Strongholds
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by Vanessa Davis Griggs

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Dafina (May 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 075821734X

Reviewed by Idrissa Uqdah

The second book in the Blessed Trinity trilogy by best selling Christian fiction author, Vanessa Davis Griggs is a story full of the challenges that church folk face on a daily basis.  They are members of the  mega-church, Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center led by Pastor George Landris, who with his wife, author Johnnie Mae Taylor have graced the pages of Griggs’ novels beginning with her first book, The Rose of Jericho.  You would think that this author should have run out of storylines after writing four other books in this series.  But that is not the case.  Readers eagerly await each new installment, being sure that Griggs will show them something new each time. 

A gifted Bible scholar, she uses scripture to begin each chapter.  Griggs’ books always have a message based on the Word of God; yet she writes timely novels about real people and real situations which make her books stand out among the many books published in this genre.

Pastor Landris  invites his congregation to bring their strongholds, those things which have them bound, to the altar to be freed of their weaknesses.  Several different characters answer that invitation hoping for deliverance.  A husband and wife (she struggling with overeating and he with a gambling addiction) seek God’s hand in their lives.  A husband and father who is married to his work as a therapist comes home to find his wife has left him taking his children with her.  The character with multiple personalities from Blessed Trinity returns in this book, as she is treated for mental illness due to her bondage from a tragedy from her past.

Other members are fighting addictions to pornography, dealing with self-righteousness  and sins of the heart.  The church is in crisis and the answers lie in the power that faith in redemption will help them make it through.  This book may be the author’s most defining work yet as the members seek counseling from the church staff for all that ails them spiritually. 

Readers can expect all of these issues to be tied up in the third and final installment of this trilogy entitled: If Memory Serves, which will publish October 1, 2008. Personally, I can’t wait to see what happens next and just how the author plans to bring this trilogy full circle. With her track record, I am sure that Vanessa Davis Griggs will not disappoint her readers.  For those of you who enjoy Christian fiction based on the Word of God; don’t miss this trilogy!