Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Walking Lazarus

Since T.L. Hines gives away the subject of his book in the title, Walking Lazarus, it is no surprise that the main character, Jude, has died and come back to life. The twist is that it happened three times and seems to have an underlying purpose. Jude has changed his name, moved to a new town and become a recluse near an area where children are disappearing.

As Jude unravels the mystery of his own deaths and the evil lurking around his new hometown, he struggles to hide his identity while being accused of killing children. the book definitely has the one thing most appealing about a good supernatural suspense thriller ... things are not always as they appear while the reader is traveling through the pages of the unknown.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Where Are You Now?

Mary Higgins Clark's Where Are You Now? is the story of a sister's quest to find her missing brother. The sister, Carolyn, has been haunted by her brother Mack's sudden disappearance and mysterious annual phone call on Mother's Day for ten years.

After Carolyn tells Mack she is going to find him on the latest phone call, her uncle receives a mysterious note in a collection plate that says Carolyn must not look for Mack. This cryptic note turns out to be only the beginning for Carolyn. Her determined search leads her right into the path of the serial killer and a confrontation with someone close to her who has been hiding deadly secrets for many years.

Fans will love this quick read while trying to figure out the killer's identity.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Driven by Eternity

Shortly after reading John Bevere's Driven by Eternity in January 2007, I joined the Christian Writers Guild and began a quest to expand my technical writing career to include writing for eternity. I recently read it again and reflected on how it motivated me. 

The book opens with a discussion about eternity and how, even though we can't comprehend it with our minds, we somehow know internally that it exists. The introduction and the first chapter started my thought processes down a path of contemplating life and eternity, but it was the allegory in chapters two through eight that motivated me to take action.

The allegory is set in the kingdom of Affabel and the school of Endel. At the end of ten years, students are given wealth and responsibility for a five-year period that determines how they'll live for 150 years. The allegory follows five students (Independent, Deceived, Faint Heart, Selfish and Charity) during the five-year period of testing and ends with the day of judgment.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar

July is the time to revisit a couple of favorite books that inspire and encourage with the first one being The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar.
Zig Ziglar, now in his 80s, is a motivational speaker with a message of excellence and hope. His classic best seller, See You at the Top, built around the idea that  "you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want" has been popular in the corporate world for generations.

Zig's life story and the people and events that helped shape him into a world-renown author, motivator and speaker are highlighted in this book. It also gives insight into his life-learned success philosophy of  discipline, hard work, common sense, integrity, commitment and a sense of humor. The last few pages of the book discuss what Zig considers most important and ends with the sinner's prayer.

Prepare to be inspired! You know it is vintage Zig when you see this declaration written before the title page:  "You, ___________, will find the help, hope, and encouragement in this book that will serve as a reminder that if man can take moldy bread and make penicillin out of it, just think what a loving God can make out of you".