Anna. Not Stone Thrower, the Native American father determined to get his son back. Not Two Hawks, William's twin brother separated since birth, living in the shadow of his absence and hoping to build a future with Anna. Nor Lydia, who longs for Reginald to be free from his self-imposed emotional prison and embrace God's forgiveness--and her love.

Now William, whose identity has been shattered after discovering the truth of his birth, hides in the ranks of an increasingly aggressive British army. The Redcoats prepare to attack frontier New York, and the Continentals, aided by Oneida warriors, including Two Hawks, rally to defend it. As the Revolutionary War penetrates the Mohawk Valley, two families separated by culture but united by love and faith must find a way to reclaim the son marching toward them in the ranks of their enemies.




Friends, how do you prepare for the battles of life while still praying for peace in your life? How do you overcome those moments that rock you to the core of who you are? What positive things have you taken away from those trials?


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