Review: Gorgeous, Power Story in Ronie Kendig's Signature Style
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2012
For 32 years, Hawk has lived a life consumed with bitterness and anger.  Convinced he was at fault for his entire unit's death, he isolated himself, refusing to accept or return the love of those around him.  Minutes from death, Thomas Constant (time personified) visits Hawk to offer him a gift--the choice between extending his life seven hours or reliving any seven hours of his life.  Convinced he can change the past, Hawk chooses to return to the night his unit died and kill Abda, the seven year old boy he let walk away all those years ago.  However, he doesn't return empty-handed; he takes Constant's watch with him.  As it turns out, the watch has a power of its own.  In a gorgeous and powerful story, Whole Pieces is a gripping tale of heroic action and an unlikely opportunity for a second chance.I absolutely love Ronie Kendig's books.  Even with the romance angle, I love her beautiful writing style and tense action.  She has a unique niche in the market and she does an excellent job of filling it with gripping stories featuring military heroes.  I've always wondered what it would be like if she wrote a story that was just action and not really any romance--I finally got my wish.  While there is a small smattering of romance, for the most part, Whole Pieces is full force action with a lead character that's every bit as heroic as those featured in Kendig's Discarded Heroes series.Have I mentioned how much I love Kendig's lead characters?  I know, only a thousand times, right?  Well I do and it's no different with Hawk.  Even though the reader only gets to spend about 70 pages with him, they're still treated to a man dedicated to the protection of the innocent.  I love the interaction between Hawk and Abda.  While reading this book, it's not immediately clear the implication of their relationship.  However, as the story reaches its conclusion, all the wonderful scenes between these two come into focus, leaving the reader very encouraged and left with a great message.A nice twist to this story is Hawk taking or rather stealing Constant's watch.  Not only does the function of the watch add an interesting dimension to the story, it also sets up some great dialog between Hawk and Constant.  I've always enjoy books which play with the domino effect of a person's actions.  Therefore, the watch's power fulfilled my love of this concept and generates some of the strongest dialog in the story.I've been waiting for one of the books in the 7 Hours series to treat time as a gift, and Whole Pieces does just that.  While it's easy to get lost in the action of the story or the emotion of a scene, throughout this novella, there is a very strong sense that Hawk's seven hours are a gift.  So often in the traumatic events of life we forget time is a gift--one that once used cannot be retrieved.  I'm so glad Kendig gently inserts the gift of time into her story.I love Whole Pieces.  I love the story, the action, and the beautiful dialog.  I love the encouraging words and the peace of a life well lived.  But most of all, I loved watching the story of a strong, heroic character who discovers, "love and warrior go together. Passionately."Review title provided courtesy of Tyndale