True Light (Restoration Series #3)

As evidenced in the first two novels of the Restoration Series, Blackstock continues her 'grab you' style of writing. I couldn't wait to get to the last novel of this series! Now I am already in my third book of her 'Second Chances' series, and enjoying every bit of it. She completes one life story and continues with another familiar character in the next books. You will delight in her works!

This entire series is wonderful! Anyone who doesn't know what it means to trust in God should read them. And for those who already believe and trust, it is uplifting and encouraging to see that believers don't always have everything go smoothly, yet God is always there!

This book makes you think about how blind we are. We enjoy technology, mass media, advanced medical care, abundant resources, safety, leisure.... without a thought to what we would do if it all just STOPPED. This book is a wake up call. What would Jesus do?? Great series!!

True Light, Terri Blackstock's Restoration Series
All of this series is five stars. I've read previously and passed the books onto friends back in 2009,
Recently reread entire series on Kindle.
Thanks Terri.
Praising Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first two books in the Restoration series were fantastic but this edition just wasn't up to the same quality. For one thing, the Branning family are the main characters yet, this book was about Mark Green. It just wasn't as good and I'm not sure if I'm going to buy the next in the series unless I read that it's about the Brannings.

Another great book in this series. It has been about a year and a half since I read this book while my husband and I were on our 10th anniversary vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Aaaahhhh......to be there again.....anyway, the book.....not exactly nice and relaxing reading material while on vacation in paradise, but a great read anyway. I remember thinking over and over again that things couldn't get any worse for Mark, but it always did. This book had such a great message of God's forgiveness, and God's desire for us to love those people that are unloveable, that are really no where near deserving of any kind of kindness from you (let alone love). The Lord loves those people that are the worst of the worst, just as he loves us. Even after all this time, that theme and thought still resonated in my mind. As in all the books in this series, Blackstock does an excellent job making this a Christian book, without being super churchy. I also love that the good Christian characters aren't pushovers, and that they don't let others walk all over them. Deni's dad is a great example of this. He's a strong, loving, caring Christian man and leader, but you had better not harm or accuse his family or friends. I look forward to sometime getting around to reading the 4th book. I hear it is REALLY good! :-)

How a great author like Terri Blackstock can continue to get better and better is somewhat of a mystery to me, and yet that is exactly what I find. With her first book in the Restoration Series (LAST LIGHT) she didn't just kick it up a notch, but bumped it into a different stratosphere. The fact that she has been able to do so for 3 books is a testimony to the way she works. When you see her giving credit to the Lord, right up front, she's right. I really doubt that even she could do this without His help.

TRUE LIGHT continues the saga of a world plunged into darkness because of electrical pulses from a distant star. Nothing electrical works. Stop to think about how many things you depend on that require electricity, then remove it from your life and you'll have an idea of the world these people live in. It's been 8 months since the "lights went out", and it's winter, which I think makes it a great book to read on some of these hot summer days. There are 4 main things that each person needs, food, water, clothing and shelter. This is especially true in winter. Now take away the furnaces that heat homes, the ovens, the kerosene or quartz heaters. Take away a ready food supply. Take away available water. You are left with people hoping they can dress warm enough inside shells of homes that will keep out wind, but not cold, both hungering and thirsting. That's pretty bad. Now suppose someone comes in and shoots a hunter to steal his deer. That's how the book starts out. Now add Mark Green into the mix and the Oak Hollow complainers and you have the makings of a real suspenseful tale. Blackstock could have left it at that and she would have sold millions of copies, but she went on to focus on Mark. As a Christian he had to learn and re-learn to forgive. This leads him into some strange places, such as a clapboard village, like the "Hoover towns" of the past, jail, and more. We find him bringing home a deer, learn of his many inventions, yet at one point find him cleaning toilets.

Terri does what few other authors are capable of doing, get out a great moral teaching while entertaining you with a story. If you haven't read any of her works, the go back and get LAST LIGHT. After reading it I'm sure you'll want to own the whole series.

The Brannings are now into their eight month living in a world without the comforts of electricity, mass communication or technology. After watching how the family tries to adapt to their new way of life, the story now turns towards the ugly side of this new society. What happens to the criminals and prisoners? With the jails full of those who've committed petty crimes to mass murderers, it's getting harder and harder to find those who will watch over these lowlifes. What will happen when the police stop watching and the criminals are allowed to roam around freely with no one to stop them?

This was my favorite book out of the series so far. I think the characters have become more well developed. The Brannings aren't as shallow as they were in the beginning of the series. They finally act as if they want to get along well in this new society they are living in. The scenes in the jail were surprisingly realistic and difficult to read. You really felt for Mark as he chooses to turn the other cheek and ignore the hurtful remarks made by the prisoners. It's also scary to think about a world where criminals run free because we have no means of keeping them separated from society. Very suspenseful reading about the police chief's son wanting to get revenge. What I like best about this series is how much is really makes you think about how we take technology for granted. In the first book, the community is clueless about what to do without electricity. Even simple things like heating water or even using the bathroom are now almost impossible to do. If a situation like this would happen in our world today, I think it's a possibility our country could collapse. How would governments work without communication? It's interesting to think that all the top moneymaking jobs in this country like engineerings or informations technology would be useless. That's when all the jobs like history, geography, and geology would be high demand again. I'm really looking forward to the last book in the series because I want to know if, when and how society will be able to truly function again.

This is the third book in Blackstock’s Restoration series which begins with Last Light and if you read one you will probably want to read all four, to find out what happens next. I already bought book 4. The center of the story is how a Christian family copes with the world wide end of electricity. In this book there has been no electricity for 8 months, so no gas or water can be pumped, millions of vehicles are stranded, no food is brought to stores, and criminals are out looking for food. There is a love interest for Deni, the daughter of the family, their neighborhood near a lake pulls together to help each other and to grow food and Mark is framed for a murder.

"True Light" continues to follow a small community of people after a solar event knocks out all modern technology that uses computer chips. The first two books were excellent, and this book follows in that same line. By this time some technology is coming back and there are limited uses of electricity. Here I have a minor nick picky point. One character gets shot and is taken to the hospital, which now has shielded generators to give limited electric power. The shooting victim is hooked up to a ventilator. Now if all the computer chips have been fried by the electromagnetic pulses, and modern cars and whatnot can not work, how does the ventilator work? That struck me as inconsistent, but it is only a minor point in an otherwise good story. Another minor glitch that I found while reading was the notion of people spending gold coins. Sure there would be some trading, but since all the banks are closed, few could make much change for a very expensive gold eagle coin. Again, perhaps I am being too picky, but that struck me as kind of odd as well.
I recommend this series, but feel that book three would not stand alone really very well, but is great if read after the first two are read.