Charles Soto

Heartache & Sin by Charles Soto is a powerful, emotional tale of love, faith, family, and survival. This is fiction for the thinking reader that may have you revisiting your beliefs on abortion and perhaps questioning your opinions of organized religion.


Holy cow! Charles has this way of writing that just draws you in and through his words he is able to make you angry, sad, heart broken, I ran the gamut here. I was so mad at Pastor Ryan. He literally made me ill. I couldn't understand how this whole congregation couldn't see through him, but such is the cult mentality. My heart broke for Karen and Steve and her health problems, and without giving away the ending, I so wanted her baby to be ok. For her to be ok. For something to happen that would allow both to survive. Each character plays such a role in this story it would feel very incomplete if it was written any other way!
Steven sees the pastor for what he truly is: a lying, deceitful, brainwashing psycho, who must control everything and everyone around him. Steven struggles with the thought of losing his wife if she attempts carrying the baby to term. Pastor Ryan convinces Karen to continue the pregnancy despite the serious health risk, and begins to use Karen to further his campaign against a local abortion clinic.

I hurt for Mary, the pastor's wife. This woman who is beaten down emotionally, physically. Yet she has no escape. None. She is held captive by her love for her children.

Overall a Great Read! Tension, fear, and suspense to keep readers riveted throughout the 510 pages. This is his first novel, however, he writes like a seasoned pro. His characters are well developed and believable. He descriptions are vivid; his dialogue authentic. This book is difficult to put down and will be long remembered after you turn the final page. Highly Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley Charles Soto and the Publishing company this is a great read!
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Thanks to Preacher Ryan's special relationship with God and his prayer for rain being answered, the farms in Havana have been saved and his church is now filled to the brim with more coming each day. He has built a wall around the church buildings to keep the little ones from wandering into the swamp. He and his wife, Mary even take in those in need by allowing them to stay on the compound grounds free of charge. They provide them food, clothing, whatever they may need, thanks to the donations coming in from across the country.
Steven and Karen Wheaton have been married for years and the only thing missing is a child. Thanks to Karen's diabetes diagnosis they will never have one. Since being diagnosed with diabetes, Karen has lost her way and thanks to the new church she is feeling a little closer to God these days. It is Steven and his family who think that things aren't exactly right at Preacher Ryan's church.
At times I thought the story was a little long winded and repetitive, esp concerning the relationship between Steven and Karen. How many times can you say the two love each other? By the time I was halfway through the story, I was starting to think they should divorce so I wouldn't have to read it again. It was as if they were trying to make a word count or something.
Heartache and Sin tells of one family's love and another's despair. It provides us with a picture of a persons faith and how we can choose to deal with the things which come up in our lives. It tells us how we attempt to make deals with God to get the things we want, when what we really need to do is trust that He is working all things for our good.… (altro)

Karen and Steven Wheaton are married and Karen cannot have children because of her diabetes and this is heartache for Karen as a Christian woman. Karen's mother has died from diabetes thus leaving no living relatives for her in her life with Steven but Steven's family. Steven has two brothers his younger brother is called "Spider" and he smokes and doesn't like the Christian church rules and is more of a rebel. Spider's real name is (Todd) at birth but he prefers "spider."

Pastor Ryan McDonald is the pastor of the "Church of Resurrection" a new church in North Dakota and he is married to Mary and they have two sons Joshua and Jonas.
The story tells of the worst drought in a long time and Pastor McDonald preaches on page 11, "Lambs looking for guidance."

The Stevens' family attends the Catholic Church in town and that is all they know. Thus, the story unfolds as the two pastors (McDonalds and Fr. Francis) attend dinner together. Steven Wheaton does not like the new pastor or church and his messages he preaches. He and believes there is deceit in what he says. The problem is that his wife Karen adores the new pastor and his ways of preaching. Steven is determined to get to the bottom of the lies and deceit of the new pastor. He then attends the church with his wife Karen to investigate (privately) to be able to get to the bottom of his beliefs. As they attend the events and the church he finds out that it is more of a "compound or cult" than a "church." On a personal note: This reminded me of the "Waco, TX" massacre. What Steven finds out is that the Pastor is beating and abusing his wife Mary and privately tries to help Mary.
What I love is the battle of The Catholic ways vs. The "other" ways of the new church -this is a cult." I learned that the cult is one to deceive in many ways to gather dysfunctional families or anyone with low self esteem to be "followers" of the Head Pastor. It's like they all have to do exactly what "he" wants or be "punished." Jesus does not preach or say such words. I could not put this book down as I was enticed to see what would unfold in the next chapter. I especially loved this quote, "Page 42, "I see ya brought your bible, it `as a part of my body."

@ 2011 Written by Jackie Paulson requested by Author
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Heartache & Sinby Charles Soto is a novel that makes you think and feel. Steven's wife, Karen, has very severe diabetes and has been told not to get pregnant as it would probably kill her. As much as the couple yearn for a child, Steven knows that he cannot put his wife's life at risk. At the same time, Karen is volunteering at the church of Pastor Ryan McDonald. Steven feels that the Pastor should not be trusted but cannot tell Karen this - she has been taken in by the Pastor's charming ways and feels he can do no wrong. However, she must eventually decide whether her faith or her marriage and her life means more to her.

One thing that grabbed me about this book was the book trailer. I've started to really appreciate what can be done to describe a book very subtly without giving away anything. Here it is, if you'd like to view it: http://www.authorcharlessoto.com/html/trailer.html

Soto has described this book as one that will make you think, and it surely does. It made me reexamine my stance on abortion and whether a woman should carry a pregnancy that might kill her. Soto does an excellent job of never revealing whether or not he is for or against abortion and lets the readers own beliefs come into play.

The title itself, Heartache and Sin, is perfect. My heart aches for the Pastor's wife Mary, as she is trapped by her cruel husband, unable to leave the abuse he inflicts upon her as she is unwilling to leave her boys behind. I also feel for Steven and Karen, as they must weigh Karen's life against their desire for a family. The sin is revealed when we find out what Pastor McDonald does in his free time and what the past he has left behind in other cities.

I enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down at points. Soto does an excellent job of tying together all of the characters to create a complex but easy to understand story.

I savored this novel and would recommend it to anybody who wants to think and see others' points of view. Soto has another book coming out soon (Pride and a Prayer) that I will be reading.… (altro)