Feast for Thieves - A Tasty Read

Rowdy Slater always seems to find himself in trouble. Coming home after World War II, Rowdy, the man considered the most incorrigible soldier in Dog Company, has bounced around the country and hasn’t been able to pull his life together. But when he nearly dies after robbing a bank, Rowdy decides to return the money to the Sheriff of the Texas town of Cut Eye.

Rowdy showing up in Sheriff Barker’s office with a sack full of loot creates some problems for the no-nonsense lawman, so Barker decides to make Rowdy a deal - sign on as Cut Eye’s new preacher for one year or go to jail.

Perplexed but eager to avoid prison, Rowdy takes the offer, not realizing what that year behind the pulpit would get him into.

Watching Rowdy interact with the quirky sinners of this backwater town as he struggles with his own spiritual awakening is amusing as well as poignant.  We find ourselves rooting for our protagonist to turn his life around, but it isn’t long before his past shows up threatening to steal away his new life.

Author Marcus Brotherton is no stranger to the written word, having penned, We Who Are Alive and Remain, the nonfiction New York Times bestseller about the World War II combat veterans known as the Band of Brothers.  Feast for Thieves is his first foray into the world of fiction.

Feast for Thieves delves into what redemption looks like in the lives of imperfect humanity.  Brotherton’s Cut Eye, at first glance, is a sleepy town, but underneath its languid appearance it is a community populated with hurting people looking for hope.

Marcus Brotherton’s novel is a delight.  The citizens of Cut Eye, Texas are eccentric but loveable, and Rowdy Slater, the ne’er do well with a tender heart, is someone you want to see take advantage of his unexpected second chance.

Feast for Thieves is a tale that tugs at the soul and lifts the heart. If you’re looking for a book to encourage your spirit and make you smile, this feast will fill you up.

The Fight - A Novel With Punch

In the world of Christian fiction may I say how over-the-top excited I become when a book is gritty, bloody, and violent?  How almost giddy I am over protagonists who are messed up emotionally and spiritually and who aren’t doe-eyed Amish girls?

I love a novel with a dark side so when hope does decide to show up, it shines all the brighter.  I love a story that I could recommend to a man that isn’t light and fluffy.

The Fight 

, by newcomer Luke Wordley, is such a book.

The novel’s setting is the world of boxing, a world that attracts alienated and angry teen, Sam Pennington.  Living in a run-down public housing complex in East London, Sam is at home in the violent streets.  Fueled by a rage flamed by the untimely death of his father and by his mom’s addiction to alcohol, he is kicked out of one school after another and is frequently in trouble with the law.

Sam is savage and uncontrollable and terribly lost in the seething fury that has become his fortress.

Serendipity intervenes when Robbie, a young boxer from a local boxing club, rescues Sam after a street fight. Sam is then introduced to trainer, Jerry Ambrose, a man with an eye for talent and a past that still tries to cripple him.

The Fight is all about what drives humanity - anger, addiction, fear, family, God. Forces that will either ravage or redeem.

Sam is a lost soul who can function only when his anger is at its peak.  Jerry is a Christian struggling with a past that almost destroyed him. When he sees Sam in the ring for the first time, dreams of fame come alive, threatening to bury his faith.

Wordley brings the reader into the world of the fight – both inside the boxing ring and inside the soul.  He’s not afraid to create a Christian protagonist who goes off the rails, and who is refreshingly real.

The only aspect of the novel that keeps it from being a total KO is the abrupt and somewhat contrived ending.  Wordley, it seems, tries to wrap up the story with a neat little bow.  It left me feeling cheated.  I wanted to go deeper with the characters.  But maybe it was intentional.  Perhaps sequels are on the fight card.

I hope so. The Fight left me hoping for a few more rounds.

  

Out of the Ruins- Even the Great San Francisco Earthquake Can't Shake Up the Plot

San Francisco, circa 1900s, is the backdrop to Karen Barnetts’ latest novel, Out of the Ruins.  The post-gold rush city is full of excitement, but Abby Fischer would rather be home in her fruit orchard. 

Unfortunately, her family moved to the City by the Bay in order to stay close to her sister, Cecelia, as she undergoes a new experimental treatment for leukemia.

Handsome young doctor, Robert King, who is overseeing the treatment, has eyes for Abby, but when Cecilia dies, their romance is in danger of ending.  And to make matters worse, Abby turns her back on God for not saving her sister.

I remained hopeful that the novel’s venue would make for a rich and intriguing read.  I found myself disappointed that San Francisco remained a simple high school play backdrop against a stilted, predictable love story.

There were a few paragraphs that addressed the problem of Chinese girls sold into slavery, but they were quickly glossed over, used merely to highlight the heroic doctor and the damsel in danger.

Even the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906 did little to shake up the plot.  With destruction and flames all around, the reader spends the last quarter of the book observing Abby and Robert, separated by the disaster, wandering around looking for each other. 

Of course, by this time, after rubbing spiritual shoulders with a ramrod straight Scottish missionary and her group of Chinese girls, Abby has made amends with the Almighty.  A simple wrap up to the theological quandary, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. 

Those who love romance novels with happy endings will enjoy Out of the Ruins– it’s a romance, plain and simple, and Barnett does that genre well. It’s an uncomplicated story which would be a great read for a week at the beach.  No surprises, no deep thinking, just a love story with a catastrophe thrown in.

Saving Amelie - Predictable Plot, Stereotypical Characters

Rampaging Nazis, frauleins in distress, wide-eyed children in peril, helpful priests, and a dashing young American reporter to the rescue - the perfect list of ingredients for a predictable historical romance set during World War II.

Cathy Gohlke’s novel, Saving Amelie, has all of the above, including a predictable plot with stereotypical characters.

In the novel, young and beautiful Rachel Kramer is visiting Germany in 1939 with her father, a scientist very much involved in eugenics experiments.  She discovers that her friend’s daughter, who was born deaf, is slated to be euthanized –with the approval of the girl’s father, a rabid SS officer who cannot abide less than perfect Aryan offspring.  Reluctantly, Rachel steps in, with the help of charming reporter, Jason Young, to spirit the child away.

Along the way, Rachel discovers she has a twin who had been sterilized as a result of eugenic experiments that both of them had unwittingly taken part in as they grew up.

Soon Rachel and the child find themselves hiding in the quaint village of Oberammergau, refugees in the home of her newly found sister and grandmother.

Don’t get me wrong, Saving Amelie is not a bad read, especially if you like novels set in this particular era. But it is nothing new.  Some of the characters reminded me of characters in a series of books, The Zion Covenant, written by Bodie Thoene, particularly the newspaper reporter.  And the final climatic scene during the play?  I couldn’t help but think Sound of Music. 

There was one intriguing subplot of the book that I really wanted Gohlke to run with, but she was satisfied with leaving it in the shadows - reporter Jason Young’s interaction with Dietrich Bonheoffer.  Bonheoffer, the author of The Cost of Discipleship and a German believer who stood up to the Nazi regime, was an interesting addition to the storyline, but, unfortunately, a sideline that was not developed.  That was a disappointment.

All in all, Saving Amelie is a novel that delivers a tried and true formula.  If you like this type of historical romance, it delivers no more than what you would expect.

The Devil Walks In Mattingly - Suspense and the Supernatural Merge.

In the small town of Mattingly, Virginia, Sheriff Jake Barnett and his wife, Kate, carry the weight of a dark secret.  The secret threatens to crush them, chaining their conscience to a burden that grows greater with each day.

Just outside of Mattingly, in Happy Hollow, an area thick with a supernatural presense, Taylor Hathcock watches and waits.  Self-appointed caretaker of the Hollow, Hathcock has secrets of his own.

One evening when an apparent convenience store robbery leads to a murder, their secrets threaten to spread beyond their own tortured lives and infect the entire community.

In the supernatural thriller, The Devils Walks in Mattingly, Jake, Kate and Taylor’s lives are intertwined by their involvement in the death of a young man – a fellow high school classmate named Phillip McBride.

Although Phillip’s death was determined a suicide, each of them held themselves responsible for his life ending.  The struggle with guilt, fear, and anger is constant, wrecking their lives, and the lives of those around them.

Author Billy Coffey delves deeply into the souls tormented by the death of this young man.  The burden they each carry is palpable.  Coffey masterfully brings us into the minds of the main characters as they try in their own twisted ways to make amends in their own souls. All the while, supernatural forces – both good and evil, weave their way though Mattingly – fighting for those very souls.

As a thriller, The Devil Walks in Mattingly, hooks you in immediately.  You know something strange is going on, you know there must be a terrible secret, but Coffey plays the plot card close to his chest.  He feeds you just enough to make you hungry for more answers.  He deftly lays out the story to keep you on the edge.  It is a book that may cause real life to take a back seat for a while.

But The Devil Walks in Mattingly is much more than a supernatural thriller. This novel has an aching, yearning beauty to it.  Coffey successfully uses the pain of guilt and condemnation that haunt Kate, Jake, and even Taylor, as a mirror to reflect the destruction of guilt in the lives of all humanity – and skillfully brings the reader to that moment of redemption when the last page is turned.

A courtesy copy of The Devil Walks in Mattingly was obtained through Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair and honest review.

GIVEAWAY!!!!

I am thrilled to offer my very first book giveaway on Rapid Reader!!!

John Faubion's book, Friend Me, is a really pulse-pounder, I want want to share it with one lucky winner.
How do you get in the game?

Simple:
1.Leave a comment below on this blog post

2. Go to Howards Books' Facebook page and click"like".
https://www.facebook.com/HowardBooksSimonandSchuster

3. Go to Howard Books on Twitter and follow.
https://twitter.com/Howard_Books

I will announce the winner on my blog on February 11th!!!!

Friend Me - A Profound Psycho-Thriller

Virtualfriendme.com promises the perfect friend - always just a click away; always caring and totally concerned about you and only you.

Lonely and under appreciated wife and mom, Rachel Douglas, stumbled across Virtual Friend Me while on Facebook. Curious, she decided to set up an account and create a virtual friend modeled after her best friend, who had died several years ago.

Impressed with how real her new computer generated friend was, she shared the site with her husband, Scott, who became equally intrigued. 

So much so, that he decided to create his very own friend on the sly– a woman he named Angela. Angela, who looked like a model, who was delighted to hear about his day, and who lived to tell him how amazing he was. This virtual vixen made him feel like the most incredible male in the world.  His wife, it seemed, had recently rescinded her My Husband Is The Best fan club membership, and Scott needed a little female encouragement.

And what was the harm?  She wasn’t real, after all.  Right?

What Scott, didn’t count on, when he created his online dream girl, was falling in love with this cyber-Stepford Wife.  His relationship with Rachel continued to slide downhill, and because of some questionable dealings at work, he was in danger of losing his job.  And what complicated matters more – Angela was more real than he believed.

Friend Me, a novel by newcomer John Faubion, is a timely psychological thriller that is taut and suspenseful.  A cautionary tale of contemporary disconnect from flesh and blood humanity in favor of a fantasy Internet community.

Friend Me is a real nail biter to the end, but what I love even more than the many steal-your-breath-away moments, are the insights into our logged-in society.  Faubion masterfully captures our obsession with online lives - hours spent on social media connecting with people we don’t even know - creating relationships with personas that we only know through pithy tweets or Facebook posts while our own families become more and more distant. 

Faubion doesn’t stop there.  He paints a portrait of a Christian couple gradually moving apart.  Increasingly frustrated, Scott and Rachel don’t find solace in each other but online. 

But Friend Me is not a preachy, stuffy novel.  It moves quickly with moments that defy you to put the book down.  And Faubion’s scissor-wielding, cyber-psycho is one creepy chick.

Friend Me kept me in suspense and got me thinking as well, a great combination.  I’m hoping and praying Faubion has more in store for his readers.   With his first book showing such promise, it would be a shame to let the friendship fade.

Home Run - A Leadership Book That Hits It Out Of The Park

Being a Christian is supposed to be all about abundant life – a life overflowing with joy and peace, right? 

So why is it so many Christians find themselves banging their heads off the wall wondering when things are going to turn around.  Wondering when that life of abundance is going to kick in.   Are they not sincere enough, dedicated enough?

Pastor Kevin Myers was both dedicated to God and sincere in his faith, but yet he found himself knee deep in self-doubt and frustrated faith after trying to plant a church in Georgia.  He was ready throw in the towel. He was burned out and low on hope.

But according to Myers, during this time of trial, God was revealing to him a pattern of living that would turn his life and ministry around.

Home Run: Learn God’s Game Plan For Life and Leadership, co-written by Kevin Myers and John C. Maxwell, shares that revelation in a way most Americans can relate to – through the game of baseball.

Does a trot around the bases seem a little simplistic for a life-changing epiphany?  Not being a fan of the National Pastime, I was skeptical of the import of this metaphor.  But a couple pages into Home Run and I was ordering peanuts and Cracker Jack….metaphorically, of course.

As Myers struggled to plant a viable church in the suburbs of Atlanta, he had the opportunity to be mentored by John Maxwell, the preeminent authority on Leadership, highly respected in both the secular and Christian spheres. Throughout Home Run, Maxwell offers his insights on Myers offerings, relating stories from his own experiences, which give credence to Myers’ observations.

Myers offers his readers a realistic game plan for life involving running the bases.  Starting with Connection With God at home base, Myers presents a succession of life commitments (Character, Community, and Competence) represented by first, second, and third bases.  His contention? We mess up our lives by running the bases in the wrong order.

Home Run has the potential of helping many overcome slumps in whatever inning of life they find themselves.  Myers has a winner here.

Home Run is an enjoyable read packed with scripturally founded advice.  Myers’ theory of base running is simple – without being simplistic.  And with sidebar contributions from heavy hitter Maxwell, Home Run puts it over the wall.

Home Run was received courtesy of FaithWords in exchange for an honest review.

His Promise True - Predictable Story, Characters You Care About

Maggie Boon’s got a tough life.  In 1823, a poor, mountain girl doesn’t have a lot of options, especially if her pa is determined to marry her off to an abusive widower with a passel of kids.

So when Maggie laments her fate to the handsome son of a farmer at a barn raising party, his sympathy is not unwelcome until her pa spies them and gets the wrong idea.  Pulling the magistrate from the festivities, Maggie and John David get hitched on the spot, John David befuddled by whiskey and a White Knight complex, Maggie seeing this marriage as a way of escape.

It takes just a few hours of sobering up for John David and Maggie to realize they made a mistake, but John David insists on rescuing Maggie from her predicament, and Maggie is eager to get off the mountain.   With a promise of an annulment and a better life, she sets off with her new groom.

Greta Marlow’s novel, His Promise True, follows the relationship of young Maggie and John David.  The storyline is not untypical of the genre.   Love kindles gradually over a period of time.  Several conflicts arise threatening their fragile relationship.  However, the historical setting gives the reader a taste of pioneering spirit as the couple set off to settle in Texas, overcoming many obstacles in the less than accommodating frontier wilderness.

Their journey is overflowing with peril as they make their way down the river navigating the shoals and snags of the waterways - and their relationship.

His Promise True follows the path of most romance novels, but the characters draw you in – especially John David, young, brash and flawed.   He’s not the heroic perfection populating the genre.  He’s trying to do the best he can – often falling short. And I liked him better for it.  Noble one minute, rash the next, John David was believable.  And Maggie’s scrappy attitude added definite spice to the mix. He and Maggie make mistakes, make the best of it, and move forward.  Like real human beings.

If you like frontier romances, His Promise True is an enjoyable read.  If you like characters who grow as they go, Marlow’s book shows true promise. 

   

Emotions: Confront the Lies, Conquer With Truth - Hopeful and Healing

Fear, rejection, bitterness, guilt, despair- what do you do when they come knocking on the door of your soul?

If you are in any way human, emotions can trip you up.  They are such unruly things – causing you to be up one minute, down the next. They can control our perception of the world, others, ourselves.  So how do we handle the seemingly constant barrage of feelings that at times can threaten to unhinge our ability to live abundantly.

Pastor Charles Stanley’s latest book, Emotions: Confront the Lies, Conquer with Truth, delves into the world of negative emotions with Stanley’s well-known mix of Biblical advice and wisdom achieved through personal experience.

It’s typical Stanley – solid, spiritual, and hopeful.  Each chapter tackles a debilitating emotion with an understanding of what the emotion does to us and how God wants us to overcome the effects of the emotion and live a life that honors Him.

Each chapter ends with a series of questions intended for personal reflection or group study – if you are so inclined to unearth your emotions in a small group.

Emotions Confront the Lies, Conquer with Truth can, indeed, be helpful in wrestling those inner-demons into submission.  It’s tried and true Stanley – level-headed and calming, like advice from a trusted friend. 

If you have been a follower of Christ for any length of time, there probably won’t be any major revelations.  But for a new-believer trying to sort through baggage, Emotions could have the answers for healing.

The Last Perfect Summer - A Poignant, Nostalgic Trip

The Last Perfect Summer was absolute magic. 

Please understand a novel that centers itself around any sport as The Last Perfect Summer does, is like dose of Benadryl with a chamomile tea chaser to me.  As a rule, no form of fiction loses my attention quicker than a story laced with athletics.

So when I say The Last Perfect Summer is magic, I am saying that it transcends mere “sports genre” fiction.  It is much more than a story about Little League baseball.  It is a story of the Boomer generation growing up during those hazy summer days.  It’s about small towns, close-knit neighborhoods, and families that worked hard and sacrificed – and taught their kids to do the same.

At the center of it all is Teddy Tresh, a successful 40 something that decides to visit a childhood friend who is living in a mental institution.  Harry has been hospitalized for years after contracting encephalitis, which caused brain damage that left him feeble-minded and hopeless.  When Teddy first sees him after decades, he is determined to connect with his childhood friend in the only way that seems feasible – reminiscing with Harry about their days growing up in the small, Western Pennsylvania town of Rockland.

The Last Perfect Summer shifts back and forth between the present day conversation with Teddy and Harry and their days as pre-adolescent boys during the 60s.

Teddy’s visit with Harry is moving.  Harry progresses from an aged, confused psychiatric inmate to a man connecting to whom he was and is through the stories Teddy tells of their summer in 1964 when their all-star team made it to the championship.

As touching as those chapters are, it is the chapters centering on the boy’s life in small-town America in the 1960s that capture the heart – especially the hearts of those of us in the Baby Boomer generation.

Prence brings it all back.  Those early summer mornings where the day stretches ahead with limitless possibilities - spontaneous games of backyard baseball, crushes on the cute little girls next door, catching frogs and catching heck from any mom who caught careless boys stomping through their flower gardens.

Prence’s prose transported me back to my old neighborhood, the days before Amber Alerts and fears of letting your kid out of your sight.  A time where every kid in the neighborhood jumped on his bike first thing in the morning, checked in at dinner time, and made sure he was home when the streetlights came on - a time when one of the highlights of the afternoon was chugging down a chocolate Coke at the local drugstore with your buddies.

For a Boomer like me, this book was a welcome vacation to the halcyon days of my childhood.  For a baseball fan, it would be pure heaven.

Because Little League is the core of Teddy’s childhood summer - the championship, that golden grail that beckoned.  Even for someone uninterested in baseball, like myself, Prence wove those baseball practices and games into intense heart pounding spectacles of victories and defeats as seen through the eyes of a 10 year old boy.  Prence’s writing puts you in the middle of that dusty ball field waiting, with stomach churning, for that ball to come straight toward you, hands sweaty and heart racing. 

The Last Perfect Summer is poignant and charming.  For Boomers, it’s nostalgic and will make you smile in recognition of those childhood summer days.

But even if you aren’t a boomer, it’s just a darn good read. 

Courtesy copy of The Last Perfect Summer obtained from Windy City Publishers in exchange for an honest review

Prayers and Promises For Worried Parents - An Encouraging Devotional for Parents of Prodigals

There is nothing in the world as painful to a parent like a child walking away from the faith.  It’s heartbreaking and devastating.  Praying and wondering if that child will ever come back, it’s a nightmare that can seem endless.

Author Robert J. Morgan knows that feeling all too well as a parent of a prodigal. Through his own personal dark journey as a father praying for a wayward child comes this devotional, Prayers and Promises for Worried Parents.

Morgan’s 108 devotional entries encourage parents with scriptures and prayers designed to keep their focus on God and his faithfulness.

Originally, Prayers and Promises was meant as a personal journal for Morgan as he struggled with depression and anxiety over losing a child to the world.  It wasn’t until later that Morgan realized that his journal would be beneficial to parents going through the same struggles.

Although filled with scriptures and prayers that uplift, many of the illustrations Morgan used are so dated as to be a distraction.  As a contemporary parent, I found the frequent stories of prodigals and their parents living in the 1700s/1800s a bit of a disconnect from the modern life.  To be fair, Morgan does include personal stories, and testimonies from friends but the centuries old illustrations, even though they conveyed God’s faithfulness, still left me feeling distant from what God must be doing today.

But the use of bygone illustrations aside, Prayers and Promises for Worried Parents is just that – an affirming devotional for any grieving parent of a prodigal.

A complementary copy of Prayers and Promises for Worried Parents was obtain through Howard Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World - Time to Overthrow the "Self-Esteem" Regime

Several years ago when my kids were but little tots, my husband and I were browsing a toy store with them.  The next row over we heard a female voice dropping the f-bomb with profusion.  Concerned that our offspring would pick up a new vocabulary word, my husband decided to ask the woman to shift her conversation to a G-rating.   We were in a toy store, after all.  Imagine his surprise when he discovered the perpetrator of the profanity was a teenaged girl.

Now my husband is a big muscular guy, kinda scary looking if you don’t know him.  He walked up to her and asked her politely to watch her language.  She sneered and proceeded to light and lob an f-bomb directly at my husband – then walked away. 

We all have similar stories to tell.  Bratty kids pitching a fit in the grocery store,  surly teens mumbling under their breath.  Maybe, even, truth be told, our own kids are turning into despots in our very homes.  It just seems kids are becoming more and more out of control and disrespectful.  But don’t throw up your hands quite yet. 

Obviously, Little Miss Kiss-My-Tuckus’s parents never read Jill Rigby’s book Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World.

Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World gives hope to parents whose kids may not be turning out to be those upstanding citizens mom and dad envisioned them to be when they first brought their blanket-swaddled bundles home from the hospital.

Rigby unveils the fallacy that all our kids need is a healthy dose of self-esteem.  According to Rigby, the self-esteem movement that swept the nation in the 70s becoming one of the foundational tenets in parenting, has decimated the character of countless children.  Concern about a child’s self esteem has created self-absorbed, selfish and disrespectful children and adults.

Through Raising Respectful Children, Rigby calls for this madness to stop and asks parents to take a hard look at their parenting techniques – are we raising confident, caring, and courteous human beings, or self-centered, ill-equipped men and women who can’t take care of themselves and couldn’t care less for others?

Honestly, Rigby is on the mark with this book.  Parents need to be concerned about their children’s character and not their social status or – gasp – shall I say it – “happiness”.  Rigby contends that we need to be parents, not best friends.  We need to correct and rebuke without worrying about whether or not our kids will be happy about it. 

But Raising Respectful Children is not a book written to make parents hang their heads. Including a small group study guide, Rigby’s book is overflowing with encouragement and practical advice on how to build Godly character in our kids. 

From media choices to how to create memorable family bonding times, this book will equip every parent wanting to raise kids who will be respectful and successful in the things that truly matter.

Ghost - Rambo Meets "This Present Darkness"

There is nothing in the literary world quite like an edgy thriller, a story with a kick-butt protagonist and a manic, twisted killer - and if it comes with a strong spiritual backbone – bonus!

Wayne Thomas Batson’s foray into adult fiction, Ghost, has all of the above and then some.

Batson, better known for his young adult fiction (The Door Within Trilogy), has penned a page-turner (or screen-tapper for you Kindle users) that definitely isn’t for the kiddies. It’s an adult novel that delivers an intriguing, action-driven plot with a Christian worldview that isn’t the least bit preachy.

“Ghost” is John Spector, a mysterious investigator who shows up in the middle of desperate situations and administers a kind of justice that could be considered on the divine side.

In Ghost, Spector finds himself assigned to check out a string of grisly murders involving young women.  The killer, known as Smiling Jack, finds delight in photographing the girls getting their throats cut and downloading the murders on the Internet.  The FBI, several years earlier, claimed the photos a hoax.  But Spector and FBI Special Agent Deanna Rezvani believe otherwise.

In the land of corpse-strewn detective novels, Ghost follows protocol.  Bad Guy does really bad things and Good Guy chases bad guy down and is beaten up a couple times along the way.  But what makes Ghost such a great read is the supernatural theme.  Without giving too much away, let me say that John Spector isn’t your average Joe – for him, delving into the otherworldly is commonplace. There is a strong Christian motif here with no apologies.  Think of Ghost as “Rambo meets This Present Darkness.”

Ghost is an adrenaline-generating read, teasing us with clues to Spector’s identity until the final pages.

Tightly written and populated with intense characters, Batson’s latest delivers earthly action with unearthly thrills.  

This is one Ghost you’ll want haunting your bookshelf.

The Face Of The Earth - Tedious Attempt at Romance and Suspense

Mitchell Brannon is waiting anxiously for his loving wife to come home after a conference.  He’s all set to fire up the grill, cook some steaks, and have a romantic evening with the woman he loves.

Problem is, she doesn’t show up. 

The last words he heard from Jill are on the answering machine - a message from a woman who obviously can’t wait to see him again.

So begins Deborah Raney’s latest novel, The Face of the Earth, a suspenseful romance of sorts.

As any good husband, Mitchell searches high and low and calls in the cavalry.  By his side is his next-door neighbor, and his wife’s best friend, Shelley.  She’s more than eager to help find her friend – especially since it means spending time with Mitchell.

To be fair, Mitchell and Shelley are Christians, and the core of the book is their struggle to keep each other at arm’s length while being faithful to Jill – who may very well be dead.

That’s fine for a couple chapters. But after pages of Mitchell and Shelley driving the back roads for days and months, agonizing over forbidden attraction, wringing their hands, and sighing heavily, I was begging for Jill to come back and end all the tedium.

Maybe it’s the fact that the characters are plain vanilla.  I couldn’t find much depth to them.  By the end of the book, I didn’t care if they got together or not.

The Face of the Earth certainly had the potential of being a tense page-turner.  However, it got bogged down with the “Can We Be With Each Other?” dilemma. Very little action outside of driving and driving and driving.  If only the plot, itself, would have had such drive.

Glenn Meade's Brandenburg - Nazis Are Back!

Deep in the steamy jungles of Paraguay, something believed long defeated begins to stir into a new life.  The time is right – and just when you thought it was safe to go back into Germany.

Glenn Meades’ newest, Brandenburg, has modern-day Nazis hatching evil plans for taking over the Fatherland in the sweltering heat of South America and in the wintery climate of Berlin.

The brutal murder of investigative reporter Rudi Hernandez in Paraguay raises some red flags for his cousin Erica Kranz and Joseph Volkmann, the man assigned to uncover the mystery behind Rudi’s death and a string of murders around the world, inexplicably linked to a group of influential Germans.

The web of espionage, terrorism, and politics is not easy to unravel in this cerebral thriller.  Meade doesn’t give anything away until the reveal in the last quarter of the book, and that’s what makes it such a intriguing read.  We know the Nazis are up to something – but what exactly is the plan?  Although brainy, Brandenburg doesn’t disappoint in the action – plenty of bullets and standoffs to please the most ardent action aficionado. 

Volkmann and Kranz may be a bit too brooding for my taste – both dealing with the weight of their family’s history – Volkmann’s father a concentration camp victim, Kranz’s father a commander in the SS.  Their relationship is at times cold and strained as they deal with the aftermath of their pasts.

Meades’ overview of Germany’s present political climate is a good backdrop to the action.  Discontent over unemployment, inflation, and the influx of immigrants creates a potential powder keg that’s just begging for the spark to set it off.  And the Nazis are all too happy to oblige.

Brandenburg is a smart novel that digs a little deeper into Hitler’s early life leading the Nazi Party and spins a suspenseful “what if” that will keep the pages turning well past midnight.

A courtesy copy of Brandenburg received from Howard Books in exchange for an honest review.

Damascus Countdown - Frightening, Believable, and Quite a Ride

CIA operative, David Shirazi, has proven himself a trustworthy follower of the Twelfth Imam – a man who is the self proclaimed Messiah of the Muslim world.  His apparent eagerness to please has put him in a position to draw close to the leaders of the Arab world who have given their allegiance to the Imam.

But now David is on the run, with his team of special operatives, to locate missing nuclear warheads – playing a lethal shell game hoping to find to the nukes before Israel is incinerated in a fanatic-fueled firestorm.

Joel Rosenberg’s Damascus Countdown takes up where The Tehran Initiative left off, with Agent Shirazi rubbing shoulders with the Arab elite while trying to get information on the extremely dangerous plans of the mysterious Twelfth Imam.  

While Shirazi meets with a top aide of the Imam at the Jamkaran Mosque, the Israeli’s strike, determined to take out the nuclear threat to their safety.  An all out war has started in the Middle East, and Shirazi is in the center of it.

Rosenberg presents of view of Middle East politics liberally dosed with Muslim fanaticism that is truly hair raising.  And believable.  He knows his stuff.  It would not be a stretch to close the cover of Damascus Countdown and see similar events unfold on a CNN broadcast. 

Eschatology, both Muslim and Christian, is woven throughout this thriller with a validity that not only drives the plot forward but gives credibility to the spiritual aspects of the events that play out.  Rosenberg does not shy away from end time prophecy, nor does he back off from prominently displaying the faith of his Christian characters – especially David Shirazi, a recent convert to Christianity, who is not afraid to share his faith with the men with whom he is facing death.

The story flies forward at an incredible pace, with barely time to catch a breath.  The action in Rosenberg’s Damascus Countdown, like his previous books in this series (The Twelfth Imam, The Tehran Initiative), moves like an Israeli Air Force scramble.   You won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough.

Damascus Countdown is a tight political thriller populated with characters who are smart and gutsy.  It’s a nail-biter for sure but also inspires with its faith-filled message.