ALWAYS LOOK TWICE . . . YOU NEVER KNOW WHO'S BEHIND YOU!

ALWAYS LOOK TWICE

Before opening this book, brace yourself.  Elizabeth Goddard has a knack for leaving you breathless, while stealing your heart at the same time.  Quite a talent, that.

Harper Reynolds has hit the wall, and at the advice of her therapist has stopped photographing crime scenes, and began photographing wildlife.  Her talents have been recognized, and rewarded, enabling her to invest in top-notch equipment.  Just in time to become an eyewitness to a murder.

Lovely.

Writing at a rapid – fire pace, author Elizabeth Goddard has also managed yet another feat of creative writing skill:  she has packed her pages with memorable characters, engaging themes, and breathtaking settings which she skillfully weaves together in such a way that the reader has the impression that he or she is walking side – by – side with the characters.

This can be quite disturbing when one realizes that one is being hunted down like a rabid animal.  I mean, even the villain is memorable . . . and gains a sop of sympathy from the most callous and careless of readers.

5 stars for fast-paced suspense with a romantic twist

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my open and honest review.

Elizabeth Goddard

ISBN: 978-0-8007-2985-1

Christian Fiction / Mystery / Suspense

Revell Books

198 pages

$ 15.99 U.S. paperback

CHURCH REFORMED: A 21st Century Call To A First Century Model

"Somehow . . . the Church is no longer viewed as essential to Christian growth.  Conferences are great.  Facebook groups, music, podcasts, broadcast sermons, discipleship material, Christian books . . . these fruits of evangelical ministry have supplanted Christ's Bride, the church." (CHURCH REFORMED, p. 6)

This one quotation from the book under review sums up the critical situation the Church finds herself in today.  While conversions to Christianity continue to occur, new believers are being deluged with so many alternatives to Christian growth outside the Church body, Church membership is declining, and Churches are closing their doors at a record pace.

Tim Bayly is writing on a level that is so far removed from the way church is being done today, that it's disturbing.  Confusion, bewilderment and disorientation often manifest themselves through emotional release.  For men, the most common response is anger, followed by irrational outbursts.  I must confess that my inability to process what the author was communicating was leading me to debunk the entire book as denominational bias.

Then my computer froze up, and I took pen and paper in hand to write my review while my computer righted itself.  And I realized that much of my reaction is probably due to embarrassment at failing to understand the principles being spelled out.  Because I've never seen church done this way before.  Putting up with people you don't like, simply because they are part of the church family?  Closed communion?  Church membership through baptism?  The inherent authority of deacons and elders?

While there are still denominational differences which will never be reconciled, the time has come to admit that Tim Bayly is telling the 21st Century Church what it is supposed to be by showing us what God intended the church to look like.

5 stars for a thought - provoking treatise on God's Bride . . . His Church.

I received this book

WHAT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR IN THE PULPIT!

Breathe deep . . . you can feel the warmth, the honesty, the sincerity, and the passion that Abraham Kuruvilla has for the precious Word of God.

You know . .  .Abraham Kuruvilla . . . the native of Kuwait, born to Indian parents, with degrees in immunology, pediatrics, and dermatology?  Who also teaches Homiletics and Hermeneutics at Dallas Theological seminary?  Who also volunteers his time and talents in the pulpit to give his pastor a few months vacation?  The same guy who listens to Bach . .  .and jazz . . . and acapella?

Our very own 21st century Renaissance man.  The man who sold his medical practice to preach the Word.

Just wanted you to know who you are going to be reading from, so that there is no confusion.  And if he brings that much to a book . . . and expects. . . no, demands! . . . that much from himself, imagine the wealth of ideas and practical applications that preachers and pastors are going to find in a book subtitled:  "A Theological Hermeneutic For Preaching."

It's all in there, and it's a book that needs to be at the elbow of every student of Scripture as they strive to properly interpret and apply scripture . . . both the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament.

Romans 10:14 asks several pointed questions:  "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" Romans 10:14 (KJV)

Privilege the Text helps us to hear!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars for humble excellence and God-given passion!  

TRACES OF GUILT - That's All Evie Blackwell Needs To Take The Case!

Evie Blackwell excels at her job as a detective in the Illinois State Police force.  So much so, that she is practically writing her own script . . . or job description.  So when a special "cold case" task force is created, the natural go-to to lead the endeavor is Evie.  True to form, her formidable detective skills not only shed light on two cold cases . .. . they also point to a potential third. 

In the meantime, Sheriff Gabriel Thorne is trying to come to grips with the unexpected discoveries . . . both in his jurisdiction, and in his heart.  Could Evie Blackwell hold the key to both?

I fell in love with Dee Henderson . . . the one who wrote the O'Malley series.  And I realize that time has a way of changing a person, but I don't really recognize the Dee Henderson I fell in love with.

The characters changed.  The moods changed.  The writing style has changed, and not in a good way. 

I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

COULD THE BOOK OF THE WARS BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END? Read Ronie Kendig's Latest Novel!

“From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, what he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, and at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.”

Numbers 21:13-15 (KJV)

The Book has been found . . . and the mysteries surrounding said book have military leaderships around the globe scrambling to obtain the book of the wars of the LORD.  Navy Seal  Leif Metcalfe has been given command of his own team, and the opportunity to redeem himself from his previous failure, despite a 6 – month period of time of which he has no recollection. 

Bulgarian operative Iskra “Virorica” Todorova is also seeking the book, for her own personal desire . . . freedom.   However, a series of strange global storms, coupled with dire predictions of future events, have forced Leif and Iskra into an uneasy alliance in order to thwart impending disaster.

In the end, will Leif and Iskra find the freedom they are so desperately seeking? 

I normally devour Ronie Kendig’s writing.  However, I just couldn’t get into this particular book, for several reasons.

The book is large . . . not just in terms of pages.  It’s large in that it covers large areas of planet earth, much of which I’m not familiar with.  It contains many sub-plots, and those sub-plots develop over a large amount of time.  And this is just the first book in the series, which means the requisite “cliff-hanger” ending for this particular novel.

My biggest issue, however, stems from a personal bias – a prejudice, if you will.  I’ve never been a big fan of books that resurrect some obscure passage of scripture, and then unleash poetic license in megaton proportions.  My wife is an author, so I understand the imagination aspect of the craft.  But for me, the practice of eisegesis (reading something into the scriptures that may or may not actually be there) is not good.  God says what he means, and means what he says . . . human conjecture is not really necessary.

Ronie Kendig exhibits her usual nail – biting, gut – wrenching tension in her action scenes, putting the reader “into” the action as no one else can, and she develops the characters and their relationships so real that you feel you could recognize them on the street.  If you are looking to “escape” from reality, you could find no finer writer.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my open and honest review.

STORM RISING

Ronie Kendig

ISBN: 978-0-7642-3187-2

Suspense

Bethany House

381 pages

$15.99  U.S. paperback

SOMETIMES LIFE IS A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW . . . JUST ASK DR. RICHARD L. MABRY, AUTHOR

THE MOODS, THE METHODS, THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HUMAN HEART ARE THE STUFF OF WHICH LEGENDS ARE MADE . . . AND NIGHTMARES.

IT WAS SOCRATES WHO DECLARED, “TO KNOW THYSELF IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM.”  TO TRULY UNDERTAKE SUCH AN EXERCISE REQUIRES MORE DISCIPLINE, MORE TENACITY, AND MORE RAW COURAGE THAN MOST OF US CAN MUSTER.  AND YET DR. RICHARD MABRY HAS MANAGED TO DO SO NOT ONCE . .  .NOT TWICE . . . BUT THREE TIMES IN 121 PAGES.

IN BITTER PILL  ONE COMES FACE TO FACE WITH A RELIGIOUS SHYSTER, AN EMPTY PASTOR, AND A STRUGGLING PHYSICIAN.  EACH OF THEM CONTAIN THE SEEDS OF GREATNESS.  EACH OF THEM IS DRINKING THE DREGS OF DOUBT AND DESPAIR.  AND AS THEY CROSS PATHS, AND WANDER INTO EACH OTHER’S LIVES, THE READER DISCOVERS THAT HE IS EXPERIENCING THE GREATEST THRILL KNOWN TO MAN.

IT’S CALLED LIVING.

DR. MABRY CONFESSES IN HIS PREFACE THAT THIS PARTICULAR STORY HAS BEEN SITTING ON THE BACK BURNER INDEFINITELY, BECAUSE A FRIEND WHO KNEW HIM WELL SAID REPEATEDLY, “THIS ISN’T THE TYPICAL RICHARD MABRY NOVEL.”   AND HE'S RIGHT.

IT’S MORE.  IT’S DEEPER.  IT’S BOTH SOBERING AND EXHILARATING.

IT’S SOMETHING I WISH I’D READ EARLIER, AND SOMETHING THAT I WOULD LOVE TO READ AGAIN.

5 STARS FOR YOUR  “NOT SO TYPICAL” RICHARD MABRY NOVEL

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my open and honest review.

BITTER PILL

Dr. Richard Mabry

ISBN: B07QZXILV2

Medical Suspense

Richard L. Mabry

121 pages

$6.99  U.S. paperback/ hardback