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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What 3 Life-Changing Secrets Is This Book Harboring?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Harbor Secrets shows the seedier side of even the nicest small coastal towns at the onslaught of the Prohibition era. Melody Carlson does it again! via @chautonahavig

“And there was thunder, thunder, over Thunder Road. Thunder was his engine and white lightnin’ was his load…”

Robert Mitchum’s voice filled the car as we sped along the highway from Phoenix to California. To Ventura County. The beach.

Back then, I never thought much about the bootleggers who ran illegal moonshine all over the back hills of the country during Prohibition. It was just a song sung by a guy with a great voice.

I mean, c’mon… Robert Mitchum.

At some point, Dad told me about the difference between good whiskey and white whiskey. For the uninitiated, being in those oak barrels is what gives good whiskey that caramel color. Moonshine—that’s whiskey that never touched a barrel. White whiskey (or white lightning) has sometimes been dropped in a cask overnight or so, but it’s still white.

Or as Tammy Tyrie calls it in Tammy and the Bachelor, “corn liquor.”

Mom and Dad had very decided opinions on prohibition—and keeping the law. They were anti the former, pro the latter. In other words, there shouldn’t be laws about what people do in the privacy of their own homes/lives that do not affect others. That said, once the law is in place, obey it.

So, while most girls my age sat around watching Rainbow Brite or Strawberry Shortcake… or the Christian kids didn’t watch TV but instead read wholesome books about godly kids, me… I learned all about the Whiskey Rebellion, Prohibition, and how to make moonshine.

Oh, yeah. Dad knew that, too.

I knew they smuggled things into Cornwall during Regency times, but I didn’t ever think about “rum runners”—those guys who smuggled illegal alcohol… in boats.

So, obviously, when I had a chance to read about it, I was in!

Harbor Secrets

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What 3 Life-Changing Secrets Is This Book Harboring?

  1. Your perception of the past may be spot on or way off base. It’s why communication is so important.
  2. Pride is a harsh and lonely taskmaster. Repentance and reconciliation kills pride fast.
  3. No one is irredeemable—by Jesus, anyway.

Harbor Secrets by Melody Carlson shows a glimpse of what the very early days of Prohibition were like. Before the constitutional amendment, individual states passed their own prohibition laws. Carlson shows the effects of illegal alcohol on the small town of Sunset Cove in Oregon.

Full of twists and turns, and believable ones at that, Carlson spins a yarn that gives each character a unique place in the story. Seeing the newspaper business, law enforcement, and family secrets unfold on the page, the reader is transported to a complicated time in US history.

Carlson’s writing can sometimes feel fluffy (and frankly, that’s one of the strengths of it. Sometimes you need that), but in this series, we see her tackle serious subjects with a compassionate perspective.

I did take issue with a few anachronisms, but most of those were mild and things few people would catch. While the faith element wasn’t deep, it was there, consistent, and the book ends in such a way that I expect more from the next.

I requested a review copy of this book and was thankful to receive one. Though I expected to like it, I wasn’t expected to say I did if I didn’t. Just sayin’.

While Harbor Secrets wasn’t my absolute favorite of Carlson’s books, it is near the top. Perfect for a summer read, I recommend it for anyone who likes mild suspense and not too much sappy romance.

If you need YA, she also has just released a great one for teens–perfect summer read!

Harbor Secrets Book: Harbor Secrets 

Author: Melody Carlson

Synopsis: A Peaceful Coastal Town…Threatened by a Storm of Secrets

It’s 1916 when newspaper woman Anna McDowell learns her estranged father has suffered a stroke. Deciding it’s time to repair bridges, Anna packs up her precocious adolescent daughter and heads for her hometown in Sunset Cove, Oregon.

Although much has changed since the turn of the century, some things haven’t. Anna finds the staff of her father’s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief role, but her father insists he wants her at the helm. Anna is quickly pulled into the charming town and her new position…but just as quickly learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous secrets.

With Oregon s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept along the seacoast and invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant to get to know her father again over the summer, but instead she finds herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen and trying to keep her daughter safe from it all.

 

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
byChautona Havig

I had a chat with actor and author Henry O. Arnold a while back, and boy did we have a lot of fun. His Song of Prophets and Kings series features the advent of Israel’s kings from Samuel’s birth through David hiding from Saul (so far) and onward. Listen in as we chat about his most recent release, The Singer of Israel.

 

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What Made David Such a Man after God’s Heart?

I think this series will show us. I love that Henry O. Arnold started back at Samuel’s story to prepare us for the story of arguably the most influential king of Israel. Yes, Solomon was the wisest and richest, but David offered something that Solomon didn’t have. He was an average guy—a shepherd, no less—chosen by God to lead his country.

In a sense, it’s kind of the ancient Jewish version of a poor, everyday guy growing up to become President of the United States. If you know what I mean.

This five-book series is available as an eBook, in print, and as an audiobook, too! Henry read a snippet of it to us, and boy you get a feel for his love of Scripture and God’s people as he reads.

And if that wasn’t enough, he even gave us a hint of his upcoming Christian suspense/thriller “series. He says he has two books planned for sure, so… at least a duology, but maybe we can talk him into a trilogy at least? Get those odd numbers and everything?

The Singer of Israel by Henry O. Arnold

A singer’s voice inspires a troubled nation…A shepherd’s courage vanquishes a giant

The last official act of the prophet of Yahweh was to secretly anoint a replacement for the king of Israel who has been brought low by an unbalanced mind. The great prophet of Israel lives in fear of the wrath of the king. Then out of the hills of Bethlehem emerges the last-born son of a family of shepherds to become the unforeseen hero of Israel.

When David sings of the glory of Yahweh, this shepherd wins the hearts of the royal family and restores King Saul’s troubled mind. But when the singer/shepherd defeats the champion of the Philistines in single combat, David becomes forever known as “the giant slayer.” Saul quickly sees that David is now a threat to his kingdom and secretly plots to have him killed.

David may be the champion of the people of Israel, but he must live under the constant threat of Saul’s wrath until he is finally forced to flee for his life.

The Singer of Israel is a tale of triumph and tribulation, deepest love, and burning rivalries; the new epoch is given a voice…and it is The Song of Prophets and Kings.

You can learn more about Henry on this WEBSITE.

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Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
March 24, 2023
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