What Lies Within
Authors: Karen Ball
Praise for
What Lies Within
“Karen Ball writes from the heart. The journey of
What Lies Within
will capture readers from the first page. Another winner from this master storyteller.”
—K
AREN
K
INGSBURY
, best-selling author of
Sunrise
and
Between Sundays
“Karen Ball is a skilled novelist whose stories are not only entertaining, but credible and authentic. In fact, those of us who are Karen’s friends know that’s exactly what she is: authentic and entertaining, a delight to be with, and a delight to read.”
—R
ANDY
A
LCORN
, best-selling author of
Deception
“Karen Ball brought me to tears with
A Test of Faith
, gave me renewed hope with
The Breaking Point
, and left me breathless with
Shattered Justice
. She is an author who never fails to please. Don’t miss
What Lies Within
.”
—R
OBIN
L
EE
H
ATCHER
, best-selling author of
Return to Me
and
A Carol for Christmas
“Karen Ball writes from the heart
to
the heart and never fails to reach her target. With skill, emotion, and wit she creates stories that reflect our world and the loving heart of God. Whenever I see ‘Karen Ball’ on the cover, I know I’m in for an engrossing read.”
—A
NGELA
H
UNT
, author of
Doesn’t She Look Natural
“Anytime you pick up a novel by Karen Ball, you can count on an adventure: an adventure that explores the emotions, the struggles, and the triumphs of her always engaging and unforgettable characters. She never fails to deliver an intense, compelling story that remains with the reader long after the last page has been turned. This is an author who makes a promise to her readers at the very beginning of each novel … and always keeps that promise with her unique blend of warmth and humor and sensitivity.”
—BJ H
OFF
, author of the Mountain Song Legacy and An Emerald Ballad series
“
What Lies Within
is an engaging, present-day Nehemiah story, deepened with imaginative elements of love, humor, mystery, and surprise.”
—B
RANDILYN
C
OLLINS
, best-selling author of
Crimson Eve
“Karen Ball is a masterful author. Each piece of Ms. Ball’s work is better and better.”
—L
ORI
C
OPELAND
, author of
Simple Gifts
“Delving into a street culture foreign to most,
What Lies Within
rips the drama from current headlines and weaves a story so relevant—yet so touching—that it bleeds with realism and a startling sense of authenticity. Delivering her best to date, Karen Ball takes readers on a journey of love and distrust, of fear and misguided friendships, and brings us full circle to what belonging to a community really means while pointing us to our one true source of all security—both for now and all eternity.”
—T
AMERA
A
LEXANDER
, best-selling author of
Rekindled, Revealed
, and
Remembered
W
HAT
L
IES
W
ITHIN
PUBLISHED BY
M
ULTNOMAH
B
OOKS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House Inc
.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from: Holy Bible, New Living Translation © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked
(TNIV)
are from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version © 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Scripture quotations marked
(NIV)
are from the Holy Bible, New International Version © 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Scripture quotations marked
(TLB)
are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.
Copyright © 2007 by Karen Ball
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
M
ULTNOMAH
is a trademark of Multnomah Books and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ball, Karen, 1957–
What lies within : a novel / Karen Ball.
p. cm.—(Family honor series; bk. 3)
eISBN: 978-0-307-56163-3
1. City and town life—Oregon—Fiction. 2. Oregon—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.A4553W47 2007
813′.54—dc22
2007031613
v3.1
O
THER
N
OVELS BY
K
AREN
B
ALL
F
AMILY
H
ONOR
S
ERIES
Shattered Justice
Kaleidoscope Eyes
The Breaking Point
A Test of Faith
Reunion
“Bride on the Run” in the
3 Weddings and a Giggle
anthology
For Daddy
My encourager, my anchor,
the one who taught me from the very beginning
what a man wholly devoted to God is like
.
Simply wonderful
.
Thank you for a solid foundation of faith
and a lifetime of laughter and love
.
I am who I am because of you and Mom
.
I love you
.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
T
his story came in answer to prayer.
Years ago, I realized I lacked something I desperately wanted. Regular time in God’s Word. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it. I just wasn’t disciplined enough. So I asked God to give me a love for His Word. To make me hunger for it the way I hungered for novels and beautiful writing.
Well, as always when we come to God with sincere hearts, He answers. I started reading the Bible, and every word hit me as never before. Funny thing was, He drew me to the book of Nehemiah. A book I’d never read. But as I went through the story of rebuilding the wall, I was struck by one verse: “Shallum son of Hallohesh and his daughters repaired the next section.”
And his daughters.
All the men who worked on the wall were named, along with their fathers and father’s fathers. But these women? They were just “and his daughters.”
That got me wondering. What must it be like to be a woman in a male-dominated field? Suddenly, a story emerged. Exploded, is more like it. I pulled out my journal and wrote as I read the book, and there, in the story of Nehemiah, was another story.
The story of Kyla Justice.
That was twenty-two years ago. So you can imagine my delight at finally bringing this story to life. And that’s why you’ll find so many verses from Nehemiah as chapter headings in this book. Because that’s where the story came from.
Of course, it took a lot of additional research. The book of Nehemiah didn’t offer much insight into gangs or construction companies. But research is fun. It’s fascinating and educational. I’ve been immersed in search and rescue, synesthesia, allergy to bee stings, languages, stained glass, meth labs—and those are just a few of the topics I’ve explored as I wrote the Family Honor series.
The research for
What Lies Within
, though, has taken me beyond anything I’ve done before. It sent me into a world I knew existed but didn’t begin to understand. The world of gangs—where they’re located, how they form, what draws people to them, how they talk and dress, what their goals and motivations are, and more.
As a result, I’ve discovered new words for research.
Sobering. Disturbing. Chilling
.
Terrifying
.