Highly enjoyed this rapid paced story of change, love, romance, marriage and family. ( )

The Poppy Field is well-written with a compelling narrator, and it's a tale that ramps up quickly into a harrowing climax. The relationships between the protagonist family and the benefactor were very creepy, if not tragically compelling. My only confusion with the book is its marketing. This book could be for anybody at all yet it is very specifically marketed as a "fast-paced women’s fiction about family secrets and survival." Perhaps they changed this for the better considering the current cover now look different.
While I would certainly recommend the book as a thrilling page-turner, I do have questions about how stranded the family seemed to be. Certainly, most missionaries are not without any kind of support structure, as the danger primarily hinges upon how cut off they seem to be. That being said, I want to know more about the family both before and after the tale told in this volume especially with regard to the development of the family member's faith, for good or for ill. In that respect I found the wife's narration in particular very compelling. ( )

Overall, this was an interesting read. I just had a hard time keeping up with the time period. I feel like the author wanted it to be modern but it still felt antiquated and I couldnt quite get past that. The characters also seemed to be a little stereotypical and I feel like there could have been more branching out.

I always like to read stories that take place in other countries. This book tells the story of a family that moves to Guatemala to become missionaries. Phil, the husband, has had a calling from God and nothing will stop him from his plan. His wife, Katherine and her two children, are much more skeptical. Katherine wants to support her husband and so she naively tries to ignore her warning instincts. After a difficult start, Katherine and Phil meet their charismatic, wealthy neighbor. It's obvious that his million-dollar compound is funded by nefarious means, but both Phil and Katherine choose to ignore this due to his exuberant generosity. However, their neighbor soon has his eyes set on wooing Katherine away from her husband and things start to get out of hand quickly.
This was a great book that was descriptive of Guatemala and kept me at the edge of my seat. Phil was not a likeable character, and it was hard to understand Katherine's loyalty to her husband and then her complete disregard for him midway thru the book. But it definitely made for fun reading. I highly recommend. I received a complimentary eBook from Library Thing Early Reviewers in exchange for a review. ( )

I really struggled with this book from the start. I don't know much about the area and was unable to connect with the path that things were moving along in the story. I am going to try re-reading and if I have better feedback will return to add to this review.