Distant Echoes

by Colleen Coble

Book: Distant Echoes

Category:  Adult Christian Fiction

Author: Colleen Coble

ISBN: 0-7852-6042-0

Websites:  www.colleencoble.com

Review:

Kaia (pronounced KIGH-yah) is one smart girl.  Only 29 years old with a PhD she works with wild dolphins at Seaworthy Labs trying to facilitate dolphin and human communication.  She’s got her dream job, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, with her family all around her.  But clouds loom on the horizon of her happiness.  The lab has been sold and the new owner wants to shake things up – in a big way.  Her brother Mano is flirting with the Pele Hawai’i sovereignty group.  And why does her family think right now is the time to solve the mystery of her long-lost mother when Kaia would rather forget she existed at all. 
The theme of forgiveness flows through this fast moving book.  While not deeply explored, it is a constant note amidst the sabotage, love interest, and tropical setting.
My only criticism of this book is the fast pace – sometimes it just moves too fast.  By page 10 we have already had a fatal accident, a conspiracy theory, a woman who swims with dolphins and the set-up for the romance that grows throughout the book.  I have never lived in Hawaii and sometimes I just wanted to beg the author to slow down, and let me have a look around, let me soak in the tropical setting.
This would be a great book for a weekend at the cottage or for a tropical escape during those dreary days when it seems winter will never end.