Published by Thomas Nelson on May 2013
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Suspense
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Architect Vance Nolan has crafted a marvel—shining apartments floating in the peaceful cove of a winding river. When the project is partially occupied and about to make investors rich, a sinkhole gives way.
Then torrential rains quickly flood the cove, leaving a handful of builders, investors, and residents cut off from the rest of the world.
The motley group is bitterly divided over how to survive.
Vance insists they wait for rescue. Developer Tony Dean wants to strike out into the darkness. And single-mom Danielle Clement, obligated to each man and desperate to protect her young son, Simeon, isn’t sure which one is wiser.
Power failure, an unnatural daytime darkness, explosions, and then a murder slowly expose hidden intentions and dark histories. But Simeon has spotted something bright underwater—beautiful, shifting lights in the dark depths.
In this watery world, everyone’s secrets will eventually come to light. And deliverance may mean more than just getting out alive.
Vance Nolan has designed and created something no one else had ever done. Eagle’s Talon is a floating community of apartments nestled in a cove on the Rondeau River. Still unfinished, some of the dwellings have occupants and the rest are being completed and sold to make investors lots of money. When a sinkhole gives way, upending a pump truck and ruining the supports to one of the buildings, things begin to go awry.
Bad goes to worse as torrential rains pour down and decimate the isthmus connecting the apartments to the mainland. But was it a sinkhole or something man-made that caused the catastrophe? Regardless, now Vance, developer Tony, his girlfriend Danielle, and a group of others are trapped in a dangerous situation with no way to communicate with civilization. They can’t agree whether to wait out the storm or attempt a journey toward safety. And Danielle doesn’t know who to trust. With Afloat, Erin Healy gives readers an almost claustrophobic character study of people trapped in the middle of a flood.
In all honesty, I was expecting a story with a little more suspense, and with a faster pace. Instead, I got a character study that was just as interesting and maybe more thought-provoking. If you want a look inside people’s motives and responses in a crisis, this is the book for you. I think Healy has created a character for every personal spiritual situation. Zeke, Vance’s spiritual mentor, is the godly one. He has an unwavering faith in God and isn’t afraid to share it. Vance is a believer, but sometimes doubts what God has told him, and his wavering could cost people their lives. Tony sees no need for God and Danielle needs a lot of prodding to open up to Him. Each have their secrets, which can either hurt them or help them survive. The last quarter of the book gave a satisfying punch to the plot resolution.
I love supernatural fiction—I believe spiritual entities and other unseen things are all around us in the world, and that God uses these things to change the outcomes of events in ways we will never know this side of heaven. Mr. Ranier, Zeke’s visions, and the flashing lights inside the cove’s water all gave a sense of the unseen hands that guide us.
What will we do when the flood waters rise and all that we hold dear is in danger of being lost? That is the question these characters must answer. Will love come to the surface? Or something else entirely?
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