Sunday, June 30, 2013

Rescue Team by Candace Calvert

Cover: Rescue Team


Rescue Team by Candance Calvert is part of the Grace Medical Series. Kate is a new department director at Austin Grace Hospital. She is trying to fill the shoes of the previous director, who disappeared mysteriously and was well loved by everyone in the hospital and community. An emergency brings in Wes Tanner a local well digger, who also head the local search and rescue team. He is the opposite of Kate and Kate is the opposite of him in almost every way.

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the characters and they were well written and developed. I didn't like the way that everyone single character in the book was so scared of showing themselves for what they truly were. Or for sharing what had happened to them in their lives. It seemed a little onesided for every character to share that personality trait. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the stories and the characters. It ended nicely with an "organic" ending without loose ends. I recommend this book.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Breakthrough Book Review

Cover: The Breakthrough

The Breakthrough is the 3rd book in the Precinct 11 Series by Jerry B. Jenkins. Boone Drake is the youngest bureau chief and head of the Chicago PD's Major Case Squad. He is recently married and adopted his new wife's son. He is worried that since everything is going so well and wonderful that something is going to go terribly wrong.


 I had a really difficult time getting into this book. The characters are nice but I just couldn't relate to any of them. I don't know if it was the fact that it was the third book in the series and I had read the others or what. With all of that in mind, I didn't dislike the book. I would say give it a try if you like this sort of thing. It was well written but apparently just not my thing.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Doppleganger Chronicles #3 The Great Mogul Diamond

Cover: The Great Mogul Diamond

The Great Mogul Diamond finds our three "detectives" enjoying relative calm and peace. Well not for long, Saskia and Sadie Dopple overhear Muzz Elliot on the phone talking about being blackmailed. A last minute trip to Cannes, France follows and during their journey they find someone is acting out plots of Muzz Elliot's books. Is this part of the blackmail?

Another fun book in the latest installment of the series. The story is at times action packed and suspenseful. I enjoyed it. The pictures are wonderful and help move the story along. I recommend this book.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

God's Not Dead Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty Book Review





A Review by Clark Bates

 

            In his book God's not Dead, author and pastor Rice Broocks steps away from his many years in the pulpit as a minister and church planter and into the realm of theology and apologetics.  Interspersing his work with anecdotes from his many travels, Broocks seeks to take the reader on a whirlwind tour through the major apologetic challenges facing the modern church and provide concise, yet informed, responses to each. 

            The positive facets of this book are many.  The author provides the audience with thorough summaries of the most common arguments leveled by unbelievers, giving them a starting point from which to better prepare themselves.  In addition to covering these talking points, Broocks delivers simple but educated responses to each.  Further, the author's many citations of both skeptics and theologians provides the reader with an ample index to draw from if they should desire to further their learning on each issue.  Broocks' writing tackles difficult subject matters like the “reality of good and evil”, “The origin of the universe”, “The life and resurrection of Jesus” and “the authenticity of Scripture”.  All things considered, a reader new to the world of defending their faith will come away from this work with a stable footing and a clear understanding of the most common doubts and detractions facing Christians today.

            That being said, there are also negative facets to this work.  As one might ascertain, the subject matter that Broocks attempts to cover is far too broad to be given due diligence in only 242 pages.  Simply put, each objection presented in this book has been covered by thousands of pages delivered by other authors.  The consequence of trying to condense such voluminous information into each chapter, is that the reader can come away feeling overwhelmed and under prepared.  Also, as is common with writings such as this, the chapters read as essays on each topic prepared separately, and therefore, while the overall flow of the book points to a decided end, the content of each chapter is often repetitious.  The book as a whole points the reader to the cross, recognizing the stability and reliability of the Christian faith as it's stepping stones, but this overall feel can be lost in the overload of information contained within the text.

            In the end, this book will serve to hopefully wet the appetite of those seeking to start learning apologetics.  It will deliver plenteous amounts of information and resources from which the seeker may access more detailed discussions on each topic.  For those already actively educated and involved in defending their faith amidst the current culture wars this book will not present anything new nor provide resources or information with which they are not already familiar.  This book is most useful as an appetizer for the uninitiated, wetting their appetites for a deeper understanding of the modern objections to the faith, and prayerfully it will do just that.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The Doppleganger Chronicles #2 the secret of Indigo Moon Review

The Secret of Indigo Moon is the second book in The DoppleGanger Chronicles Series by G.P. Taylor. Sadie, Saskia, and Erik become entangled in another dangerous mystery. Erik finds a secret tunnel in their children's home one sleepless night and lands smack dab in the middle of a robbery plot.

This book had a different feel than the first but I enjoyed it all the same. Again, we find the children in very dangerous situations with threats of impending death and doom. This book was definitely a fun little mystery and seemed a little lighter than the previous book. I was able to read it in just a few hours so it is a nice fun little read.

The DoppleGanger Chronicles #1 the first escape Review

The Doppelganger Chronicles #1 the first escape by G.P. Taylor is a graphic novel set in England. It begins with twin sisters Sadie and Saskia Dopple in an abandoned children's home. They are split up when a mysterious woman chooses to adopt just Saskia. Sadie gets into some trouble at the school and with the help of Erik Ganger a fellow orphan, runs away before she can be sent to prison. They flee in the hopes of finding Saskia not knowing the trouble that she's found herself in.

This book was fun. It was my first time reading a graphic novel. At first I didn't like the way it jumped around but then I enjoyed getting illustrated images of what was being described in the pages, complete with dialogue. There are a few darker elements to the story, but they are in jest or explained away as not real. I recommend this book for a bit of fun.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

All in Good Time Book Review

All in Good Time by Maureen Lang is a book set in 1887 Denver. Dessa is new in town and plans to start a house that will take in any women who wish to leave the prostitution world on the wrong side of the tracks. Henry is a banker who shuns any kind of social interaction.

I enjoyed this book. It is a very easy read and quite enjoyable. The characters are well developed and I found myself becoming attached to them easily. My only dislike of the book was the endless unnecessary details. I enjoy writers that give lots of details about their characters and the world that they live in but at times this book overly explained things and places. Sometimes it got to be annoying. That aside, I enjoyed the book a great deal and recommend it whole-heartedly.


I was given a copy of this book at no cost in exchange for my honest review as part of the Tyndale Blog Network.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Damascus Countdown by Joel Rosenberg Book Review

Damascus Countdown by Joel Rosenberg is the third book in the Twelfth Imam Series, also known as David Shirazi series Book #3. My reviews of the first two books can be found here and here. This book is incredible. It concludes the story of David Shirazi and his mission to foil the plan of the Muslim Messiah in destroying Israel.

Incredibly, this book is more action-packed than the first two in the series. I seriously couldn't put the book down. If this book were a movie you'd have white knuckles from gripping the seat. The story is wonderful and moves very well. Most of the chapters in this book weren't long which was nice since I'm the mother of a newborn and sometimes was unable to sit and read this book for long bouts of time. I read it every chance I got though. Mr Rosenberg knows a lot about the Middle Eastern cultures and countries. I came to the conclusion whilst reading this book, that I know very little about Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel and the Middle East in general.

I was drawn into the story and became very attached to the characters. I even found myself crying and Praising God by the end of the book as if the story were true. You cannot go wrong reading this series. It wraps up wonderfully and leaves you wanting more. Enjoy!


You can purchase Damascus Countdown here.


I read this book as part of the Tyndale Summer Reading Program.