New Augsburg, Book 2

New Augsburg Trilogy

De: Christa Petzold

Narrado por: Sarah Kramer

Every decision of Callie Foster’s adult life has led to this moment—her chance to run for a seat in the U.S. Congress. Every move has been calculated, except for one. She never counted on falling for Micah Klein. Their relationship threatens her campaign, but Callie is determined to have the best of both worlds: the career she’s always dreamed of and the unconditional love of a good man.

Micah Klein’s unique New Augsburg upbringing has left him disillusioned with organized religion and with more questions than answers. As he struggles to sort out the truth of his father’s mysterious disappearance and carve out a future independent of his birthright, only one thing stands out with certainty: Callie Foster is the best thing to have ever happened to him. Their wedding day cannot come soon enough.

As a volatile political campaign amidst a series of terrorist attacks throw Micah and Callie’s relationship and their Christian faith into the national spotlight, their future teeters in the balance. Will their choices drive them apart or draw them together?

©2024 Christa Petzold (P)2025 Christa Petzold

Enthralling

Oh wow. This book jumps right in to things. The future dystopia depicted is unsettling in its plausibility. As I listened to the audiobook (which is very well done) I found myself feeling anxious and disturbed. The future depicted is one I can see the USA devolving into fairly quickly if things don’t change. It’s scary listening to these characters try to navigate such a hostile world, bent on twisting the faith of and demonizing Christians to such an extent. And the most disturbing thing about this book is that we already see such things happening today, perhaps just not on the same scale.
In the midst of this crazy world are two humans trying to balance living in this world without compromising faithfulness. Lydia, from book 1, shows up as a side character as the main male character is her big brother, Micah. It’s good to see Lydia again, happily married, and supporting Micah as he is tested and tries to find his way.
The story is masterfully woven and hard to put down. I felt what the characters felt.
The ending is encouraging and cathartic as it serves to remind us that, though life in this world isn’t perfect, God’s promises and forgiveness are.

Once I catch my breath, I plan to read the third book in the series. I look forward to learning how this trilogy concludes.

A Captivating Sequel

I always feel like the mark of a good dystopian story is whether it could genuinely happen. This story makes you really question what a society looks like when it starts removing religious liberty and paints all Christians as "zealots" and "terrorists." We view these tough ideas through Callie, who is running for political office on a religious freedom platform and her fiance, Micah, who grew up in the religious community of New Augsburg.

We got to struggle along with the characters who had to determine how to stand up for what they believe in and how to stand against what they didn't. The excellent narration once again of Sarah Kramer brought the turmoil of these characters to life. As Callie and Micah's relationship is tested, Sarah's emotive performance made the hard subject matter even more challenging and compelling to me as the listener.

I highly recommend giving this audiobook a listen!

Deeper into Dystopia

While the first book introduced us to New Augsburg, we didn’t really get to see too much of the outside world and what was happening. This book opened up that door looking at a different couple and their struggle to navigate life in politics in Ohio and what challenges that presented to their faith. I thought I was going to be sad to leave Lydia behind, but she was present in this book plenty! I’m completely hooked and looking forward to book three! Honestly, I’d like about ten with the stories of all the people 😂

Already loved this story-enjoyed a new perspective

I had already read this entire trilogy (and loved it!), so I was excited to have an opportunity to hear one of the stories again with someone else's perspective added in.

This story is such a great one for the issues that we are facing in the world today! Author Christa Petzold uses this narrative to pose and answer timely questions like:
What is the proper Christian response to what could be viewed as government overreach?
How do we interact with people who have different beliefs/worldviews in a God-pleasing way?
What vocation(s) has God given me, and what does that mean?
How do I determine which vocation(s) to prioritize?
How do we forgive when we still experience the pain of the offense?
How do I know that I am/can be forgiven?
What is the purpose/importance of Christian community?
What is the purpose/importance of solid theology?

I wasn't sure I loved the narration in the first few minutes because her voice seemed sort of... empty, but this opinion changed once she shifted from narration-mode to character-mode. The narrator did a great job of distinguishing between the different characters with changes to her voice, without any voices being over the top or uncomfortable to listen to. Two of the male characters were voiced in a way that I didn't think fully jived with their personas - but it was not anything distracting enough to detract from the story, and I may not have had this opinion if I hadn't read the book previously with my own made-up voices in my head. ;)

I highly recommend the entire trilogy, and I'm excited to have this audiobook in my library to revisit regularly, making tasks like dishes, folding laundry, and long drives much more enjoyable! ;)

Thrilling

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I had so many emotions while reading this book. It depicts a future that I could see happening in America. A must read!

This was the second time I read it and it was even better the second time! I see myself listening to this series over and over.

Masterful storytelling, dystopian setting that feels disturbingly possible

I loved this book even more than the first! I can hardly wait for the final book to be released on Audible! As with the first book, wonderful character development that truly comes to life with Sarah Kramer's performance. I want to sit down with Callie and Lydia and enjoy a cup of coffee with them - we'd have so much to chat about!

Thought provoking

While this is not a series I’d usually gravitate for, the characters pull me right in. It’s so wonderful to relate to characters through their faith and how God works in their lives. I can’t wait to see what comes next for New Augsburg!

I was taken captive and could not stop listening

I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first. I feel as if Zach, Michah, Kelly, Brooklyn, David and Lydia are all my friends. I really liked how Christa wrote this book and addressed some of the everyday world issues that we are facing. I would recommend this book to anyone.

An excellent sequel!

I was curious which characters Christa would focus on in this sequel. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was Micah and Callie! I struggled a little with their relationship in book one because I wanted to know more about why Micah loves Callie the way he does. This sequel digs into that relationship more and we are also given a glimpse into what the world outside of New Augsburg is like. Sarah Kramer again does an excellent job reading. The book shared so much more about Micah and Callie and Sarah's reading of each of the characters helps us to get to know the characters and their various personalities. This is a great audio version of Christa's book- a very quick listen!

More about the book:

Book two shows the world outside of New Augsburg and how far from Christ so many people are. We are also shown, though, how all hope isn't lost. Christ and His love is still at work in this 'outside' world. Through this book, this futuristic story that all too well parallels so many issues in today's society, we get to see Christ's redeeming love and God at work in many lives.

Christa did an excellent job writing about the difficulties that many Christians and non-Christians face. She makes the characters so real, their relationships so believable, and we are left wanting to know more about their story. We are taken through the journey of the highs and lows of another romance. I look forward to seeing what lies ahead for all the characters!

Great Story!

I loved getting to really know characters that we met in the first book. I'm from WI so it was fun hearing city names so close to my home town! Such a wonderful book!