The Blue Cloak

by Shannon McNear

Published by Barbour Books
Publication Date February 14, 2020
Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Clean Romance
Setting: Kentucky, Tennessee Federalist Era - US - 1789 - 1803
Written for: Adults
Pages: 256

I would like to thank Barbour Books, Celebrate Lit, Netgalley for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.

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When I was in third grade, I watched a movie about Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey. To this day, I remember the final scene and the feeling of numbness and disbelief over the bloodshed that stuck with me for days. . .

As you can see, I’m not predisposed to enjoy violent stories. When I first heard about this story, despite loving The Cumberland Bride, I decided to pass on the opportunity to be an advance reader. I just couldn’t see myself reading it. Later, having heard about the blog tour, I was torn. I waited until the last day to sign up and decided to give it a try. And made sure to read it on a Saturday when I knew I would be able to finish it while it was still daylight. 🙂

I will honestly say that The Blue Cloak was much more gruesome than I had expected. And yet, gruesome isn’t quite the right word. While in some instances, the atrocities committed by the Harpe brothers had a little bit of detail, for the most part, they were simply mentioned. However, they committed so many heinous crimes – targeting men, women, and children, even just to say what they did was overwhelming for me. There were several places in the story where I got nauseous and others in which I was ready to contact Celebrate Lit and beg off the tour. Yet I knew that I now needed closure, so I persisted and finished the story.

You will probably have noticed that I gave the story 4 stars. It was very well written. I loved Rachel and Ben. There was an emphasis on Sally turning to the Lord in repentance and seeking His help. And there was a sweet romance. So, if the details of what the Harpes had done were summarized more, I would have given this a higher rating. Therefore, it merits this rating for those reasons, not the way my heart (and stomach!) reacted to it.

I saw from the author’s note that she almost didn’t tell this story. That it was so evil she struggled with it. Her desire and the reason she wrote it was to show good prevailing over evil. This does come through, though, again, more of the evil was shown than I prefer.

If you enjoy “True Crime” type stories with good prevailing, then I recommend The Blue Cloak to you. – Jean, this might be your type of book! In the meantime, I’m off to read a comedy!!!

Shannon's The Blue Cloak Pinterest Board

(click here to go directly to the board on Pinterest)

More from Shannon

How dark is too dark for a Christian to write?

That was the question I wrestled with when deciding whether or not to take on the story of the Harpes. The histories in Scripture itself aren’t rated G, but writing fiction requires a level of detail and depth of emotion I wasn’t sure would be wise, or helpful, to explore in this case. But as I prayed and sought the counsel of those whose discernment I trust, the answer came back, overwhelmingly …

Is God stronger than the darkness, or not?

Well, of course He is. And nothing in human history has ever escaped His notice, or taken Him by surprise.

So, was there something redeeming to be found in the tale of the Harpes?

For the first few weeks of research, I walked around in a state of shock at the horror of the historical accounts, but details surfaced that helped me shape my fictional characters Rachel and Ben. With Rachel working in her family’s trading post near the wild frontier town of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Ben a lawyer who recently passed the bar, the real-life Hugh Lawson White provided a handy connection point between them. Many other details fell together in ways I had not foreseen when I began developing the story. Sally Rice Harpe, however, rose to the forefront. This was more her story than anyone’s, but realizing I couldn’t properly write the book without using her point of view? That was scary. I knew the moments I’d have to visit, some of them in real-time.

Despite the tragedy, however, I could see an overarching story of spiritual warfare. Felt a growing conviction that prayer must have played a vital role in bringing the Harpes’ reign of terror to an end. So it is my hope that against the backdrop of one of the most chilling episodes of our country’s early history, the hand of God shows clearly, and that yes, the reader finds it redemptive.

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