I Am In Here ~ Reader Friday

Patricia Bradley Reader Friday 41 Comments

I Am In Here by Creston Mapes is this week’s Reader Friday. Here’s the first lines: “I can see, you know. And I can hear. Oh, can I hear.”

But first the photo and verse. The photo is another one Delores Topliff took. I believe she saw many sheep on her trip!

Now onto I Am In Here by Creston Mapes. Here’s the cover and back copy:

“Little do they know, I can hear and see everything.”
Eighteen-year-old Hale Frodele is presumed braindead from a tragic church bus accident in which he lost his younger brother, Nate.
Little does anyone know-Hale hears and understands everything with crystal clarity.
Hale remembers when his mom died at age 44 of pancreatic cancer and his dad turned his back on God.
He understands that the unbeliever his dad remarried whispers bitterly that Hale is ‘pitiful’ and ‘ruining’ her marriage.
His father has borrowed a large sum of money from a deranged loan shark named Sebastian and the payback is due in 48 hours.
Hale believes in his best friend Gilbert, who still visits him weekly, prays for his healing, and is beginning to realize something is very wrong in the Frodele household.
Hale is in here . . . and he has a mind-blowing story to tell.

My take:

Wow! This was a story I couldn’t put down. Mapes tells the story from several points of view, including Hale who cannot talk or move voluntarily. Mapes has created a captivating story of intrigue and has captured the reality of having a family member in Hale’s shape. This isn’t a sad book–it’s one of hope. Hale sees his prayers being answered as lives are changed.

From the opening chapters, I knew Hale’s stepmother intended to kill him…it was just a matter of whether she would succeed. For that, you’ll have to read the book and you won’t be sorry that you did. You can read it in KU or buy it on Amazon.

Leave a comment with the first line of the book you’re reading or just say “hi” and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library!

I Am In Here by Creston Mapes is this week's Reader Friday. Be sure to visit my blog and leave a comment--I'll enter you in a September drawing from my library! And check out this week's super moon! \ Share on X

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Comments 41

  1. Priscilla Bettis

    The moon was so bright last night I thought I had left the porch light on, haha!

    I read I Am in Here and loved it. Mapes is such a great storyteller!

    I am reading The 1916 Project by Seth Gruber. It’s fascinating (and disturbing), all about Margaret Sanger. The first line: “I’ve been a pro-life activist since I was a fetus.” Rather provocative, I know, but so is the whole book.

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      Patricia Bradley

      The moon was just coming over the horizon when I left our church after seeing God Is Not Dead #5. It was huge! I grabbed my camera and drove down the street so I had a better view and voila! And yes, The 1916 Project does sound provocative!

  2. L. Murphy

    I too loved “I am in Here”! What a great book! I think it was another wee hour of the morning read for me because I couldn’t put it down.

    Right now I’m reading an ARC of “Lethal Sins”. It’s from Edie James’s Redemption Creek series. The first line is, “Paige Penderson shivered and yanked her down jacket tighter around her shoulders.” This is a “grip you from the first page” book in a captivating series!

    Have a blessed weekend!

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  3. Heather

    I will have to add this one to my TBR list!

    I am currently reading Randy Singer’s “False Witness,” and the first line is “If anything happened to this kid, the professor would never forgive himself.” I am still early in it, but enjoying it!

    Blessings!

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  4. Tim Johnson

    What beautiful photos! I’m happy to be one of the Good Shepherd’s sheep, too! Do I detect a patch of blue on the back side of the closest sheep? Or is that what we used to call a Kodak object (a fluke of the processing)?

    That sounds like an amazing book, Pat. Thank you for reviewing it for us.

    “Smoke from a plane crash no one had been able to locate–yet–hung in the air.” is the first line of “Wilderness Hunt” by Lisa Phillips, and part of the K-9 Search and Rescue series. It was published in 2022. I had been reading the series, but somehow missed hearing about the remaining books. This is the first of those I have not yet read. I’ve read some of Lisa’s works, and enjoyed them. While the story line for this one is good, somehow the writing seems choppy. It is a little distracting. I found that a few reviewers on Good Reads had similar comments. I’m more than half way through, and I’m curious about how it ends, so I’ll finish reading it, and report back about what I think when I’m done.

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      Patricia Bradley

      No, that wasn’t a Kodak object, Tim. 🙂 The sheep had a dab of blue on it. Delores said that there were sheep painted red, white and blue. lol I don’t know why. Wilderness Hunt sounds interesting…I’ll have to check it out.

      1. Barbara Diggs

        I saw something on one of Delores’s posts that the sheep with blue on their backs were Protestant sheep, so maybe the ones with red are Catholic. I don’t mean that jokingly. I would like to know, too.

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    2. Tim Johnson

      I’m following up on what I posted last Friday about Lisa Phillips’ book, “Wilderness Hunt”. I did enjoy the plot and the characters. However, the choppy writing persisted to the end of the book, and it continued to be a distraction. I almost stopped reading the book a couple of times, but I wanted to see how it ended, and I was hoping the writing would improve. This is the first of Lisa’s books I’ve read recently, and I’m surprised considering I’d not seen this issue in the previous books I’d read. I hope it was an artifact of transcription to the Barnes & Noble Nook format, and not present in the other formats.

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  5. Barbara Diggs

    Wouldn’t you just love to walk down that road? Great photo and the perfect Scripture, Pat.

    I Am in Here sounds like a fantastic read. Thanks for another great review.

    I’m getting ready to start Into the Starlight by Amanda Cabot. I’ve read the two previous books in this series, and they were excellent! The first line reads, “ Dreams weren’t supposed to die, but Joanna Richter’s had, all except one.”

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  6. Edward Arrington

    Pat, the picture and verse are so soothing. Thanks for sharing them. I think that verse may have been one of the first that I learned as a child.

    The book sounds intriguing, although it’s so sad when someone is in a condition of being unable to move or communicate.

    I haven’t yet found the time or energy to get back into a book. I was about a third of the way through a proofread job Friday night and had to bow out on that. I haven’t decided what I will read next.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Hi Edward. I Am In Here is very uplifting and it’s short–right now that’s my criteria–so I think you’d enjoy this one. I know what it’s like to not have the energy or concentration to read. Praying you get back to your normal self soon!

  7. gda523

    This sounds like a great read.
    That was odd.
    As Lindsey Barnes guided her car up the long drive that led to her client’s upscale house, she eased back on the gas pedal and surveyed the empty bay in the three-car garage.
    Over the Edge by Irene Hannon
    Gloria Anderson

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  8. Gail Hollingsworth

    I am currently reading Where Trees Touch the Sky by Karen Barnett. “Sitting in the superintendent’s office at Redwood National Park was the answer to a thousand desperate prayers. The only trouble was, they hadn’t been hers.”
    This book sounds so interesting. Gonna add it too my “I want to read list.”

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  9. Megan

    That book sounds fascinating! Those pictures are really pretty, and that Bible verse is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Natalya Lakhno

    “Dr. Georgianna Zeller, DVM had tried—really tried—to find a way out of the mission she was on.”
    Kept for Her by Joy Avery Melville

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