"Payback" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “If your vision asked you to risk your life to save others, would you have the courage?
  When Samantha McGregor tells her friend Detective Ebony Hamilton of her disturbing visions of a brutal murder at a high school, Ebony asks her to go undercover to help identify the shooter before it’s too late. The stakes are raised when Ebony discovers that the potential crime may be connected to a larger terrorism threat!
  Meanwhile, Samantha realizes that her mother’s new boyfriend is a little too good to be true. Her unsettling visions, combined with Ebony’s investigation of Steven’s past, reveal him to be more interested in her mother’s money than her heart.
  To make matters worse, Samantha has been having visions of an unknown boy who is mercilessly being bullied by his peers. Who is this teen? Can she help him?”


Series: Book #4 (of four) in “The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor”. (Book #1 review, Here! Book #2 review, Here! and Book #3 review, Here!)

Spiritual Content- Joel 2:27-29 at the beginning; All about Samantha’s gift of visions from God; Many, many prayers & thanking God; A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Many, many, many talks about God, Jesus, His will, His help, gifts, peace, & forgiving; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Sam’s mom is still mad at God *Spoiler* That changes near the end *End of Spoiler*; Many, many mentions of prayers,  praying, & prayer chains; Mentions of Christians & witnessing; Mentions of church & youth group; Mentions of sermons & judging; Mentions of Bibles; Mentions of Heaven; A few mentions of miracles.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a girl is called ‘a dog’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘TGIF’, two ‘butt out’s, two ‘duh’s, seven ‘crud’s, and fourteen forms of ‘stupid’; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; All About mentions of a school shooting, threats, terrorism, deaths, pain, & blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); All About mentions of bullies, hitting, kicking, & blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); Many mentions of blood/bleeding, being shot & killed (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of kidnappings, frauds, & wanted criminals; Mentions of murders & deaths: Mentions of suicides; Mentions of gunfire in video games; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, getting wasted, & parties; Mentions of drugs, rehab, & jail; Mentions of smoking & cigarettes; Mentions of wanting to have/give revenge/payback; Mentions of vomiting; Mentions of cheating; A couple mentions of divorces.

Sexual Content- A barely-above-not-detailed kiss; All About Proms; A bit of Noticing;

Three ‘hot’s; Mentions of overhearing about guys booking hotel rooms after prom, being rewarded with sex, & the girl still being a virgin; Mentions of crushes, dates, dating, boyfriends & girlfriends; A few mentions of a rumor of a woman being sold as a sex slave (not true); A couple hints of a girl visiting a guy’s place; A couple mentions of hormones;

              *Note: A mention of wanting a prom dress with no cleavage showing; A mention of Marilyn Monroe.

-Samantha McGregor, age 17
                                         1^st person P.O.V. of Sam
                                                        2216 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add a star for girls in Public School}

Final book in “The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor” series and “Payback” finishes it out with another big plot. Lots of intense topics and moments with tons of Spiritual Content gave me goosebumps! I still personally think that this is one of Melody Carlson’s best series yet! :)

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"Playing With Fire" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “If your vision led you straight into the fire, would you follow it anyway?
  Samantha’s brother, Zach, is finally home after a ninety-day rehab for his meth addiction, and life seems to be getting back to normal. That is, until Sam starts having dreams about dangerous situations involving drugs. But her visions are so vague that she doesn’t know who needs help. Of course she’s worried about Zach staying clean, especially since he’s hanging with the wrong crowd. But the whole school seems to be buzzing about drugs, and Sam doesn’t know who’s using and who’s not. What is wrong with these people anyway?
  Then Sam has a vision of a burning cabin, and this time someone has been shot. Convinced that Zach is involved somehow, Sam chooses to leave Detective Ebony Hamilton out of the loop. If Zach really is involved, this will land him in jail for sure! But her own investigation is getting too hot to handle, and Sam must decide whether to risk getting Zach in trouble with the law– or ultimately risk his life.”


Series: Book #3 (of four) in “The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor”. (Book #1 review, Here! Book #2 review, Here!)

Spiritual Content- Joel 2:27-29 at the beginning; All about Samantha’s gift of visions from God; Many, many prayers; Scriptures are mentioned; Witnessing; Many, many, many talks about God, trusting Him, gifts, judging, & sinners; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Sam’s mom is still mad at God; Many, many mentions of prayers; Many mentions of church, youth group & sermons; Mentions of Bible reading; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of Christians & religious people;

*Note: A mention of a demonic sound & evil; A mention of “going through hell”; A mention of going to “hell and back”; A mention of someone wanting someone else to burn in Hell; A few mentions of Hell; Mentions of a witch.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘TGIF’, two ‘duh’s, two ‘sheesh’s, three ‘shut up’s, three ‘sucker’s, ten forms of ‘crud’, thirteen ‘stupid’s; Sarcasm; A mention of a middle finger salute; Many mentions of curses (said, not written); All about drugs (meth and ecstasy), dealers, highs, overdoses, addictions, rehab, fire, heat & smoke (up to detailed); An overdose death; A party with drunks (Sam nor her friends drink); Many mentions of Book #2’s almost suicides & murders; Many mentions of wild parties & fights; Many mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, fake IDs, bars & pubs; Mentions of those who have been shot & blood (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of smoking, cigarettes & weed; Mentions of jail, crime & criminals; Mentions of lesions; Mentions of vomiting; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of cheating & gossips; A few mentions of tattoos & pierces; A few mentions of divorce & parents separating; A mention of a violent movie;

              *Note: Mentions of Starbucks, Adidas and Gap.

Sexual Content- a not-detailed kiss; a ‘hot’, two ‘butt out’s; Sam is asked if she’s lesbian (she’s not); Mentions of who-likes-who, dating, dates, jealousy, proms, boys, boyfriends & girlfriends; Mentions that Garrett is trying to figure out if he’s gay or not (his abusive father put the thought in his head, Book #2); A couple mentions of prostitution & a girl sleeping with a guy for meth; A mention of one-night stands; A mention that Sam knows girls her age that have had babies;

              *Note: A mention of Jennifer Knapp.

-Samantha McGregor, age 17
                                         1^st person P.O.V. of Sam
                                                        229 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add a star for girls in Public School}

“The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor” series deals with some hard topics and “Playing With Fire” was no exception. Lots of Spiritual Content, which is always nice! The ending leads very well into the next & final book of the series. :)

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.