Distortion by Terri Blackstock

Juliet Cole’s life has been dismantled by the murder of her husband. She doesn’t know who—or what—to trust when everything she has believed to be true about her marriage has been a lie. When Juliet Cole’s husband of fifteen years is gunned down in a dark parking lot before her eyes, she thinks it was a random shooting. Devastated and traumatized, she answers hours of questioning. When she’s finally allowed to return home to break the news to her boys, she hears a voicemail that takes the situation from a random shooting to a planned, deliberate attack. "Mrs. Cole, we know you have access to the supply and the money. If you don't turn fifty million over to us and give us the codes, then you'll be burying more family members."
Suddenly, Juliet realizes that she and her children could be in danger. She teams up with her sisters and PI Michael Hogan to dig into the sham Bob has been living for years. The more she learns, the worse the betrayal. A drug trafficking history, a fortune in cash, and a secret family all emerge to turn Juliet’s belief system on its head, and threaten the things she loves. Are she and her sisters skilled enough as sleuths to get to the truth?

Distortion was an interesting novel, but as the second novel in the Moonlighter series, it is hard to read as a stand-alone novel. I did not read the first novel, so I felt disconnected from the characters as much of their characteristics and the events that had defined their lives had been developed or had happened in the first novel. As a result, even though the mystery in this novel was suspenseful and well-written, I had trouble connecting to the storyline and the characters. I would definitely recommend reading the first novel, Truth Stained Lies, first.

However, despite the disconnect I felt, I thought the plot was well developed and contained plenty of unexpected twists and revelations. The themes of the novel were also well written and heartfelt and included topics such as the importance of forgiveness, trusting in the Lord, and being honest to others and to yourself. While I did have troubled connecting with the characters in this novel, I did find Juliet to be an honest and realistic character that I sympathized with as she discovered the truth about her husband. Despite his problems, she still remained faithful to God and made honorable choices that were glorifying to Him. Overall, I think that Distortion was an enjoyable novel, and I look forward to reading Truth Stained Lies so that I have a better idea of what was going on in Distortion and can connect more easily with the characters.

I received this novel for free from BookLook Bloggers and Zondervan Press in exchange for an honest review.