Review was posted on Hope by the Book's "web extras" in February.

An outstanding book by an author who was hesitant to delve into a new genre, but has written a book so full of intrigue that she will have readers anxiously waiting for another one!

This is the first book I have read by Ginny Yttrup and her first suspense book. A job well done and I really enjoyed Convergence. There are several different timelines in this book following different characters in the span of about eight years. The main character is Denilyn who is a professor of Psychology, who used to be a psychologist before being stalked and brutally attached. After surviving she faces many difficulties and challenges causing her to change professions. In the present she starts to feel that she is being targeted again and begins remembering the events of the past. A very suspenseful story that keeps you guessing.

I received this e-book from NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

I did not see that coming! This story is full of information and the way that it is brought together at the end is masterful. Everyone brings a different section to the story and it is told through different perspectives. There is several shockers that I was not expecting and I appreciate this book and author even more because of it! While full of suspense I also was captivated by the strength and how each woman demonstrated that strength in this story.

One of the best suspense stories I have read in a while. Even though it has been a few days since I finished it I keep returning to different aspects of the story to see if I should have seen something before I did. and I love it when authors have me going back and questioning what I should have seen and when!

I enjoyed this story and I hope that there are more suspense stories to come from Ginny L Yttrup.

Thank you Ginny, NetGalley, Shiloh Run Press and Barbour Publishing for the chance to read this story and share my opinions!

I really enjoyed the suspense and characters in this book. There were lots of twists and turns throughout. However, I was quite taken back by the abrupt ending. I would liked to have seen a bit more resolution. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review.

I quickly became a fan of Ginny Yttrup’s writing style after reading her story, Home, in 2017. Even though I’m not usually a fan of present tense writing, I loved how Ms. Yttrup mastered it! The story stayed with me, so I really looked forward to reading her new book.

Ms. Yttrup’s writer’s voice in Convergence feels so much different than her previous writing. This book is heavier on suspense, and deals with topics of stalking, PTSD, and fear. The first pages pulled me in, and I connected with Dani and sympathized with her. I liked her friend, and the spiritual vein throughout the story kept me reading.

Although the story drew me in quickly, I was never fully immersed in the story. I don’t normally read psychological thrillers, so that’s probably part of it, but also because, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about how I enjoyed Home so much more.

Author: Ginny Yttrup
Publisher: Shiloh Run Press
Pages: 320
First Line (Chapter One): I inhale, filling my lungs with cold air.
I received a review copy of this book. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Not really my cup of tea. Easy read but writing and plot was a bit choppy. The mystery was easily solved early in the novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Barbour Press for the ARC to read and review.

You will be amazed by the number of plot twists in this story. It is a story of faith and friendship. Of love and loss. It is about letting go and trusting that God has everything in his perfect control. The author weaves a magnificent plot that opens a door into the brain of a psychopath. You will be hanging on to every word trying to figure out the clues as you read. It is riveting and you will not want to put it down until it is finished.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. It is a great suspense read. The characters are well developed and the twists and turns kept coming throughout the entire book. It was hard to put this book down.

What a fascinating and complex book. I thought it looked interesting from the description because of the focus on river-rafting (my family used to go river rafting on the American River a lot when I was a kid). Once I started reading, however, I realized there was much more depth to the story than just a suspense novel. It is written exactly like a river rafting trip. It started slow, just floating along like the beginning of a rafting trip. Then there were a few bumps, light rapids, as we get glimpses into events in Deni’s past. More events occur in the present, and we hit some class III rapids. The story continues to pick up the pace up until the Class VI climax. It was a tightly-woven plot created to mimic the river that is a focal point of the story, and it just enhanced the tension. Even the title has a double meaning relating to the river and the plot. I was very impressed with this book and highly recommend it. A big thank you to NetGalley, Barbour Publishing, Inc., and the author for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ginny L. Yttrup's Convergence had me sitting on the edge of my chair. It was very suspenseful and keep me guessing until the very end. Great psychological thriller. I would definitely recommend.

3.5 stars
This is quite the suspenseful tale, definitely not what I expect from a Yttrup book, but welcomed all the same. The mystery isn't terribly difficult to figure out, however there are many things that are kept from the reader that keep you from knowing exactly what was going on. I wasn't thrilled by that part, but overall it is a very exciting tale that kept me turning pages when I should have been doing other things in order to get to the end.
Some others have complained about the first person POV, and that usually bothers me but it really didn't in this case. It made the book more tense in my opinion, because we were experiencing things right along with the main characters.
Solid book with a great faith message about trusting God in all circumstances.

4 1/2 ⭐️‘s
“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love, and self-control.
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7
Deni is paralyzed by fear. Years ago a stalker almost ended her life. Now her stalker is back, but isn’t he still in jail? Adelia is also paralyzed by fear, but has come to look it in the face no matter what the outcome. With an opening that leaves you breathless, the reader traverses between timelines of these two women eagerly turning pages to find out just what connects them and what the final outcome will be. With a twist that I didn’t see coming, this is Christian suspense at its finest!

CONVERGENCE is one of those books that begin with a bang, drawing the reader into the life of Denilyn Rossi, best- selling author and Professor of Psychology at a California university. She is an insecure woman, paralyzed by fear and constantly looking over her shoulder for perceived threats. Are her “near-misses” accidents or the result of someone’s sick and vengeful plotting? Is she being shadowed by some unknown stalker or is it all her imagination? In her classes she preaches a mantra of strength and confronting your fears to her students but is unable to follow her own advice. She is also a character who could easily be used as a poster child for the unreliable narrator.

Next we meet Adelia, a strong and driven woman who is the antithesis of Denilyn. She is a woman with a plan.
The past and present of these women converge in this tale that pulses with an underlying sense of menace.

This suspense/psychological thriller also has a dash of Christian/religious undertones with lines like the following sprinkled here and there through the narration; “Circumstances aren’t ours to control and it is only faith, belief in what cannot be fully known or understood, that truly saves” or “I arrive with a skeletal plan, certain God would reveal the steps as necessary. Tonight, without a clear plan, I must turn away from doubt. I must choose to trust and follow HIM. It is not my strength nor my own plans that will get me through this. It is His power through me that will prevail”.

Told from two points of view and covering incidents from the past and present, this is a tale that demands the reader pay attention.

Surviving an Assault by a Stalker

Psychology professor Dr. Denilyn Rossi is a survivor. She overcame PTSD after being attacked by a stalker. The man went to prison, but as he is soon to be released, Denilyn feels that she is again being stalked. She tells her students that the past can either haunt you, or give you a reason to move on, but now she has to apply her teaching to herself and find a way to overcome her fears again.

Adelia Sanchez is a less introspective character. She also has a past to overcome, and she takes direct action to do so signing up to take people on raft trips on the Kaweah river where her trauma occurred. The past and present come together on the river with Denilyn and Adelia facing danger and their fears.

This is a psychological thriller that can pull you in and make you feel all the panic experienced by someone being stalked and attacked. Denilyn tells her story in the first person and it is primarily her fears and how she tries to overcome them. Adelia also tells her story in the first person but there is more action. Since both characters tell their stories in the first person, it can be confusing in the early parts of the book. However, as the characters become more distinct, it’s easier to follow.

I enjoyed the book, but was disappointed that it was so easy to figure out what was happening with the stalker. It made me wonder how Denilyn could sometimes be so obtuse. The other thing I disliked about the book was Denilyn’s constant talking about her terror. Some of it was great, but it became too much after awhile.

There is a Christian element in the book that is not preachy, but a real part of the story. I thought that was the best part of the book. If you enjoy thrillers with a Christian underpinning, you’ll enjoy this book.

I received this book from Barbour Publishing for this review.

I’ve read a lot of suspense books, and I have to say that this is one of my favorites so far. The author, Ginny L Yttrup , added a lot of details about the characters that brought them to life on the pages of this story. I enjoyed getting to know the main character, Denilyn, and couldn’t help but feel empathy for her because of all she was going through. I also felt that the author did a very realistic job of describing Denilyn’s emotional state since she never knew where or when she would see the person who was stalking.

Denilyn’s position as a psychologist was a very good choice of a career for her. It added depth above and beyond what I typically find in a novel of this kind since she was in a position of understanding why she felt the way she did and how she should be coping better than the typical lay person could.

The tale is told through two viewpoints: Dennilyn’s and Adelia’s. While I knew Adelia had some reason to be in the book, it wasn’t immediately apparent why , and it did seem as she might be up to no good. (Maybe she was. Maybe she wasn’t. I won’t tell!) It also goes from the present to events in the past, which is a tactic used in many books of this nature, and I find it very effective.

Overall, this is a solid Christian fiction book, and I feel it is worth every bit of the 5 star rating I gave it.

This is my first book by Ginny Yttrup. I received and early addition from NetGalley to review and the opinions are my own.

The story was very suspenseful and will keep you turning the pages. Lots of twists. Interesting characters that you'll try to figure out.

This is a psychological suspense novel. In the end, I really enjoyed the story and plot twists regarding bullying and fear. I did have problems with some of the time shifts and alliteration throughout the book. I believe the author has fallen into the “girl” books that are all the rage now with their plot twists and time shifts that they all seem to feature. While sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and you end up confused. But like I said, in the end I was glad to have read it. Just read it already!

"God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" 2nd Timothy 1:7

"The past is either a shadow that haunts us or a force that propels us."

"It is only faith, belief in what cannot be fully known or understood, that truly saves."

Convergence, a suspense/thriller novel from Ginny L. Yttrup, is a highly enjoyable read that will at some moments keep you on the edge of your seat while other moments have you scratching your head, unsure of where this book will converge to its final conclusion. Yttrup, a first time author for me, provides many thought-provoking pieces of prose that she weaves into this psychological thriller. Denilyn is a likable character, scars and flaws included, that the reader should be rooting for all of the way. There are confusing shifts in timeline and characters that do take some time getting used to and Yttrup does do a great job of merging these together. There were times I was blown away, times I had to keep reading to see what happened next, which is what you look for in these types of suspense books. I loved all the many references to faith, facing your fear through the help of God, and trusting in God to get you through tough situations. Yttrup provides some red herrings and many, many situations where she only gives you a small amount of information to work with to keep you intrigued, though possibly confused.

The book loses a star from my rating for three reasons. One, I had a feeling for a lot of the book of one of the major plot points and I was proved right (yay me, but ultimately that can be a slight letdown). And also, I found some of the big reveals that were meant to be mind-blowing to be a bit of a letdown as well. I won't spoil these for anybody, but if you've read the book, then I think you know what I am talking about. And lastly, I felt like the ending rushed by faster than the Kaweah River

But all in all, this is a solid suspense book with a lot to like about it. I would definitely recommend it because I did find it both unique and compelling and the writing was really good. I saw in the acknowledgments that she thanked Brandilyn Collins and I can see that fans of hers would like this book.

*I received this book free from Netgalley and publisher Barbour in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book, but didn't LOVE it. But I liked it enough to want to keep reading and as I did , I was propelled to find out what was going to happen. The story is about a psychology professor who is overwhelmed by fear and anxiety after her experience with a stalker.

What I didn't like was that the book seems to jump around all over the place between different time periods and characters. The plot was a bit drawn out and could of been tightened up a bit.

Overall, it was a good read that I would recommend to my Christian friends . Solid effort for this author as this is her first suspense novel, but not her first novel.

I had a little bit of trouble getting into this book, but enjoyed it once it got going. There are the usual twists we look for in this type of book, and things that keep you guessing. Sometimes it’s difficult to like Deni, but you want her to be able to face her fears and then recover. The theme of letting go and letting God was welcome because that’s how many people are able to survive and move on from trauma. The way the author goes back and forth in timelines gives us insight we need to be able to understand Deni. I believe that this will be a great book for many readers! I received an ARC of this book from the author, publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review, which this has been