Bonnie S. Calhoun in her new book, Thunder Book One in the Stone Braide Chronicles series published by Revell brings us into the life of Selah Rishon Chavez.

From the back cover: The Time of Sorrows is long past.

The future of Selah and her people is shrouded in mystery.

And the clock is ticking.

Hidden in the tall grasses along a shore littered with the rusted metal remnants of a once-great city, a hunter crouches. It is the eve of her eighteenth Birth Remembrance and high time she proves to herself and her brothers that she can stand on her own two feet. Selah Rishon Chavez waits not for game but for one of the small boats that occasionally crash against the desolate shoreline. Because inside one of these boats she will find her quarrya Lander.

These people from an unknown land across the ocean are highly prized by the Company and bring a good priceespecially if they keep the markings they arrive with.

Everything falls to pieces when the Lander whom Selah catches is stolen by her brothers, and Selah wakes the next morning to find the Landers distinctive mark has appeared on her own flesh. Once the hunter, Selah is now one of the hunted, and she knows only one person who can help herBodhi Locke, the Lander her brothers hope to sell in the Mountain.

What exactly is the Stone Braide? To paraphrase a line from an old movie, What a future, what a future. Events happen in the present that have a devastating effect on the future. Now there are the Hunters and the Landers. The Hunters hunt the Landers and sell them for a good price. Somehow Selah turns from a Hunter into a Lander and she now becomes the hunted and it gets more intense from there. Ms. Calhoun has created an impressive cast of characters that populate the future and all of them are interesting in their own way, good and bad. Thunder delivers suspense, mystery and lots of action. I liked this book very much. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Thunder by Bonnie S. Calhoun is a dystopian young adult novel that takes place 150 years into the future. Throw in a bit of Hunger Games, a pinch of Divergent and a little bit of X-Men (?) and you have a truly original story. We are introduced to Selah right before her 18th birth remembrance. With her life about to change and expectations placed on her that she does not agree with, she is trying to prove to her family that she is worthy. What happens at the beach, (where she was not supposed to be at, on a day she should have been home), will change her life in ways that she could not have foreseen. This was a very imaginative tale with many parts that worked well together. I liked the slow romance, the familial relationships, and enjoyed watching true friendships develop, against the backdrop of life and death situations and a lot of action. Along with Selah, I was quickly turning the pages to find out the answers to all the questions that she had and to find out the truth about the secrets that were kept from her. I look very much forward to the sequel, Lightning, because even though this book ends satisfactorily, I am interested in exploring more of this strange new earth. I am very pleased that the inspirational market is putting out more young adult novels that lack the junk yet tell a good story with hope. On a side note for parents, there is a bit of violence in this book just in case your teens are sensitive to that. There is a prequel novella called Tremors that is available at this time for free. I received this book from Revell, however the opinions are my own.

Selah Rishon Chavez, the day before her eighteenth birth remembrance discovers a Lander, a stranger from an unknown country across the ocean. Selah intends to capture the stranger because Landers are valuable in her world, but she discovers that her biologically father, whom she had never known about, was also a Lander. As a child of a Lander, Selah starts to discover that she has abilities that start to awaken within her as well as certain feelings about Bodhi Locke, the stranger from across the ocean. Selahs brothers steal her captured stranger, which leads her to discover her own origins and the father she never knew.

Thunder is a futuristic dystopian novel that takes place 150 years after war and natural disasters have ravaged the east coast of what once was the United States of America. Selahs familyher brothers and her step-fathersurvive by capturing and selling the Landers to the descendents of the government officials that took refuge in a mountain one and a half centuries previously. But what sinister plan does the leadership of the technologically superior mountain people have for the Landers and their special abilities?

Bonnie Calhoun brings a story of a future filled with corruption, unethical scientific experimentation, slavery, and extreme prejudicial elitism. Yet there is hope as some characters are trying to make things right for Landers and for those normals living outside of the mountain. In the midst of a dark future, there is still hope for a better life and a chance for people to build a new community where Landers and normals might one day live together in peace as equals. For Selah, her world is just beginning as she finds her father, her emerging feelings for Bodhi, and the discovery of herself. All in all, Thunder is a very good read filled with adventures, relationships, mysteries, and new hopes. Those who read this novel will certainly look forward to book two of the Stone Braide ChroniclesLightningcoming fall 2015!

This was my first book of this kind to read - I thought it was considered Sci-Fi, but after googling more I've learned it's called Dystopian. The story was interesting, I like Bonnie Calhoun as an author, but the story type wasn't my favorite. I'm glad she's writing Christian books like this though - because our children/teens need options to the other mainstream books of this kind.

Back to Thunder - it was an interesting take on a ravaged life-as-we-know-it and people making do after a crisis. The people "divisions" were portrayed in a way that made me think about how we stereotype people based on so many different things - money/lack of, intelligence, and priorities - and treat them accordingly. There were brief hints of a life relationship being close, or not, to the Creator, but it was never stated in a Christian vs non-Christian way. Since I've not read other books like this, I can't compare it to it's kind. While I didn't necessarily enjoy the story, I did appreciate how our faulty human nature was cleverly pointed out. I especially appreciated the author portraying a child who has learned to survive in dire circumstances, yet so obviously still needed and wanted someone to care, to lean on. There were some descriptions I passed over because they were too graphic for me- but I'm a wimp :-). Overall, I thought the book was fine - the cover picture actually went with the story, I'm guessing it was written for younger readers, and since I didn't know what to expect from this style of book I'd say it met them.

**I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Revell for my honest review.**

Thunder

The Stone Braide Chronicles 1

By Bonnie S. Calhoun

Determined to prove her worth to her father and her older brothers, Selah is determined to capture a Lander. She's been warned to stay away from the beach and away from Landers. But she can't stay away on this the eve of her eighteenth birth remembrance. But little does she realize that this simple act of disobedience is about to forever alter her life.

More than a century has passed since the Time of Sorrows. In that time few outside the Mountain have had dealings with those within. The Company is secretive and hidden from the outside world, but they want Landers and they are willing to pay for them. And unless Selah can get rid of the Lander mark she woke up with she will soon be hunted down like a Lander and sold.

Landers are of importance only if they retain their markings and their memories. But Selah has no Lander memories so why is she now marked? Determined to steal back the Lander she captured before her brothers sell him, Selah sets out towards the Mountain. Can she get Bodhi Locke away from her brothers or will the truths about her new identity be lost to her forever?

Thunder is a set in the future. The world as we know it has been destroyed and yet humanity has survived. But the very tendencies that brought about this destruction still exist within the hearts of those who survived and their offspring.

Dangers exist both within the Mountain and without, the question is which danger is the greater risk to those who are hunted? And who or what are Landers? These marked people have abilities (both mental and physical) that are beyond what is considered normal.

Fans of dystopian or speculative fiction should enjoy this new series. In a world destroyed by the very people who called it home a new civilization of survivors has grown up amid the destruction. And in this world various groups are vying for supremacy. Will the errors of the past be repeated or will the knowledge that the Landers possess change everything?

I for one can't wait for book 2 Lightning (Fall 2015) and the answers it may reveal or raise.

I was provided a copy of this book by Revell in exchange for my honest review.