Remko had been denied Carrington, but they left Authority City together anyway. Now married, they are part of the Seers, and try to save their members who are captured and slated for execution while they also fight the Authority’s rule. Besides the threat from the Authority, they must also deal with insecurities and attacks on their faith in Rachelle Dekker’s The Calling.

This sequel to The Choosing is just as gripping as it the first book. I would get to the end of a chapter thinking I would be at a place I could stop only to start on the next chapter without realizing it. I wanted to find out what was going to happen next and I didn’t want to put the book down. The descriptions and details make the people and places in the story easy to imagine. It was clear and well written.

Though it is a very enjoyable book, that fact is made better by the themes and messages found in the story. Remko is a leader within the Seers, but he doesn’t like being in that position. He often feels more like a failure than a leader. Feeling like all your plans end up shriveling before your eyes is something that I can identify with, and I’m sure others can identify with it, too.

Most of the Seers, and some of the Authority, question what they are doing. It is easy to wonder whether you are heading down the right path when things don’t work out like you expected them to. Through all the problems the Seers face, the Father’s love is stated time and time again.

Letting go of your cares and anxieties so that God can work in your life is an underlying theme in The Calling. Not listening to the guilt and mistakes from your past is hard, but something that must be done so that you can hear God calling.

I received a free copy of The Calling from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for this honest review.

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Q&A with Rachelle Dekker:
Remko struggles with his anger often throughout the book. Is this expression of anger connected to his fears? If so, how?

Anger is just a natural reaction to the circumstances Remko faces. Sometimes being afraid can stir up anger because it makes us feel weak or out of control. This is definitely true for Remko in The Calling.

In the book you talk a lot about surrendering to fear. What does this look like and how does this help us to not be afraid?

I think sometimes the natural reaction to fear is to hide from it, or try and push it away. It’s the idea that if we can’t see it then it must not be there, but we all know that unless dealt with the unseen things often come back to bite us. The only way to face fear is to walk through it; surrendering to Father God and letting Him reminder us of our true identity. Only then do we really see that the light within us is always greater than the fear we face.

What do you hope readers will take away from the story?

I hope they take a moment to see themselves as children of the Father.
I hope they see that true freedom and fearlessness rest in surrendering, and that when they stand with the Father than nothing can stand against them. There is incredible peace in that truth, and I hope, like I am beginning the experience, that readers feel that same peace.