Book Review: When You Tell by Steena Holmes

Solid Suspense With A Lot Of Real-World Commentary. This is one of those fun tales where the author says this and that and that other thing were inspirations, and they are absolutely in there (including the Amsterdam tour she led a bit ago and some specific places they went)... but it also feels at times that she is venting her frustrations about general real world booklandia controversies while fictionalizing everything enough so that nothing is specifically tied to any actual real world issue (at least none that I'm currently aware of).

Which actually combines for a *really* fun book - one where being able to appreciate trauma, neuroses that can develop from the trauma, and a touch of "inside baseball" at times helps "liven it up" a bit at times but isn't strictly necessary to truly enjoy the tale as written. (And, to be clear, there is probably at least a fair amount even I missed here.) Similar to what Jeremy Robinson does with his more allegorical books ala TORMENT, APOCALYPSE MACHINE, or UNITY wherein on the surface you get a really kick ass scifi action tale, but if you happen to understand Christian/ Biblical teaching reasonably well (both the text and the various teachings over the millennia), you get a much *deeper* tale than just the words on the page give you.

As is typical of Holmes, a couple of real-world author friends and some of their own books get mentioned, and yes, you should absolutely read those books too. I've actually read both of the books referenced and have reviews of them most likely wherever you encounter this review, and certainly on either my own site or the various book review sites I am on.

This is not the creepiest tale Holmes has written, and I actually appreciate that as it shows yet again that she is equally adroit at a variety of tales and can pivot to give a wider audience a chance to experience her greatness. Instead, this is a return to a more purely psychological suspense where yes, some things happen, but a lot of the tension here is in how various people respond to the events as much as the events themselves. Which again can have a deeper message... or just be read straight and enjoyed simply as a suspense tale. :)

Overall truly a really fun book that it is clear Holmes both worked quite a bit of magic to get this exactingly right and that she had quite a bit of fun doing it... certainly on the "research trip" side of it. :D

Very much recommended.

This review of When You Tell by Steena Holmes was originally written on October 5, 2026.