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|  | Author: Mary E. DeMuth
Publisher: Zondervan
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  129 reviews
Sales Rank: 5658
Format: Kindle Book
Language: English (Published)
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
ASIN: B002AP9GQC
Publication Date: May 8, 2009
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 21-25 of 129
 Book Review of Daisy Chain by Mary E. DeMuth January 5, 2010
Keiki Hendrix (Greenville, SC USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Bright, engaging, often sad and heartbreaking - all woven together with the elements of Christian life. Don't miss out on this one!"
Perhaps I loved this book because I live in the south. Perhaps I loved it because it provoked my memory to my early Christian walk. Perhaps I loved it because it just read like home to me. Whatever the reason, Mary E. DeMuth's `Daisy Chain` is forever etched into my memory as one of my favorite books.
In the summer of his fourteenth year, Jed Pepper's best friend, Daisy Marie Chance, has gone missing. Her last words to him, `You'll regret it', haunt him as he realizes that he is more afraid of father's retribution than of his friend's safety.
Jed is about to break free from childhood cares and be cast harshly into the real world where danger does exist and bad things do happen.
In the small town of Defiance and in the events that follow the day Daisy went missing, most (if not all) of the challenges Christians face are written into the various characters, making them come alive with the struggles we, as readers, face each day.
Struggles like Jed's feelings of failure for not protecting Daisy which prompt questions to and about God's providence. His view of God has been shaped by his father, who has allowed the rules of the Bible to choke out the grace he once knew in the beginning.
Jed asks himself question after question as he struggles to make sense of why a loving God would allow such a sadness. His memories of his best friend are almost too painful at times.
Meanwhile, as God surely does in our own lives at times, new friends enter his life revealing that yes - God has rules, and yes - God doesn't make sense sometimes, and yes - God will do as God pleases, but there is still joy to be known in friendship with an old black man named Hixon, there is still wonder to be known in an old bald women named Muriel, there is still messages of encouragement from his mother each morning.
This is a marvelous read. I can hardly wait to read the next book in the series named `Slow Burn.'
Reviewed by: Keiki Hendrix
Reviewed for: The Vessel Project
Gripping...haunting...real November 11, 2009
Vonda Skelton
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I can't forget Daisy. Her spunk, her creativity, her ability to see the best in others--she grabbed my heart from the beginning. But everything's not as it seems in Defiance, TX. Kids don't always come home, parents don't always have their child's best interest at heart, and love is often found in unlikely places. Gripping, haunting, uncomfortably real. I couldn't put it down.
Daisy Chain October 27, 2009
Nancie Droughton
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If this book had not been written by a Christian author I would have quit with it early on. I do not like secular books about preachers, and christians that are shown in negative light. Because this was written by a Christian, I continued with it. The father, a preacher is abusive to his wife and children. But by the time I was finished with the book I was wanting the next....This is a trilogy.
In A League of Its Own! October 23, 2009
Cherie Hill
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Through the riveting novel "Daisy Chain," Mary E. Demuth has set a new standard for Christian fiction and few writers will ever come close to reaching it. Demuth doesn't want you to walk away from her books simply "reading a good story"... she wants you to "live" them and be transformed by their message.
You may find your heart pounding as Jed Pepper runs to check on Daisy. You will find yourself filled with anger at Jed's father who portrays a heart for God as a preacher, yet is abusive behind closed doors. You'll want to sit down with Jed's mother and let her cry on your shoulder. You might wish you could go to Defiance and rescue Jed and his sister, help look for Daisy, and pray in hope for the brokenness that has consumed the town, but there's no need to. The author introduces you to God's grace in the form of Hixon and Muriel. Demuth leaves no stitch of the story loose or undone. She has weaved a perfect tapestry of the truth of tragedy, yet the assured triumph through God's mercy and grace. Each character is as mysterious and intriguing as our Creator who has made each of us. The author brilliantly keeps you on the edge of your seat while taking you through the realities of a fallen world. She doesn't beat around the bush; she doesn't try to sugar coat pain. "Daisy Chain" will open your heart and your eyes so that you will get a glimpse of what it's like to look at others as God does.
Mary E. Demuth has a God-given talent to write that most could work towards their whole life and never even come close. Each word is carefully chosen and artfully written. You'll be up all night reading "Daisy Chain" and find yourself hoping there is no end to Mary's incredible story telling of Defiance, TX. Lucky for you, the second book in the Texas Trilogy is released and you don't have to wait to read it ("A Slow Burn"). My advice...buy them both together...you won't want to wait to go down to the book store or the time it will take for shipping!
Disturbingly Beautiful October 23, 2009
Pat J. Sikora (CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At multiple levels, Daisy Chain isn't an easy read. It's complex, literary, and heartbreaking. It's also a book with more truth than many of us want to believe. It's a story of many questions, many layers, and few answers. But it's worth the effort to read.
The location: Defiance, TX.
The year: 1977.
Jed Pepper and Daisy Chance are best friends. In fact, Daisy's decided that 14-year old Jed is going to marry her. Then she goes missing. Suddenly, immediately after they've left their usual meeting place: the church. Jed knew he was late and in trouble, so he didn't walk her home. Now she's disappeared and he's the last one to see her. And her last words were, "You'll regret it..."
Now he feels guilty. Confused. He's investigated. Meanwhile, life at home is unpredictable. Unfair. Abusive.
Weeks pass. No word from Daisy. Life goes on. The investigation turns up nothing. Jed copes. Sort of. And he never gives up hope, even when everyone else does.
This book is haunting and challenging, but the complex characters make it well worth the read. My only complaint is that many of the story lines don't resolve. There are loose ends that will hopefully be addressed in the next two books - and the second one, "A Slow Burn," just came out. It's in my stack and I can't wait to read it!
Showing reviews 21-25 of 129
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