Blood Bayou

Karen Young is the international bestselling author of thirty-eight novels. 
She has more than ten million books in print and is the recipient of the coveted RITA award from Romance Writers of America and the Career Achievement and Reviewer’s Choice awards from Romantic Times magazine. She is known as “a spellbinding storyteller who writes with sensitivity about issues facing contemporary women.” Karen's career in writing fiction for women has run the gamut from traditional romance to mystery thrillers to inspirational fiction. In her relationship-driven plots, she creates characters that could easily be her readers, and then places them in extraordinary circumstances while adding suspense to the mix.

Karen Young tells a story of one woman’s winding and difficult journey to truth in Blood Bayou. Camille St. James devotes herself to Truth Project, an organization that strives to prove the wrongfully accused to be innocent. Chester Pelham is one such client of Camille’s. He is accused of murdering a woman in Blood Bayou, Louisiana, but Camille successfully advocates his exoneration. Camille’s joy soon turns to shock within days of Chester’s release as he is found at the scene of another murder in Blood Bayou. To make matters worse, the woman murdered is the sister of Camille’s ex-husband.

Jack Vermillion completely changed his life after a tragic accident and his divorce from Camille. Now a saved man and minister, his patience is tested when Camille returns to Blood Bayou to investigate the death of his sister. Torn between his stubborn nature and desire to prove he has changed, Jack’s character is tested. When Camille’s safety is threatened, Jack makes sure to protect her from further harm. Jack and Camille must put aside their dark past and differences to work together to find the truth.

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” This is a fitting verse for Blood Bayou because Young shows the reader how Christ changes people into new creations in Him. Camille notices this in Jack, and discovers that she longs for change in herself as well. Camille is unsure of Jack’s new-found salvation, but she does notice a difference in him. Even though he claims to have God’s forgiveness, Camille is not as willing to forgive. Can Jack prove his genuine change and thereby guide Camille to truth?

Young weaves mystery and suspense with biblical truths to create an excellent story of redemption and forgiveness. Blood Bayou has realistic characters whom the reader cannot help but like. The story’s thrilling plot will generate intense page turning until the very end of the story. Both entertaining and enlightening, Blood Bayou is a great novel for any library or personal book collection. Adults and teens, whether male or female, will enjoy this gripping tale. – Elizabeth Ford, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com

Young's 35th novel comes from an evangelical Christian imprint, and this outing adds to her blend of suspense and romance spiritual elements that would make sense to many readers outside the Christian market. Lawyer Camille St. James gets a convicted murderer exonerated and off Death Row, only to see him arrested for murder days after his release. Camille's ex-husband, Jack, a former lawyer and recovering alcoholic turned minister, re-enters her life because the murder victim is his sister. The two are thrown together again as Camille pushes hard to discover the real murderer, drawing not only a response from a criminal but from a small Louisiana town eager to blame her for freeing a man capable of murder. The experienced author competently spins suspense and romance while adding the element of redemption through faith that is natural to her plot. Camille is skeptical about the thoroughness of her ex-husband's spiritual rebirth, making the faith component even more credible. Young's readers can easily follow her move to more explicit spiritual character development, and she should gain new readers in the Christian market with her well-crafted inspirational fiction. (May) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

"Karen Young is a writer of rare emotional power and conviction, exploring the darkest corners of the human heart and finding redemption there. This is storytelling at its finest, the kind that stays with you long after the last page is turned." -- Susan Wiggs, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Fireside
"Blood Bayou kept my heart beating overtime with its perfect blend of romance and suspense. This was my first Karen Young novel, but her compelling characters, snappy dialogue, and a gorgeous bayou setting that had me fanning myself on a winter day in Kansas, land her permanently on my must-read list. One of the best books I've read this year!" -- Deborah Raney, author of Yesterday's Embers and Almost Forever
"Master storyteller Karen Young has written a gripping tale of second chances, rescue, and redemption. I became absorbed in the story, the characters, and the mystery from the very first paragraph. This is a page-turner that will long linger in my mind." -- Debbie Macomber
"Karen Young's Blood Bayou grabs the reader by the throat from the beginning and does not let go until the last page. More importantly, along the way the reader enters into a significant faith journey with the characters, one that begins with sin and ends with repentance and love. It is a rare book that can offer a superb story, wholly believable characters, and a heart-wrenching narrative of evil and redemption. Yet Karen Young has written just such a book. I simply cannot wait for her next one!" -- Diane Mott Davidson