PLAYING SAINT by Zachary Bartels

Playing Saint is Zachary Bartels' debut into the fiction/mystery arena.  First off, this book caught my attention the moment I started the first chapter.  And it only gets better chapter by chapter.  It starts out with a vicious murder scene and the detective, Paul Ketcham, who is assigned to the case, coming to the scene of the crime.  You will learn about Parker Saint and his rise to stardom in a megachurch and how preaching messages that "tickle" the ears is more important then someone's soul.  How you learn of a young man by the name of Danny, who had a horrible life and took to going to church's for exorcism's.  You will also learn of Damien, who seems to be evil incarnate.  There are so many twists and turns in this book, it will leave you turning page after page and staying up till the wee hours.  Parker Saint is drawn in to the murders by Detective Paul Ketcham, needing Parker's expert advise on what seems to be satanic murders.  Parker soon finds he is over his head and realizes that his walk with God is not what it should be.  The end of this book, will leave you rooting for more.  My biggest question I have for the author is "will there be a sequel?"  I started relating to the characters in the book and at the end, it seemed to leave you with the thought that maybe, just maybe, there will be a sequel.  If there is, I will be the first in line to buy it.  I want to know what will become of the cast/characters in this book.  If you are reading this review to decide whether to purchase this book, do not hesitate.  You will not be disappointed.

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MIND WAR by Andrew Klavan

I have read many Andrew Klavan books, but this first in the trilogy series is his absolute best.  From the very beginning of this book, I could not put it down.  I found myself bringing my tablet every where with me and finding any excuse to quickly read a chapter or two when I had a moment.

The story is about a young football star, Rick Dial, who was involved in an accident that crippled his legs.  He spent 4 months holed up in his room feeling sorry for himself and thinking how useless he was now.  He would spend hours and hours playing video games.  To the point, he got the attention of "higher-ups" that noticed his gaming scores were far surpassing any gamer on the internet.  With this in mind, they decided to "hi-jack" Rick to help them in a diabolical scheme from a Russian agent wanting to destroy America.  Throughout this whole book, Andrew Klavan did a masterful job of helping you to see what was going on in Rick Dial's mind and heart, while in the process, realizing he is slowly getting better and stronger.  I will warn you, that the second in the series will not be out till 2015.  In the meantime, I highly recommend this book, and am much anticipating the second book coming out next year.  You will not be disappointed, unless science fiction is truly not what you are interested in.

DISTORTION by Terri Blackstock

Typical Terri Blackstock.  From the very first page the story line grips you.  It starts out with Bob and Juliet Cole gassing up their car and then heading to the U haul place to return the U haul they used to help Juliet's sister, Holly, move.  While Juliet is waiting in their car for her husband Bob to return the U haul truck and the keys, a white Camaro eases into the U haul parking lot, and shoots her husband as she is watching it unfold before her eyes.  From the first chapter of this book, till the very end, there is so many twists and turns.  Juliet finds out her husband is really not the man she knew.  That he was leading a double life.  I found it hard sometimes to keep track of the characters, but that is reader failure on my part.  I do have to say that I just found it really hard to understand how a woman/wife can just have no clue about their finances.  That all finances were totally controlled by her husband, Bob.  I understand that there are marriages where this works out for them and it is an equal agreement.  Maybe one spouse is not good with accounting and recognizes it.  This is the only spot in Terri's book I had a hard time with.  Juliet was totally and completely blindsided by this double life of her husbands.  Beyond this, being my own personal take on this book, I would give this book a total thumbs up.  It really reveals to you how easy it is, through the need of money, recognition, etc., to be wholly taken in by the greed of this world.  Makes you think and re-evaluate your own life to see where your own priorities lie.

This review is my own review as a Book-look Blogger.  In no way have I been paid or urged to give a good review of this book.  This review is totally my own.

BLESSED CHILD by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright

Okay, I admit it. I am a total Ted Dekker fan. I am slowly collecting all of his books. But Blessed Child and A Child Called Blessed, never seemed to pull at me. Through Booksneeze, as a reviewer, I decided to go ahead and review this book, since it IS a Ted Dekker book. There are a couple of things I want to point out. First and foremost, this story pulled at my heart. How the Bible says we are to "come as little children." Oh how, when I read this book, I felt I had lost that "little child" aspect of my walk with God. I have since then chosen to rekindle my "little child" walk with God. The book also points out how "if our faith is like the grain of a mustard seed" that we can do all things. Caleb was just that. He was untainted from the world, so therefore had a very close walk with God. Another aspect that I paid attention to, was that when he was locked up by Martha, his caregiver, she turned the TV on. The struggles Caleb went through and the slow methodical seeping into his soul what he had to listen to and eventually he succumbed to watching, put a wall up between him and his God. Until Caleb got on his face and repented, he was not able to feel the presence of his mighty God. This really brought home a point to me that too many times, as Christians, we let "things" into our homes that ought not to be there. Poor choices of reading material and yes, sitting and watching TV and wondering why we feel far from God or don't feel His presence like we used to. In this book, that Ted Dekker so artfully portrayed, was a life that we all should lead, like Caleb. Once the Christian world decides to make that step, and draw closer to God and feel what Caleb felt, it will take sacrifice. Giving up some things that we are reading, viewing, etc., to have that "little child" walk with God. I don't know about you all, but when I read this book, it made me yearn more for God and what Caleb had. And yes, you rest assured I will be reading the sequel. I urge you all that are reading this review. Read Blessed Child. But read it with an open heart and willing to obey what God is asking you to do. That still small voice. Thank you Ted Dekker once again for a wonderful spiritually insightful book. I was not disappointed.

LAST LIGHT by Terri Blackstock

From the first page to the last, this book got me to turning page after page. I have numerous books by Terri Blackstock and have loved each and every one. This book, based mainly upon the Branning Family and the Oak Hollow neighborhood and what happens when all the lights go out and there is no more TV, Computers, Cell Phones, Cars, etc. A very thought provoking book and worthy of total consideration. This book made me think "would I have the muster to do what the Brannings and other neighbors had to do?" Would I be complaining about my lot in life and why this happened to me? What was so good about this book, is it showed both the evil side of humanity and the compassion and giving of humanity. It all depends on what and how you choose to handle a "catastrophe." But in the end, was it really a catastrophe? Or a blessing in disguise? You, the reader decide.
Disclosure - I received "Last Light" for free from Booksneeze, to review. This is an unbiased review.

THE LIVING ROOM by Robert Whitlow

Robert Whitlow's book "The Living Room" at first was quite interesting, but as I got further into the book, it just seemed to be going no where. Usually when I write a review for a book, I give it mainly thumbs up. But for the life of me I could not figure out what the purpose and intent was for this book. This book zero's in on Amy and her family. The struggles of raising a teenage daughter and the need to fulfill her lifes ambition on being a writer. Amy quits her job as a secretary to a law firm to pursue her ambition for writing. Amy, in her "writing room" will receive dreams that help her cope in every day life. God gives her a peace and tranquility only He can give during those times. But, her dreams do start taking on a life of their own and showing her things that are going to happen. Eventually Amy goes back to work for the law firm she once worked for and through her working and her dreams, things take on a different twist to where her dreams are affecting where she works.

All in all, the book was okay. If you are an avid Robert Whitlow fan,you may be disappointed. I know that at the end of the book, I closed it and said "so, what was the point?"