Book Review: A Woman Called Sage by Diann Mills

The relationship between the two mains had me annoyed. It was that typical combative first meeting. Walls are up, judgments are made. Of course, they learn they are wrong...pretty quickly (less than a whole day and these two were spouting praises). I hate when stuff is rushed. Sage goes on and on about she "don't trust no lawmen," and suddenly! she completely trusts Parker. And Parker, wow his mind is blown! He has met a woman who can take care of her self, blah, blah, blah. This is set in the 1800s, in the "old west." Outlaws are rampant. They are isolated from "civilization." And Parker hasn't met one woman who can fend for herself? I found that unbelievable. Besides being in awe of her, apparently, unique ability, Parker is immediately aware of her fair looks. Which progressively get better every ten pages. Until! This is the kick in the pants for me. Until he decides he wants to spend the rest of his life with Sage. What? He knew the woman for a little more than twenty-four hours! 

And already! Already he wants to marry the woman! We are only one hundred pages in at this point. They haven't done much of anything yet! Which leads me to my next point. There is no action. Okay, granted I did not finish this book so there could be some high octane, pulse pounding action afoot that I missed. But, eh, I don't believe so. The portion I did read the action was just... meh. All the killing and beating was pretty tame or happened offstage. We, as the reader, never got to witness the action bits, just the aftermath. And even that was kind of skimping on the details. I am by no means looking for a blood bath within this Christian novel, but if there was going to be some gun slinging, outlaw hijinks going down, even just a little bit, I would have liked to have some suspense. If you are a fan of Christian novels and you are well aware of their formula and love it anyway (or because of it) then go right ahead and read away. Also if you are a fan of this author I would recommend this book to you.

A Woman Called Sage by Diann Mills

Title: A Woman Called Sage. Author: Diann Mills. Genre: Christian Historical Fiction. Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Zondervan. Description: They took away everything she loved... now, she's out for revenge. Sage Morrow had it all: life on a beautiful Colorado ranch, a husband who adored her, and a baby on the way. Until five ruthless gunmen rode up to their ranch and changed her life forever. Now Sage is a bounty hunter bent on retribution. Accompanied only by her majestic hawk, she travels throughout the Rocky Mountains in search of injustice, determined to stamp it out wherever it's found. The stakes are raised when two young boys are kidnapped and Sage is forced to work with Marshall Parker Timmons to rescue them. But Sage may ultimately get more than she bargained for. My Review: I haven't read much, if any, books with a Native American main character since I reached adulthood and started reading "grown-up" books. My favorite, or the most memorable, books with na leads probably all came from Scott O'Dell's ya novels. The culture wasn't overwhelming or alienating, it was intriguing. But mostly his books have a immense feeling of loss and injustice.

That melancholy really made the books memorable. It wasn't a happy-happy ending, so it was forced to stay with me. It made me think, it made me dwell on the wrongs that can be done to people. I had hoped that this book would rekindle the feelings I had experienced as a kid. It didn't. The cover is gorgeous and the idea for the story had great potential. But beyond that it just didn't deliver. I am, in general, iffy about books labeled as "Christian." When it comes to religious books... I just can't relate. And it isn't because I am not religious, it is because the attitudes are slightly skewed. Not that I feel like going on and on about religion, that is just blah (and can be a headache, right? conflicts and all). So far I have gotten, really, only one scenario when it comes to these books. First, one person is very religious, and despite hardship they are quite devoted to God. The other person is bitter, and no longer trusts, loves or relies on God. Stuff happens and the stray sheep is once again brought back into the fold. And some praying goes on in the middle parts. And not that I mind terribly, I just find it a tad disingenuous.

More Risky Places for your Debit Card

Aside from the potential for hacking at many different points in a transaction, Abagnale says a fundamental problem with using debit cards online is it's impossible to know who is handling your information. "Buying stuff online, you have to be careful, because you have to know who you're doing business with. "When you buy things online, what kills me about that is, people say, 'This is a safe site'," Abagnale says. "Who works there?" Restaurants keep customer data on file. "Would you care for a side of debit card fraud with that?" Restaurant servers don't ask that question, but they might as well, with the standard practice of taking customers' debit cards to run them behind closed doors. "Any place where the card is out of hand" can increase the chances of fraud, says McGoey. 

"The guy/gal comes to your table, takes your card, and disappears for a while, so he or she has privacy," giving the person the opportunity to copy your card information. Even restaurants without sit-down service can present a threat. McNelley says using debit cards to order delivery can be risky, because cashiers tend to keep customer payment information on file. That may make future orders more convenient, but small businesses rarely take the steps necessary to safeguard payment information, she says. Overall, regardless of whether you use your debit card at a small restaurant or a big-box store, the possibility of fraud is always there. She cites the example of Michaels Stores Inc., which saw its customers' debit card information stolen in May by debit card terminals doctored by thieves. Even if you do exercise caution... there are still the Michaels-type incidents that will happen," McNelley says.

Risky Places for your Debit Card

Gas station payment terminals have many of the characteristics card fraudsters love, McNelley says. "In a gas station, where you have a whole bunch of pay-at-the-pump kinds of things and minimal supervision, it's pretty easy for a bad guy to put a skimming device on, put a little pinpoint camera there, and compromise debit cards that way," McNelley says. Thieves often use small cameras to capture footage of debit card users entering their PINs so they can have free access to their money. She says even if the thief doesn't manage to get your debit card personal identification number, or PIN, from such a device, he still may be able to duplicate the card's magnetic strip, and use it for "sign and swipe" Visa or MasterCard transactions. With the high potential for fraud in pay-at-the-pump debit transactions, it might make sense to use an alternative, such as cash or credit cards, the next time you fill up.

The Web is a risky place. Debit cards are a convenient way to buy products online, especially for those who don't like to use credit cards. Unfortunately, the Web is one of the most dangerous places to make purchases, McNelley says. "Online is the No. 1 place where consumers should not use debit cards," she says. "It's susceptible at so many points. "The consumer could have malware on their computer, so it could be at their endpoint the data get compromised. "It could be a man-in-the-middle attack, where somebody is eavesdropping on their communications via the wireless network. "At the other end, that data goes into a database at the merchant. "As we've seen with some of the higher-profile breach events over the last year or so, that data is going to be vulnerable if not properly cared for."