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The cover of “Not This Time” caught my eye when pursuing books.  What I didn’t know, was that I was picking up “book 3” of a series (I totally hate that!).  However, I read on, hoping I could figure out the storyline.

The book is about a small, close-knit Florida town with some ‘not so’ small problems.  Apparently, in the two prior books, we had some major bad guys that killed, kidnapped and wreaked havoc on little Seagrove Village. And, they’re back.

The story started in the middle of a crisis, and it was hard keeping up with who’s who and “who done what.”  You learn that there are FBI guys/gals, super-secret spy agents and those that work with them, to help stop a crime organization (for lack of a better phrase) called “NINA.”  I’m sure if I had read the two previous books, this one would have made much more sense.  It was hard getting interested in the characters, since they were previously developed, so I just focused on trying to get through the storyline.

That being said, the story itself was good, if not a little predictable. I did appreciate the faith-based characters in the story and felt it gave a good example of how faith can get you through situations. Funny enough, the “catchy” cover made no sense by the end of the story – so I’m not sure how that played into it.  It’s intriguing, just doesn’t seem to match anything.  Perhaps Hinze’s other books are better.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.  Order this book from your local bookstore or www.amazon.com

Where would we be without our faith and belief in God? It’s a question that’s easy to answer when you don’t believe. People don’t see the point in it. They think it’s all bunk – a weak person’s crutch. But there’s something that happens when you’re at your lowest point, when you feel that no one out there cares or that you deserve to be cared for – that’s when it happens. We call out for God when we’ve tried everything else. Little do we know he is always there – waiting for an invitation. A lifeline.

For Joe Kissack, his life was perfect on the outside. He had it all – the stuff people dream of. His climb on the ladder of life took him to high places. How could anyone that’s walking on “the red carpet” have a bad life? But on the inside, he was dying. His life was falling apart – drug addictions, alcoholism, suicidal thoughts. The stress was ripping him to shreds. He was lost.

For a group of everyday fisherman in Mexico, life was always hard. You could spend days on a fishing boat and hardly bring enough money in to feed your family. The work on a boat is brutal and yet tedious at the same time. For 3 men lost at sea for 9 months, they had almost nothing. Most of their food, supplies, gear and hope was gone, except for one thing. A bible. And with that bible, their faith in God never wavered. They were tossed at sea by day and night, starving, sick, wondering if they would ever see dry land again, but they knew God would save them. And even if death was what was waiting at the end of their journey, they knew God was at the end of that as well. They had faith.

Kissack’s story is woven among the tale of the lost fisherman. At first, you question why, but then you realize it – one man had everything but was lost. Three men were lost with nothing, but had faith.

When talking about his “ah ha” moment, Joe Kissack said,

“I thought I could continue chasing success until – well, until I didn’t know when. But I sure wasn’t going to slow down to figure it out. The self-deception was that I couldn’t make it all work. I think most men have this blind spot. We create our own truth.”

But when Kissack’s truth quit working, there was nothing left. Once he allowed God to fill his emptiness, he was exhilarated with the feeling of it. That feeling led him to write this story and let others know that whether they are lost at sea or in a sea of life’s turmoil, faith is what truly pulls his through.

The Fourth Fisherman by Joe Kissack from Joe Kissack on Vimeo.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review through their Blogging for Books Program. The opinions expressed here are my own.