Espresso Shot

Espresso Shot, by Cleo Coyle, was a book sale find and number seven in a series of mysteries. The main character, Clare Cosi, is the manager of a coffeehouse and an amateur sleuth who investigates the death of people close to her ex-husband's fiancee.

Since the book was a light mystery, it would have been easy to read; however, the sprinkled profanity, sexual innuendos and heavy-laden barista lingo got in the way of the characters and the plot for this reader. On a positive note, the who-dun-it was a surprise at the end.

The Immortal

The Immortal by Angela Hunt was one of those bargain books on sale. Although it was published in 2000, it used the legend of the Wandering Jew to present the return of Christ and the subject of forgiveness and grace in a new way. The only distraction was the switch from first person, Claudia, to third person, Asher, and back. Thankfully, the story moved along at a quick enough pace to overcome it.

The story begins with Claudia, a jury consultant in New York, who moves to Italy to work for a new global company focused on world peace. She uses her interviewing skills to screen potential employees for the company and hires Asher. After they become friends, Asher tells her that he has been wandering the Earth since Jesus time and believes his purpose is to find the potential Antichrist in each generation and witness to him until Christ's return.

Green

Ted Dekker's Green is part of his Circle Series and he notes that this book can be read first or last as part of that circle. Since I read it last, I had to skim back over Black, Red, and White to understand the circle theory and place Green into the circle's sequence.

Thomas Hunter, the main character, continues to travel between the past and the future with dire consequences to both worlds. In the histories, the fall of mankind keeps good and evil in the spiritual realm. But, in the future world, good and evil can be seen, touched and tasted until mankind once again rejects that reality creating apocalyptic results.

The circle's story continues with the The Books of History Chronicles broken down into two additional series: The Lost Books (Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos) and The Paradise Novels (Showdown, Saint, Sinner).

Obsessed

In Ted Dekker's Obsessed, the death of a Holocaust survivor provides a clue that seemingly makes Stephen Friedman the heir to an incredible treasure. The story flashes back and forth between the 1940s, where two pregnant concentration camp inmates are tormented, and the 1970s, where Stephen becomes obsessed with learning his mother's secrets.

As a fan of Ted Dekker's books, I agree with some reviewers that this wasn't his best book. The characters make weird decisions along the way and it doesn't have that "wow, I didn't see that coming" ending I've come to expect. But, it did give the reader a chilling reminder of the evil of the Holocaust.

And, I disagree with a reviewer that felt this book crossed the line exploring the darkness of evil by portraying characters involved in satanic rituals. Since the "sheer depravity of the deeds" made the reviewer uncomfortable, wasn't that the point? Ted Dekker is known for his confrontations between good and evil so readers that are uncomfortable with spiritual warfare should steer clear of them.

Cry in the Night

Colleen Coble's Cry in the Night takes the reader to Rock Harbor, Michigan (the setting for previous Rock Harbor mysteries) where search-and-rescue worker Bree Matthews and her dog Samson find an abandoned baby in the woods. Bree ignores the objections from Kade, her second husband, takes the baby girl in and continues to search for the baby's mother. But, when her search reveals a strange connection to her first husband's mysterious death, it unravels her faith.

This was another easy-to-read "who done it" story. The characters draw the reader into the setting while keeping the reader intrigued with solving the mystery.

Deceit

Brandilyn Collins' Deceit opens with Joanne Weeks' quest to prove Baxter Jackson killed her best friend and his former wife six years prior. It then follows two story lines with the first one taking place in 2010 and the other in 2004.

In the 2010 story line, Joanne uses her professional skip tracing skills to locate the missing Jackson foster child, Melissa, to help her prove Baxter killed her best friend. The second story line begins in 2004 when Melissa moves in with the Jacksons and discovers that the rich, Christian couple are not as they appear to be on the surface.

It was an easy-to-read mystery; however, some of the scenes moved too slow for the speed reader in me. I also figured out "who done it" so there was no surprise at the end. It was not the suspense thriller I expected, but Collins fans will still enjoy it.

Without a Trace

Colleen Coble's Without a Trace is the first book in her Rock Harbor Mystery Series. The story takes the reader on a winding road of search and rescue while it weaves a cast of 'who did it' characters into a small imaginary town on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

When Bree Nichols' husband and son disappear in a plane crash, she and her search-and-rescue dog Samson begin searching the wilderness for the crash site to recover their bodies. After months of searching, Bree is forced to come to terms with the fact that she may never find them. Then the town is rocked by murder and the murder becomes strangely linked to her husband's plane crash.

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.

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.

Dead Heat

Joel C. Rosenberg's Dead Heat is the fifth and final novel in his geopolitical thriller series. The author's note prefacing the first chapter reiterates that the novel is fiction, but it still makes one wonder about the turbulent world we live in and what role, if any, the United States will play in the end times.

President MacPherson's second term in office is ending, a new dictator is rising in Iraq, Israel is on a urgent quest to complete the Third Temple, China and North Korea forces appear ready to strike and  the world is on the verge of a mammoth disaster. After terrorists attack the United States, Jon Bennett is called upon again to help. But this time he is in a remote Jordanian refugee camp with his wife, Erin, who has contracted a potentially fatal illness.

Although it is a fast-paced, action-packed and thought-provoking read, I add my prayer to the author's that the events stay fictional.

The Last Days

The Last Days is one of  Joel C. Rosenberg's geopolitical thrillers where Jon Bennett, a former Wall Street strategist, becomes the point man for an Arab-Israeli peace plan. With the world watching, Jon and his beautiful CIA partner, Erin McCoy, arrive in the Middle East to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

However, before the historic meeting can take place, explosive events send Jon and Erin underground where they facilitate a peace plan in secret. The plan would harness vast supplies of oil and natural gas and make every Muslin, Christian, and Jew in Israel and Palestine wealthy. But men with evil hearts and the countries that support them want no part of peace in the Middle East and launch assaults aimed to kill all those involved with the peace plan.

The scary part about this fictional story is that you can easily imagine it tomorrow's headlines.

The Circle Trilogy

The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker consists of three books: Black, Red, and White. The trilogy is about the main character, Thomas Hunter, living in two worlds. He falls asleep in one world and wakes up in another. Although he isn't sure which world is the real one and which world is the dream one until the very end, he comes to realize his actions in one world has an impact on the other.

I must admit I struggled reading Black in the beginning and had to get past the first several chapters before I was hooked. Once I reached that point I spent several late nights (too late I'd discover the next morning) absorbed in the books and racing to find answers to Thomas Hunter's questions.

The story continues with the The Books of History Chronicles broken down into two additional series: The Lost Books (Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos) and The Paradise Novels(Showdown, Saint, Sinner). I didn't realize Showdown was part of the this story and read it many months ago. It will fun to go back and scan through it in the context of the chronicles.

"Vanish" Book Review

Tom Pawlik's "Vanish" is the Christian Writers Guild 2006 Operation First Novel winner. Since it is in the supernatural thriller genre I love to read and write, I fully expected to enjoy this book and it didn't disappoint.

It was top notch. In my opinion, it was as good as any Ted Dekker or Frank Peretti book I've read. It drew me in so much that I kept turning the pages to see what was going to happen next and I even finished reading it in one evening.

I love a suspense thriller that leads me down a road where I think I know what is going on, encourages me to figure out where it is going and how it is going to end, and then either totally catches me by surprise or is similar yet different than I imagined.

"Vanish" is just such a book. My thought process was anticipating the true identity of the creatures as spiritual beings, but the circumstances were completely different than I thought they were and the ending was a surprise.

Thank you Tom. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

No Limits: Living on the Edge

From the wing walkers to the aerobatic airplane maneuvers to the high-performance jets, one common denominator resonates with exhibition pilots – a passion and desire for excellence. They push the limits of man and machine as far as they can with heart-stopping maneuvers.

As the planes twist, turn and loop with precision, many questions formulate. What is it about taking it to the next level and living on the edge that draws these pilots in? Are there lives different because they have a life-and-death job? How does it affect their faith? Are they so focused on the maneuvers they miss the splendor?

The earth passes by them in slow motion. Roads and rivers cut into the earth like pencil marks on an artist’s sketch pad. Buildings become linear, trees flat splotches of green, and lakes dark flat shapes. It makes one wonder. How big is our God? The human mind can’t begin to comprehend it. Each minuscule dot and linear shape houses individuals illustrating the minuteness of man. Do the pilots feel it? Do they feel the power of God while soaring through the skies? Or, do they focus on the task at hand with their mind focused only performance, avoiding a disaster, landing safely, and other earthly things?

As the plane descends the flat linear objects pop up and take on their three-dimensional shape. The closer to the ground, the bigger the objects appear. Within minutes, the plane lands, the majesty disappears, and man takes center stage. Are the pilots affected by the pull of man verses the freedom of spirit? What draws them toward the heavens? Is it mere adrenaline or is it something much more?

How differently would we live if our job had life-and-death consequences? Would we be closer to God? Would we live every moment? Live on purpose? We may not take to the skies everyday, but we all live with life-and-death consequences. Do we choose life or do we choose death? The Bible says choose life!