Unbreakable (Road To Kingdom #2) by Nancy Mehl (5 Stars)

This second book in the Road To Kingdom series is even better than the first! It’s one of Nancy Mehl’s best, and I’ve like everything I’ve read of her’s, but this is probably her best yet!

Set in the Mennonite town of Kingdom, we get to know more about some of the secondary characters in the first novel.  Hope Kauffman is set to marry her childhood sweetheart, Ebbie Miller in just a few months.  So why is she starting to have feelings for Jonathon Wiese?  While she’s trying to sort out these feelings, someone has started targeting churches in surrounding towns and burning them down.  But certainly their secluded town of Kingdom won’t be affected.  But one day while returning from a trip to a nearby town, Hope is run off the road by a maniac in a red pickup truck.  There’s no telling what would have happened if Jonathon hadn’t come along in his truck and faced the maniac down.  This sparks their feelings for one another and also causes a lot of  hurt and drama back in Kingdom. Now Kingdom and it’s citizens are targeted by hate crimes and the suspense deepens as the acts of violence escalate.

This book also brings up the question of how Christians should protect themselves.  The Mennonites beliefs of no violence was being questioned by outsiders and some of the members themselves.  Do you completely trust God for His protection or do you take measures to protect yourself?  If someone was attacking your wife or child would you just stand back and pray or would you do anything you could to protect them yourself.  This question was an on-going theme in the book and really presented both sides very well.  And no one answer is the right one. But more importantly it comes to forgiveness…will you forgive those who harm you?  Will you pray for them?  Will you give them a Christian witness of the love of God?  After a terrible event, Hope had to face this and as the Elders were praying thanking God for His protection, she was wrestling with some hard feelings.  “I started to say amen, but something else popped into my mind.  I had to wrestle with my flesh for a few seconds before I could say it out loud.  “I forgive these men, Lord,” I said finally.  “They need you.  I pray their hearts of stone will become hearts of flesh, tender toward you.  Help them, Lord.  Forgive them.”  Sometimes it was hard to forgive, but holding anger in my soul toward the men would only make the wound they’d caused last longer.  Their hate had caused enough pain.  I wouldn’t allow them to move in and build an altar in my heart.”

I read this book in a day, because I could not put it down.  The action was non-stop and between wondering who Hope would finely decide to marry and wondering who was out to get her and the town, kept me guessing until the very end.  I could hardly wait to find out who she really loved with all her heart and wants to spend the rest of her life with. I wasn’t sure until the second to last page.  Whew!  This was one time I almost read the last page before I finished the book just because the suspense was killing me.

We have the series in the Media Center, so come in and check them out.  If you are not a member of our church I would highly recommend you either buy, download or borrow these books.

I found a YouTube video interview with author, Nancy Mehl, and she was talking about the first book in the series, Inescapable.  I’ve included it below because it gives you some insight into the creation of the series and how Nancy researches her books.  I think you’ll enjoy watching this interview with Nancy Mehl.