In the burnt-out hollow, a house of dark secrets and an eerie beauty beckon.

Stranger Things by Erin Healy

About this book: When a student wrongly accuses biology teacher Serena of sexual misconduct, she finds herself thrust into a world of lust-filled men propagating an evil trade. Then, after she visits the site of a ruined house overrun by criminals, she starts having mysterious, haunting visions. Even more disturbing, she witnesses an act of senseless, apparently random violence, prompting her to seek the answer to the question: Why would a stranger sacrifice his life for hers?

About the author: (from her website) Erin Healy is the bestselling co-author of Burn and Kiss (with Ted Dekker) and an award-winning fiction editor for numerous bestselling authors. Erin is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services, a consulting firm specializing in fiction book development, and she is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and the Academy of Christian Editors. Her novels include such thrilling stories as Never Let You Go, The Baker’s Wife, and Stranger Things. She lives with her family in Colorado.

Genre: Fiction/Christian/Suspense

Would I read this book, judged on its cover alone? I’d read this book for the author’s name alone.

If this book were a movie, I would rate it: PG-13, not for language but for its exploration of mature themes (which is tasteful but honest).

Reminds me of… Ted Dekker with a softer touch

You’ll want to buy this book if … you enjoy tight suspense centering around real-life issues with themes of the supernatural.

Why did I read this book? As a Novel Crossing reviewer

Would I read another by this author? That’s me, standing at the head of the line, eagerly awaiting her next release.

My take: Editor-turned-novelist Erin Healy understands fiction from the inside out. She began as an award-winning fiction editor working with renowned suspense writers, including rock-star novelist of the supernatural, Ted Dekker. She co-authored two books with him before launching a fiction career of her own.

In her sixth novel, Stranger Things, she explores the question: what would you do if a stranger died for you? The story is all about the power of self-sacrifice and humankind’s eternal hope for salvation. It takes a hard, head-on look at prostitution and the human trafficking crisis spreading like a virus across the U.S. and around the world.

As in all of her novels, Healy’s characters inhabit the so-called thin places, those locations where, according to the author, “the veil between physical and spiritual realities is so delicate that a person can see through it.”

Healy’s trademark exploration of God’s mysterious side swiftly drew me into this story. That plus her unerring knack for crafting edge-of-your-seat suspense featuring complex characters facing fantastic problems. I find the author particularly adept at creating sympathetic yet flawed characters, and of all her novels, this one is perhaps her most intricately plotted to date.

Like the Old Testament book of Esther in which there is no outright mention of God, Stranger Things does not feature God Himself as a character, yet His fingerprints can be found all over the story. Which means that mainstream fiction fans may enjoy this novel as much as Christian ones.

In Stranger Things, Healy weaves a story in which the supernatural is made natural, and the implausible becomes very possible indeed. Best of all, these mysterious elements are woven so believably into the story that they encourage readers to look for thin places—those inimitable touches of God’s hand—in their own lives.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

End notes: A variation of this post first appeared as a featured review on NovelCrossing.com.