My Hands Came Away Red

From Publishers Weekly In this fast-paced, thought-provoking debut novel, McKay, a psychologist who works with humanitarian relief, explores injustice, religious reconciliation, suffering and faith through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl whose mission trip goes tragically awry. For Cori and a team of Christian teens, building a church in Indonesia sounds like a fun project. After an overly long prologue, McKay describes how they journey to the island of Seram and bond with the Indonesian villagers. However, even as they put the finishing touches on the newly built church, Muslim and Christian tensions flare, culminating in a horrific tragedy witnessed by Cori and her friends. They flee through the mountainous jungle, hoping to escape the escalating hostilities. McKay's carefully chosen words, devoid of unnecessary sentiment, lend power to her story. The external hardships the characters face on their trek are secondary to the internal struggles they battle over how a loving God could let terrible things happen; and why their sacrificial choice to give up a summer to help others would cost them more than they ever dreamed. While written from a Christian perspective, McKay gives an evenhanded treatment to Muslims, showing that violence and hatred transcend religious boundaries. This is one of Christian fiction's best novels of the year. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Cori signs up to take a mission trip to Indonesia during the summer after her senior year of high school. Inspired by happy visions of building churches and seeing beautiful beaches, she gladly escapes her complicated love life back home.  Five weeks after their arrival, a sectarian and religious conflict that has been simmering for years flames to life with deadly results on the nearby island of Ambon.  Within days, the church building the team had constructed is in ashes, its pastor and fifty villagers are dead, and the six terrified teenagers are stranded in the mountainous jungle with only the pastor's teenage son to guide them to safety. Ultimately, Cori's emotional quest to rediscover hope proves as arduous as the physical journey home. Review In this fast-paced, thought-provoking debut novel, McKay . . . explores injustice, religious reconciliation, suffering and faith . . . This is one of Christian fiction?s best novels of the year.-Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, July 2007, Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. From the Back Cover Thinking largely of escaping a complicated love life and having fun on the beach, eighteen-year- old Cori signs up for a ten-week trip to help build a church on a remote island in Indonesia. Six weeks into the trip, a conflict that has been simmering for years flames to deadly life on the nearby island of Ambon. Before they can leave, Cori and her teammates find themselves caught up in the destructive wave of violence washing over the Christian and Muslim villages in the area. Within days the church they helped build is a smoldering pile of ashes, its pastor and many of the villagers are dead, and the six teenagers are forced to flee into the hazardous refuge of the mountains with only the pastor?s son to guide them. As the team hikes through the jungle, Cori?s search for spiritual answers and emotional stability proves just as difficult as the physical journey home. About the Author LISA MCKAY is a forensic psychologist and the Director of Training and Education Services for the Headington Institute, which provides psychological and spiritual support to humanitarian relief and development workers around the world. A registered psychologist in Australia, she holds a M.Psychol. in forensic psychology from the University of New South Wales, and a M.A. in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.Lisa is author of the novel M