Fiction Review: The Restoration Series: Last Light, Night Light, True Light, and Dawn's Light

I have always enjoyed Terri Blackstock’s books. My first introduction to her writing was with one of her firefighter books. I was hooked. I read more of those, then her police-themed books, and now, once in a while, I pick up another. This series of four did not disappoint.

The first book, Last Light, plunges the United States into weird problems. Cars won’t run, planes crash, telephones don’t work, and people are walking home, leaving their cars, wondering what has happened. When they arrive, there’s no power in the house or on their street. It’s summer, and with no air conditioning, no running water, no Internet, no phone connections, they try to survive the best they can. Thankfully, the Branning family lives near a lake.

The problem lasts much longer and is more extensive than anyone would have dreamed. Deni Branning, a journalist, begins hand writing a newspaper, her businessman father starts a church, and they and their neighbors dig up their lawns to plant gardens. Deni’s brother and father take turns guarding their house—there’s a killer around—and the story takes off. Deni decides to travel to see her fiancé, since he didn’t come to her, but she chooses the worst traveling partner of all, the killer himself.

Through all four books, the upper middle class Branning family confronts dangers, subsistence living, thieves, and a total re-adjustment of values. They grow and change spiritually, though there are some major challenges when they question God. What is He doing? Why would He allow this? Will the suffering ever end?

In this four-book series, you’ll find romance, healing, tragedy, and lots of growing. Terri Blackstock keeps building the story throughout, and you’ll find yourself flipping pages faster and faster. I loved these, and I think you will, too.

The Restoration Series is totally clean and Christian, with salvation clearly explained. I think these books are appropriate for teenagers. Porn is mentioned but not described. There are no explicit scenes or any bad language. You’ll find some sad results of violence, drug use, and also cadavers.