Preacher Sam involves a disgraced preacher who is the only one who might solve the murder because the confessed killer is an ex-parishioner who has killed her business partner. Sam gets involved due on the request of his estranged wife, one whom he lost when he lost his church and his congregation to the secret life he is living. Most of this novel is building Sam as a character, showing us that there is redemption if we work hard enough, and that there is always a place for kindness. Even though this is a minor part of the story, one of the biggest character builders that Cassondra Windwalker uses is his interactions with Cotton, a homeless man Sam lets into the gym with him so that he has someplace warm to sit for the duration of Sam's workout. This is proof that he has not lost his compassion and decency, even after his whole world has fallen apart.

One of the things that perked my interest in reading this is that it is set in Broad Ripple, a neighborhood in my hometown. I have spent many days shopping here and many nights going to the bars and concert venues in the area. I find that Windwalker does not spend a great deal of time fleshing out the village, making it an artsy part of Indianapolis, the home of Herron Art Institute, has a top clubs in a city that is rich with comedy and music, the White River going straight through the middle of it, and some great running and biking trails. She has Preacher Sam as a runner, but the Monon trail is right there, two blocks from the main streets, and he does not utilize it once. I know this is a unique situation for a reader to know the setting where the writer is writing, but she does not do a great job pulling the readers into the atmosphere of the village.

The characters and the mystery are the focus, and she does a good job building the characters and the plot. I enjoyed many of the twists and turns, and it is a very solid book. I enjoyed the writing and I did not feel like it was overtly religious even though there were some aspects, like the main character being a Preacher, that does bring up some religion. This is done is a way that is not off-putting and is central to the character that is being built. Overall this is a good story with good characters. I can't wait to read the next chapter.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's a slow pace, and reads more sibling relationship than murder mystery
Preacher Sam felt like it needed to be up close - I think 1st person would have been better

I found this novel to be exceptionally intriguing, delving deep into emotional states, relationships, and exhibiting surprising psychological revelations and character evolutions. I also must add that the eventual denouement did disturb my sleep and keep me awake, churning "Why?"s and "How could?"s and "What will happen now?"s through my overactive brain. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book very much and only hope our faith-driven, penitential, overanalytical protagonist Sam will reappear in a subsequent offering, because I definitely warmed up to Sam, his baker-bookseller sister Dani, her seven-year-old son Parker, Sam's former wife (a Hospice nurse), and new pastor Rufus Ffaukes.

Sam Geisler is a rather unique character. He's an ex-preacher, addicted to porn, snubbed by many in his community, and unfortunately he still loves his estranged wife. Sam lives with his sister, Dani, and her 7-year-old son Parker.

In the midst of dealing with his feeling for his wife and in handling his well meaning atheist sister and trying to put his past behind him, he now finds himself in the middle of another murder.

One of his previous parishioners (Amanda) is being held in jail charged with killing another of his former parishioners (Amy). Sam's peculiar gift for listening has earned him a nickname ... Murderer Whisperer.

Amanda has spoken to no one since her arrest, but she does agree to speak to Sam. The police have enlisted Sam's help in determining her guilt or innocence.

It's just one more battle for Sam ... but will he be able to determine what happened between the two women? Is Amanda shielding someone else? Will Sam be able to let his wife go?

This is more of a cozy-mystery than crime fiction. Well written, the mystery is easy to follow, but not that easy to predict the outcome. I loved the character of Sam .. I really hope to see more of him in future books. His sister, Dani, is also an outstanding character. She's feisty, out-spoken and has a temper .. but she is very loyal to those she loves. Being an atheist leads to a lot of light conversations and comments between brother and sister.

Many thanks to the author / Black Spot Books / NetGalley for the digital copy of this mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I'm posting this review on here first because my goodreads review will have a bit more fine tuning but umm this book has seriously shocked me?? and not in the oh my God I never would have figured out the murderer type shock (though I really didn't figure it all out until it was all being unraveled) but in the I really love the MC in this book type way.

Preacher Sam, or 'Just Sam' as he says, is such a likable character. He's just a guy who took on more than he should have considering he had some problems of his own to fix. I related with Sam so much because I've been a Christian for about 17 years now and I know what it feels like to be overwhelmed by it, to be everyone else's crutch but not have anything to lean on yourself when you're about to fall. I was so fully invested in Sam's story that when the 'The End' page showed up I felt like I wasn't ready to give it up yet haha

I would also like to mention how well Sam's sex addiction is covered in this story. It's not something that's addressed in a disrespectful way to other sex addicts. It's not done in a disturbing or overly visual way and I appreciate that very much because I feel like otherwise Sam's character would have been a lot darker than it would have fit in the story.

Over all I miss Sam and I need to know more about how his life is going to play out for him.
Give. Me. Book. Two.

5 out of 5 stars for me because I enjoyed it every step of the way.

I have to say; I enjoyed this one immensely. 🙌 It read like a grittier (a porn-addicted preacher) cozy mystery. ⛪ The writing was great. 👍The pace was OK. 👀 The mystery itself I found kind of slow moving, but the resolution was shocking. 🙈 I wasn't expecting a twist like that. 😵 I loved the relationship between Sam, Dani & Parker. 👪 They had such a tight family bond with great humor. 😂 The writing for those scenes was 5-star stellar. 🌟 On the other hand, I hated Melanie. 😒 Any scene with her brought this book to a standstill. ⛔ She just wasn't a likable character at all, and I am hoping if we get more books featuring these characters she remains gone like the wind. 🌀 Last, it seemed like there was more story to tell with these characters. 🔜 Especially with Dani and Ian. 💑 So I have my fingers crossed more books featuring preacher "murder whisperer" Sam are in our future... 💒

Cassondra Windwalker’s Preacher Sam is a psychological thriller that delves into the degradation of mankind when murder, lies, and secrets take over the small town of Broadripple, Indiana. The complex story sucks you in immediately as Amanda is arrested for murdering her best friend and business partner, Amy. Amanda shuts down and refuses to speak to anyone except Amy’s husband, Clay, and her former preacher, Sam Geisler. This only adds fuel to the speculation as to what happened to cause someone to murder sweet Amy and the reason behind it all is quite disturbing.

While a slow build to the surprising climax, the author takes the reader on a journey of reflection and growth with disgraced preacher Sam Geisler as he attempts to find redemption from his sins in the eyes of the church as well as his own. Having left the church after admitting to having a porn addiction, Sam is estranged from his wife and living in the spare room above his sister’s book café. The murder plot almost takes a back seat Sam’s personal trials.

Preacher Sam is the first book I have read by Cassondra Windwalker. I enjoy the depth and the rawness of her characters. She bares all their sins but doesn’t judge. The secondary character, Dani, Sam’s sister, is actually my favorite. She adds levity to the serious nature of the story. Dani is feisty and mouthy and I love it! I look forward to reading future books in this series.

For Sam Geisler, the titular character in Cassondra Windwalker’s new murder-mystery series, Sam Geisler: Murder Whisperer, the path to redemption is one forged through darkness. Preacher Sam, the first installment of Windwalker’s latest experiment in the beautiful, sometimes redeemable depravity of the human experience arrives from Black Spot Books in September 2019, and at one-part cozy murder mystery and one-part psychological thriller, well, the Preacher is ready to hear your confessions.

Sam Geisler used to be an upstanding member of his community—the town pastor, doting husband, supportive brother and uncle, and in possession of an ear you can’t help but whisper secrets into. But despite his good deeds, Sam was crippled by a seedy addiction that ultimately cost him the things he loved most, namely all the previous. Now, he’s starting over—jobless, on the verge of divorce from his estranged wife, and living an intentionally technology-free life as penance while he eeks out the days working in his sister Dan’s café/bookshop, being a stand-in for a father for his young nephew, and toiling away his—er—tensions in late-night gym sessions. But, out of all the punishments Sam is experiencing, perhaps the worst is that which he has imposed upon himself: a hefty dosing of guilt, both about what he cannot change and that which he failed to.

While Sam’s quest for redemption effectively and voluntarily ostracizes from his community, it nonetheless also pivots him into a critical—and somewhat blissfully removed from his previous obligations with the church—role when one of his former parishioners is suddenly arrested for the murder of another. Amanda has seemingly murdered her best friend, and she’s not interested in speaking to anyone about her role in Amy's death—not even her husband, her defense, her children, or even her new pastor. She is, however, willing to speak with Sam, though she even withholds the whole story from him, seeking not absolution but instead forgiveness for a crime it is obvious to everyone she didn’t commit. The only other person she's talked to from behind prison bars is, ironically, Clay, Amy's widowed husband, something that only fuels speculation about what really happened that night in the small fabric store that the two women had owned together. Amanda’s involvement in Amy’s murder is not the most scandalous part of the crime, though, it’s in the greater evil that she was trying to prevent—a ferreting out of darkness that, hopefully, will perhaps help Sam to find his own way to salvation, both in his eyes and everyone else’s.

If you’re ready for more Sam (and Dani, too) there’s a Geisler story called “Feeding the Dog” published in the Roanoke Review as well as another mention for Sam in Cassondra Windwalker’s contribution to the upcoming winter-themed Black Spot Books Anthology, A Midnight Clear (available November 5, 2019).

Preacher Sam was my first time reading Cassondra Windwalker’s work and I know it won’t be my last. I was surprised by how quickly this story sucked me in. I’m not a religious person, though you could argue I can be spiritual in some broad sense if the mood strikes me. I get a bit squirrely in religious conversations and yet Preacher Sam made the topic more palatable. That said, this is about as close to Christian fiction as I’m willing to get.

A quick, engaging (almost cozy) mystery, Preacher Sam is among my top mystery reads of 2019. I was just as invested in the mystery as I was in Sam’s life. The first half of the book I had a nagging feeling that Sam was like another character I have read semi-recently. It took a 3 AM hour-long resettle of mulling over the plot to realize Sam reminds me a bit of Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk. Sam plays a bigger role in driving the story than Falk but they both have this steady, quiet demeanor while waging their own internal battles. These internal battles made for interesting additions to the plot and yet I found myself a tad frustrated with Sam.

I wish there had been a bit more character growth for Sam as his waffling was a tad repetitive but I’m confident we will see more in the next book. I am hoping that by decreeing we will see more in the next book that this will convince Ms. Windwalker to make this a series. I feel like Sam’s detective moments could have happened a bit quicker but I was still engaged in the family dynamics all the same. I did struggle a bit with the sex / porn addiction angle playing such a defining role, but I’m sure some readers will find it a bigger deal than I do but I was at a loss as to why Sam wasn’t pulling himself out of his funk a bit quicker.

By far, my favorite part of Preacher Sam is the wealth of vibrant side characters, each with their own voice. The new preacher was my favorite followed closely by Tom, Sam’s friend. I also was fond of Detective Nguyen even though he played a tiny role.

Preacher Sam was an engaging novel that proved to be so much more than just your average murder mystery. Windwalker expertly weaves a tale of redemption, faith, wolves in fancy clothing, and the horrors of everyday people placed in seemingly impossible situations. As frustrating as Sam could be, I’m still rooting for him and looking forward to seeing his growth in the future.

**Full review will be posted to blog (Dream Come Review) closer to release day
**Short Review has been posted to Goodreads
**Will post short review to amazon on release day

Description:
No one is more qualified to understand the blackest hearts than a disgraced, porn-addicted former preacher who is still in love with his estranged wife. Floundering for direction and beset by the needs of his well-meaning but aggravating atheist sister and her seven-year-old son, Sam Geisler is trying to put his past behind him when the murder of one of his former parishioners by another drags him back into the world he left behind. Sam may not be Broadripple’s favorite son, but his peculiar gift for listening has earned him the moniker murderer-whisperer, and the police need his help on what should be an open-and-shut case. Fighting for his marriage, fighting with his sister, and fighting against his own demons, Sam may be the only one who hears what the real murderer is all but shouting—but will it be enough to drive back his own darkness?

MY REVIEW:
Preacher Sam by Cassondra Windwalker is a mystery filled with interesting characters and twists. The murder mystery itself keeps you entertained, however something that bothered me a bit is Sam's character. If the author was trying to make him unlikeable and whiny then that was accomplished. To me it became a bit annoying after a while.

In the novel, Sam is a disgraced former preacher and porn addict. He lives with his sister and her son even though he is still in love with his wife. So, when a murder occurs, Sam agrees to speak with the accused and tries to solve the case. Twists and turns keep you hooked until the very end.

This book was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

<i>Preacher Sam</i> is not your typical Christian/Religious fiction. It includes profanity (including “the F bomb”), it discusses sexual addiction and lustful thoughts frankly (and occasionally explicitly), there is no strategically placed “get saved” speech, and it falls into the mystery genre rather than historical romance.

Our protagonist is a disgraced, porn-addicted ex-pastor who is living with his atheist single-mom sister while trying to get his life and marriage back together. In the past he was instrumental in getting a murderer to confess. References to this abound, but the details remain so sketchy that it feels like we’ve missed out on book 1 of the series. When one of his former parishioners is jailed for murder and refuses to defend herself or speak to anyone but him or the victim’s husband, Sam must figure out what really happened.

Unfortunately, the story focuses far more on Sam whining and sulking about his life and family relationships than it does on the murder mystery. His pursuit of “what really happened?” proceeds in a desultory, mopey fashion, and the amazingly convenient item that finally helps him solve it is ill-explained and/or doesn’t quite make sense. Add a shoehorned-in romantic subplot for his sister, some preachy bits, and a final line that undercuts any apparent character growth, and this really didn’t work for me.

Sam Geisler is trying to put his dark past behind him when the murder of one by her friend drags him back into the world he left behind.

He may not be Broadripple’s favourite person, but his gift for listening has earned him the alias of "murderer-whisperer". The friends and family of the victim and perpetrator seek his help on what should be an open-and-shut case as all is not what it seems to them especially as the murderer won't see her husband.

Fighting for his marriage and against his own demons, Sam may be the only one who hears what the real murderer is trying to say. No one is more qualified to understand the blackest hearts than Sam, a disgraced, porn-addicted former preacher who is still in love with his estranged wife and living with his sister and her seven year old son.

I enjoyed this story, an interesting murder mystery - had me guessing till the end. I think the way Sam was dealing with his addiction was interesting, working out at the gym and cutting himself off from the web. I could easily follow the characters and even though it was through the eyes of a disgraced preacher, the story didn't go down the religious path too much. Some of the interaction between his sister and his nephew made me smile, letting him watch crime programmes so he could put theories forward, being cheeky and getting the shop patrons to help him win a board game against his mum.

In regards to considering the divorce from his wife, I wasn't sure if he'd be the one applying as he's the one in the wrong - perhaps in the US its different to the UK where I'm from.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley.
Preacher Sam is an unique storyline. There's no doubt about that.
The author did a great job at describing every character vividly.
This book would be perfect for a book club!

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Genre:
Murder Mystery

Synopsis:
Sam Geisler is a former preacher who got separated from his wife Melanie because of his porn addiction. Now Sam lives with his sister Dani & her son Parker. A murder happens in his town by one of his former parishioners (Amanda) who only agrees to talk to Sam. The former preacher tries his best to solve this murder mystery that the detectives were not able to solve. And through all this, he has to overcome the feeling he still has to his wife.

Book Structure:
The book is around 250 pages and 40 chapters. The chapters are short and the reader can fly through them easily. The narration is written from the third person's perspective.

Pros:
- The relationship between Sam, Dani & Parker was so good to read. They felt like a real family to me, especially the siblings' bond. There was always this warmness available no matter how much they argued with each other or how different their personalities are. I think the author was successful in creating this bond.

- Dani is a fantastic character in the story. She is my favorite character, very witty, sarcastic and without being over judgemental. I think it was her character that helped the book to have somehow a lighter tone.

Cons:
- Slow Pace: The story was too slow for a mystery or a thriller. I understand that some mysteries need to be slow until the events unfold but Preacher Sam felt too slow for my taste. Many chapters felt they were just dragging the story further without adding anything substantial to it.

- The reason for murder, Amanda's decision & motive to take it up all did not feel convincing to me. The whole book is revolving around one murder mystery so as a reader I expect that to be done in a convincing way for a solid end result, but unfortunately, I was not convinced with it. Sam solving the whole thing felt too convenient, but I'd give the author the credit of using the letter in an interesting way.

Final Thought:
Preacher Sam is a decent murder mystery, it is not a great one but not a bad one either. If I would recommend it mainly it will be for the relationship between the siblings not for the mystery part. I will have to go with 3.0 stars out of 5.0. The book is going to be released on September 17th, 2019.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book in return of this honest and unbiased review.

A complex character study, amazing supporting players, and a great mystery to be solved. What more could you ask for. Engrossing.