Unopened: Deploying Faith, Volume 1

By: Michelle Lynn Brown

Narrated by: Patricia Mary Hoeksema, Don Hoeksema

Hannah smiled a ghost of a smile - happiness long since buried under the cruelty of circumstances. Their life had become a funeral of sorts where they were always grieving the loss of a child, the loss of a soldier, and now the loss of their love.

Keith and Hannah Anderson have been through three miscarriages, multiple deployments, and shared in the loss of friends to the tragedy of war. Retirement should be easy - a fresh start for the weary couple. But Keith sees the move back home to their small Oklahoma town as a step backward in a long line of failures - and Hannah as the one who left him with no choice.

Hannah views Keith's grumbling and unwillingness to embrace their new life as a reminder of the things she was unable to give him. Staring at the empty doorway of their marriage, both want to see things to change, but are unsure how to navigate all the hurt between them. Then Hannah finds a box of unopened letters from an unknown woman. She believes they could help her understand the mother she never knew.

When Keith begs her to leave the letters alone, they become another point of contention in their already troubled marriage. Hannah hopes the truth in the letters will bring healing to her battered heart - but hope is scare in her life. Will Hannah and Keith allow life to push them through another door, or can they learn to trust that God is with them, no matter what door they are walking through?

©2016 Michelle Lynn Brown (P)2017 Michelle Lynn Brown

Sound effects were distracting

I really wanted to like this story, but, there was just too much that missed the mark. I really liked Michelle Lynn Brown’s other books. This one wasn’t one of them. However, because so much was left hanging I’m going to listen to the second book.

What I didn’t like were all the sound effects throughout the story, especially all the crying.
I wanted to like the main characters, and there were certain parts I enjoyed about them.
What I disliked was how egocentric the characters were. The bickering and fighting throughout the marriage after Keith retires from the military, something he didn’t want to do.
I also didn’t like that neither Hannah or Keith actually sat down and talked to each other. They fought a lot and made a lot of assumptions.
At least they find themselves back to letting God into their lives. But seemed rushed and not as detailed as expected.