Darkroom - Rapidly Paced Political Thriller

Her mother’s recent death, her father’s continuing estrangement, frightening visions associated with any photos she takes with her dad’s camera - photographer Xandra Carrick has a lot to deal with.   On top of that, she’s wanted by the FBI for a murder she did not commit, while nefarious forces want her dead.

Having recently arrived back from a trip to her mother’s birthplace, Vietnam,  Xandra is troubled by her father’s reticence.  And to make her life even more complicated, after taking several photos during her trip, she discovers images in her pictures that she did not see with her natural eyes.  She’s having visions of a supernatural nature – visions that will blow the lid off a major conspiracy – if she lives long enough to have anyone believe her.

Arrested for the murder of a local Julliard student, Xandra flees New York and heads to see her father in California, seeking answers to her visions concerning Vietnam.  FBI agent Kyle Matthews teams up with her to find some answers of his own. 

Darkroom, by Joshua Graham, is a political thriller with a spiritual undercurrent, driven mostly by Xandra’s mother, Grace, a Vietnamese immigrant who married Xandra’s father, Peter Carrick, after a harrowing escape from Saigon when the US troops pulled out.  We hear her voice through several journal entries - beginning when she first met Peter, a photojournalist embedded with a platoon in Vietnam; through the birth of Xandra, until her death.  Her voice brought a depth to the story that certainly tied the themes of purpose, God-given gifts, and the freeing power of truth, together.

Darkroom rips along rapidly, jumping from multiple points of view, from Xandra, her father, her mother, a presidential candidate, an FBI agent, and a hit man.

And because of this, Darkroom’s pace is set at a very high shutter speed, swiftly shifting character Point of Views from chapter to chapter.  Initially, I found this style somewhat ADHD – jumping from POV to POV in only a couple pages.  Soon, however, I settled into Graham’s rapid rhythm, which kept me interested in what was going to develop next.

Graham’s intricate weaving of truth and deceit keeps the pages turning, and with a wide-open ending hinting at the return of feisty and insightful heroine, Xandra Carrick,  Darkroom is a novel you won’t regret being exposed to.

I have given an honest review of this courtesy copy of Darkroom received from Howard Books.

Midnight In Peking - Gritty True Story of Murder and Mayhem in Pre-WWII China

Pamela Werner was a high-spirited, independent young woman living with her father in Peking, China during the late 1930s.

On a cold January night in 1937, Pamela was found brutally murdered at the foot of one of Peking’s well-known landmarks – the Fox Tower.

Pre-world war II Peking was a stressful place to live.  China was in the midst of a civil war and the Japanese had invaded and were waiting for the opportunity to capture the city. 

Nerves were frayed.  A cloud of doom hung over the streets.  Even the well-protected foreign nationals were feeling the shifting of events. But the brutal murder of Pamela Werner kicked the anxieties of the city up several notches.  Both the Chinese and foreign nationals fearfully wondered who could have butchered this innocent young girl.

Paul French’s Midnight In Peking is a masterfully woven non-fiction murder mystery peopled with smug British diplomats, harried Scotland Yard detectives, Chinese police officers with mysterious agendas, an American dentist with degraded, lustful designs, and a beautiful young woman who isn’t all that she seems.

French has done his research, and his findings from the papers of Pamela’s father are most intriguing.  Even after the British dropped the case, Werner doggedly pursued his daughter’s murderer asking help from the Chinese and even the occupying Japanese.  His determination to find his daughter’s killer is inspiring.

Midnight In Peking reads like a true-to-life Agatha Christie with a lot more carnality.  Peking, like most places, had a dark side that could lure a naïve young woman to her death, and French takes us there.

This is no stuffy history text.  It’s a blood and guts whodunit that twists and turns through the not so savory back alleys of the present capital of China and digs up dirt on some of her upstanding citizens and those not so upstanding.

French delivers history you can smell, taste, and feel.  Midnight in Peking transports you to an extremely turbulent time in China’s history and puts you in the middle of the events that transpired that frigid night. 

History and mystery.  As a fan of both genres, Midnight in Peking is a win-win.

(Courtesy copy compliments of Penguin Books via Net Galley) 

.

The World In Your Lunch Box - A Tasty Trip Through History

Getting complaints from your eight year old about his lunch?   Is he tired of the same old ham and cheese sandwich with an apple on the side?  Maybe the answer to his lunchtime tedium isn’t a new menu.  Maybe it’s a new perspective.

Colorfully and amusingly illustrated, The World In Your Lunch Box, written by Claire Eamer and illustrated by Sa Boothroyd, is packed with fun food facts that will not only entertain but educate.  What’s the origin of the sandwich?  Mustard? Apples? Ice cream?  This book answers all those questions and many more. 

Sectioned into a week’s worth of lunches, Eamer analyzes every item on the menu. She takes us through history to explore the origins of food in a kid-friendly way, each chapter stuffed with trivia, puns, and silly jokes.  She also serves up healthy doses of food science along the way.  (Ever wonder about how yeast works or the magic behind mayonnaise?)

The World In Your Lunch Box makes history and science intriguing and relevant to the elementary age cafeteria crew.  In fact, it is a fascinating and enjoyable read no matter what age lunch table you may find yourself at.

The World In Your Lunch Box is both a feast for the eyes and the intellect. It’s a tasty trip through history your kids will eat up.

Courtesy copy from Annick Press through Net Galley.

Worthy Writings in the Blogosphere

It seems everyone has a blog today.  Frankly, I find it difficult to discover a blog that draws me in.  Most posts I see are like public diaries.  I won’t post blogs like that because basically I’m pretty boring.  That’s why I’ve never journaled - I’d put myself to sleep.

So it is seldom that I actually subscribe to someone’s blog.  If I read about your life, I want to be inspired.  If you’re writing about your trip to Walmart to buy butter beans, it’s just not happening for me.

But I’d like to share a blogger with you whom I love.  This guy is inspiring, and not only that, the dude can write.

Adam Young is a twenty-something from backwoods Minnesota.  A devote Christ-follower he spent many years recording original music in his parents’ basement and playing at small local venues.  After posting some of his music on social media, he caught the attention of the music industry.   Yep, now Adam is living the dream, recording and touring around the world – as Owl City.

I stumbled across his posts on the internet one day, expecting a lot of shallow self-promotion.  Hardly, Young comes across as charming, vulnerable, and engaging.  His blogs cover a cornucopia of topics from music, his relationship with Christ, and even the creepy sound his refrigerator makes (recorded of course, to maximize the effectiveness of the post).

Yesterday, preparing for our Good Friday service, I came across this post from 2010.  It’s his cover of In Christ Alone.  It’s a beautiful arrangement sung with obvious emotion, but it’s the blog post itself that’s inspiring. But I won’t tell you about it -  here’s the link. Take some time and view it. Definitely worth a listen and a read – especially on this Easter weekend.  Enjoy.

http://owlcityblog.com/2010/10/25/my-hope-is-found/

Code Of Silence: Teen Suspense With A Solid Message

Halloween is just around the corner, but eighth grade pals Cooper, Gordy, and Hiro never expected three men wearing masks to burst into their favorite burger joint,  wave weapons, demand money, and critically injure the co-owner, Frank, right in front of their eyes.  Making their escape from the robbers they hi-tail it across town, but before they can make it home, Cooper is snagged by one of the baddies and threatened.  He and his friends and family are in danger unless Cooper turns over the security camera hard–drive he grabbed before leaving the diner and had successfully hidden from the robbers. A hard-drive that will reveal who stole the money and put Frank in a coma. Problem is, he can’t go to the police because he has every reason to believe some dirty cops are involved in the heist.

Code of Silence by Tim Shoemaker is a quick-paced nail-biter.   Main characters Cooper, Gordy, and Hiro are fast friends who find themselves in a dilemma that tests their friendship and puts them in a position which causes them to choose between the truth or deceit.

Shoemaker’s main characters seem to follow the formula of teen-fiction friendship: Cooper, the impetuous leader, Gordy, the light-hearted lover of all things edible, and quiet, introspective Hiro, the girl and spiritual anchor of the group.  But it’s okay if it is formula, because it works.  What might seem predictable to a middle-aged woman (like myself) will seem fresh to a middle schooler.  The characters are likeable – and wonderfully average.  And that’s why I liked this novel.

They aren’t vampires, they aren’t fighting aliens, they aren’t being whisked back-in- time to battle black knights and evil sorcerers, and they don’t have super powers.  They are incredibly average, delightfully so.  What makes this book tick is that Cooper, Gordy, and Hiro are ordinary kids placed in an extraordinary circumstance – but a circumstance that could, in the everyday world, happen.

The fact that they are Christians also adds a layer to the story line.  The moral quandary that Shoemaker explores is this:  If you are a Christian, is it okay to lie to your parents, teachers, and authorities in order to do what you think is best to protect yourself from a bad situation?  Are some lies legit? Some pretty deep waters for a book aimed at upper elementary to middle schoolers, but Shoemaker handles the topic with a style that is not heavy handed. 

Brimming over with bad guys, close calls, and subterfuge, Code of Silence drives home the point that God’s ways are the best ways – even if we can’t understand how that could be possible. 


(Courtesy copy of Code of Silence provided by Zondervan through Netgalley)

Flirting with the Forbidden - An Honest Look at Temptation

Reading a book about temptation tends to be the literary equivalent of a yearly employee performance review. The author acts like your boss pointing out all the places where you are performing below par, and if you’d only implement the company game plan you’d bring your performance up in no time.

 So you close the book feeling somewhat defeated. You just didn’t try hard enough, didn’t have faith enough, or the pitfalls are so overwhelming you are bound to keep falling into the adversary’s traps.

 Steven James’ Flirting with the Forbidden doesn’t come across that way. James does not sit across the desk stabbing a finger into your chest. It’s as if he’s hanging out with you at a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon passionately discussing common struggles over a steaming mug of Nicaraguan blend.

 The way James approaches the topic of temptation is incredibly engaging. With scripture as his template, he transforms Bible personas from flannel-graphed to full-blooded. Joseph struggles with lust, David agonizes with shame, Pilates’ wife wrestles with guilt. James crafts first-person accounts, which make the well-known people of scriptures become more human…men and woman who are relatable, who went through the same struggles we all face to some degree.

 Each story is a prologue to James’ own take on various temptations that so easily assail us all.

 What I appreciate is James’ transparency. He openly admits his own struggles, and his willingness to do so allows the reader not to be intimidated to look honestly into his own heart.

 What makes Flirting with the Forbidden such an encouraging book is that Christ is at the center of it all. James leaves no doubt who gives us control over those things of the world, which throw us off center.

 I loved its devotional style. I read a chapter each day and it gave me a lot to think and pray about. I would love to see James write a similar book but with a full year’s worth of material.

 James is the consummate storyteller who isn’t afraid to let his guard down. Flirting with the Forbidden challenges, convicts, and encourages. A fan of his fiction, I am thoroughly impressed with this insightful non-fiction work.

Looking For Ms. Locklear: Amusing and Endearing Road Trip

I am aware that Looking For Ms. Locklear is a film, not a book. However, as a huge Rhett and Link fan I want to spread the love.  It is my hope that some day Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Neal will indeed write a memoir chronicling their life-long friendship.  Until then, I must be satisfied with this delightful documentary.

I’m a sucker for road movies, especially Hope and Crosby wisecracking their way across (fill in exotic locale) with Lamour popping up somewhere along the way.  Nothing, I thought, could replace that talented duo in my heart.  

After viewing Rhett and Link’s Looking for Ms. Locklear I do believe that the Commercial Kings at least have nudged Bob and Bing over a bit and definitely set up a little place of their own in my cardio area.

Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, if you don’t already know, are up and coming YouTube sensations, filmmakers, and hosts of The Commercial Kings on the Independent Film Channel.  Both former engineers, they began producing low budget yet exceedingly witty and quirky commercials for small businesses - their most famous being the Chuck Testa taxidermy ads which thrust Mr. Testa into internet memedom.

The premise behind the film, Looking For Ms Locklear, is a road trip back to their North Carolina roots to find their first grade teacher.  She is the reason that team Rhett and Link exists today.  Keeping the young Rhett and Link inside from recess for writing bad words on their desks, Miss Locklear unknowingly cemented a friendship between them that has lasted a lifetime. 

Desiring to track her down to thank her for bringing them together, Rhett and Link decide to travel the back roads of their childhood seeking out people who may help them find her.  Before starting out on their quest, they decide not to use any form of communication (internet or telephone) to locate her.  They would only interact face- to-face with people, filming their adventure along the way.

Looking For Ms. Locklear is an endearing tribute not only to a well-loved teacher, but to the people of Rhett and Link’s place of growing up.  The film is populated with real “characters” who, if handled with less loving hands, could have come off as targets of mockery – but with Rhett and Link we can only smile and wish we had them as neighbors.

Surprisingly, Looking for Ms. Locklear is more than just nostalgic whimsy.  As a serendipitous sideline, it brings to the fore the struggle of the Native American nation, the Lumbees, for Federal recognition as an Indian tribe with Rhett and link traveling to Washington DC to lend their moral support at a Senate hearing.

I can’t remember the last time I watched a personal documentary that wasn’t cynical and jaded.  Looking For Ms. Locklear is a delightful, uplifting movie that will make you feel good about humanity.  It is well worth a look.