As a cop, he’s interested in advancing to a detective role and taking gang-bangers off the streets of Chicago with his older partner and mentor Jack Keller. When tragedy strikes his family, his loss surpasses his faith, and the core of who he truly is exposes his lack of substance in his relationship with God. His pastor and his family do all they can to comfort and  come along side of him, but he will accept none of it. His partner offers him the only solace and place of residence he will accept as he grinds through the crippling grief.

The Brotherhood, the title of which is twofold, is the story of a young man’s shallow views of faith and his journey toward a decision which restores life to his soul. It addresses the dichotomy of living in a sinful world and being able to accept a true lack of understanding for the reasons ugly things occur. Wrestling with the clichés of loss, the young protagonist finds only rage and pain. It also tells the tale of Boone’s association with the “baddest” and most feared of all the gang-bangers in Chicago when he’s released from prison, after Boone makes it into the desired Organized Crime Division. When Boone’s honest with himself, he can see the similarities in their lives.

I must admit I didn’t care for this novel, but there will be plenty of readers who will enjoy it. When I’m not fond of a protagonist, it’s a rare fete for an author to cause me to like a story. Boone demonstrated such a mean streak during his loss that he alienated me. And lukewarm faith never draws me to a character even though there’s a point to showing the journey. His eventual turnaround seemed to transform him suddenly as a logical result of a pastor’s persistence, but really I didn’t feel the character gave the inclination to push forward in his faith when, like a switch was turned on, he returned to what he previously never showed he possessed. His predictable association with the secretary of his unit felt forced, and her character came off strangely demanding and/or a bit quirky. Boone’s stereotypical mother seemed inserted just to annoy, portraying an insensitive woman of faith.

The Brotherhood: A Precinct 11 Novel by Jerry Jenkins is commercial fiction written with utility prose as the kind of two-part story of a young cop who suffers through horrendous loss and moves on to participate in his dream of bringing gang-bangers to justice. Billing it as a “thriller” is a bit out of bounds.

Reviewed by Nicole Petrino-Salter

Sheridan Riddler is the greatest painter of modern art in the universe. We know that because he screams it to the world at every possible turn. No one can capture reality, his reality, like Riddler. His muse and subject for all of his nudes is the love of his life, Suzanna. Yet she, the most beautiful woman he can imagine, remains faceless in his paintings. Even she cannot be allowed to cause people to think of anything but the great Riddler.

When Suzanna refuses to be painted nude again and walks away, Riddler pursues her deep into a Harlem of years gone by. But, as he walks in a drug induced stupor across the bridge above the Harlem River, Riddler is struck by a car and falls into the dark waters below. What happens in those waters is both revelation and curse. From the moment he awakens on the bank of the River with a river rat of a boy attempting to rob him, Sheridan Riddler is a man obsessed. The greatest artist in the universe saw something that is so immensely beyond him he will spend the rest of his life trying to recapture what he only knows to call “the Glory.”

From Buddhist monasteries, to time with a Muslim wise man in Turkey, to Tel Aviv on the verge of Sadam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, to the Sistine Chapel, to the shrines of Mexico, Riddler spends the next decades of his life searching for what he thinks he saw in the now fleeting pale memories of “the Glory.” At every turn he is disappointed. Michelangelo’ s grand paintings of God and man are frauds. Nothing comes close to what he saw as he sank in the dirty waters of the Harlem.

And now, someone knows Riddler must still be alive. A daughter he never knew has seen new paintings that could have only come from the hand of her father. And, an obsessed collector/ assassin is following her to find Riddler. The collector has spent those years hoarding up Riddler’s masterpieces and doesn’t want any new paintings on the market. For him that means killing the artist the world still thinks is dead. All of their lives, father, daughter, beloved Suzanna, and assassin, are bound up in the artist’ reconciling what he has spent a lifetime trying to recapture and what he must finally die to – The Opposite of Art.

The Opposite of Art by Athol Dickson is one of those rare novels I can manage such a detailed synopsis and yet have no fear of giving away the story. Any attempt to relate what is found within its pages in a review is as humbling as Riddler’s pursuit of “The Glory.” At best I can sketch a vague outline but only a writer with Dickson’s depth can paint the masterpiece.

This is magical realism at its best. Most of Riddler’s story is related through his remembrances as an aging man traveling with a quirky Mexican circus through the wilds of West Texas and New Mexico. Sometimes it is difficult to know if all that happens in the odd circus is the visions of a man with a mind rotted by drugs as a youth and addled by a fruitless pilgrimage.

One of the hallmarks of this kind of writing is that what is real is only known through the eyes and mind of its characters. What are we to think of an art collector assassin who believes justice is playing Russian roulette with himself before killing his target? Did Riddler really enter a circus trailer that in reality is an immense place of worship? Some of it seems wholly implausible but then again so is much of what we call reality. Magical Realism only works when the reader ceases to care if what they are reading could be true. It is true because that is the way the characters see it.

A synopsis barely scratches the surface of what The Opposite of Art is about. Take the time to read it. Read it slowly. Gaze at it like standing before the Grand Canyon for the first time. Ponder its images as Riddler does a canvas seeking to capture “the Glory.” My guess is a good number will grow impatient, flip a few pages in a book store, and go on to lighter fare. But for those brave and persistent enough to pursue the images and messages of this novel of a different kind the reward will prove more than worth it.

Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Magical Realism
Publisher: Howard Books
Publication Date: September 2011

Chess is a simple and yet intensely complicated game. With just six types of pieces, each with distinct restriction on how they can be used, an older child can begin to play in less than an hour yet those same six pieces can consume the entire lifetime of a genius. And that is why it is so fitting that Steven James has carried us along on his journey of move and countermove in the Patrick Bowers Files with the continuing analogy of chess.

The Queen, by Steven James, is the author’s latest in what has become a mainstay in late summer reading for many an adrenaline junkie in need of a thriller of just a bit different flavor than the run of the mill. One of the geniuses of Steven James’ writing is that one need not have read any of the other novels in the series to understand pretty quickly what is going on. In case you haven’t read previous installments, Patrick Bowers is a geospatial profiler who considers the Criminal Minds version of profiling to be little more than educated guess-work.

While there is a large cast of characters, this episode is very much Patrick’s story. Called away to northern Wisconsin from the case he so desperately wants to close, Special Agent Dr. Patrick Bowers must face a conspiracy of global proportions and a very personal ghost from his past that will not allow it to be ignored. This may be the most vulnerable we have seen Bowers. We see him barely overcoming childhood fears and nearly losing his life on more than one occasion. As always, there is plenty of pulse pounding action with plot twists at just the right points. But none of the dangers he confronts are as formidable as what he faces in his estranged brother and the secret that has separated them for years. Just as it seems Bowers has finally managed to sustain a relationship with fellow agent Lien-Hua, his past with both his brother and his brother’s wife threatens to derail the one mystery he has failed to crack in the past – women.

There is no way for me to review a Patrick Bowers novel without considering my favorite character. Tessa, Bower’s step-daughter, is dealing with the aftermath of events in The Bishop, and fighting demons of her own. Though she is barely present in the first half of the novel, Tessa’s search for the meaning of forgiveness and redemption intertwines itself with scenes of the basest of human character to form a contrasting tapestry of the human condition.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t some truly impressive villains. Richard Basque is back but only as an elusive shadow. Front and center is Alexei Chekov, the most interesting and multi-dimensional villain yet to spring from the creative mind of the author. Sure, there is the enigma known only as Valkyrie, a rogue CIA master hacker, and a band of misguided eco-terrorists. But Alexei Chekov stands out as what should serve as a prototype for the kind of villain that makes this kind of story rise above the ordinary.

What impresses me most is the patience the author has taken over five novels to develop the underlying themes of the nature of man’s heart, guilt, and forgiveness. Human nature, like chess, is simple at one level and utterly complex at another. James doesn’t insult our intelligence by having Patrick or Tessa resolve that complexity in some formulaic way. Instead, we are given characters with depth, hard questions and longings. And for at least one, hopefully, the only real answer to the human condition.

Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Suspense
Publisher: Revell
Publication Date: September 2011

Review copy provided by the publisher

Book #5 in Steven James, Patrick Bowers Files has arrived! Our review of Queen will be up in a few days and we’ll be giving away a copy to some lucky reader. Until then, check out some past reviews we have featured and interviews with master story telling, Steven James.

 The Pawn  The Knight  The Bishop  

Our most recent conversation with Steven James

Steven James is one of the nation’s most innovative storytellers. As one of the most versatile authors in the country, Steven has penned more than 25 books of both award-winning fiction and nonfiction including fantasy, inspiration, poetry, short stories, scripts, a nine-book storytelling library of resources for educators, and the best selling psychological thrillers The Pawn, The Rook, The Knight, The Bishops and coming soon, The Queen.

Continue Reading

Nearly five centuries have passed since a select group of scientists worked to tinker with humanity’s genetic code. Their discovery of a way to eliminate all emotions save fear gave way to a unified world ensured peace by the Order. But then, on one seemingly uneventful day, 24 year old Rom, finds his life altered forever thus beginning the first installment of what will ultimately be a trilogy called The Book of Mortals.

Ironically, Rom is a funeral singer. A funeral in which, like with most of his world, there is no body and no real sorrow. When Rom leaves the funeral he witnesses the unthinkable, a murder. As the old man who has been attacked is dying he gives Rom an ancient vial of blood that can grant something Rom did not even know he was lacking – life. The kind with real emotions: love, hate, jealousy, betrayal, passion, joy, ecstasy and despair. Real life. A life the world does not even know it is missing. To tell more would be to rob the reader of embarking on this journey with Rom and seeing it unvarnished through his eyes.

As with any fantasy or epic there is a fairly large cast of characters. Central to Book One is Rom, the ultimate unlikely hero. With no frame of reference to understand the emotions he now feels all he knows to do is to employ aid from the few friends he has. And he will need them because someone else has discovered the secret of emotions as well. Saric has to be one of the most unsympathetic villains ever created. His discovery of emotion only proves what man’s heart is capable of when all boundaries are removed. Other characters of note include Feyn the soon-to-be Sovereign of the world and sister of Saric, Avra, Rom’s best friend since childbirth, and though only introduced late in the story, the boy Jonathan.

Many collaborations fail miserably but not this one. Dekker’s imagination and sometimes almost maniacal focus on darkness and light coupled with Tosca Lee’s eloquence of prose is magical. Generally I can pick out who wrote what part of a novel but 50 pages into Forbidden I simply did not care. I was no longer reading a story by Ted Dekker or Tosca Lee. I was riding along side Rom, suddenly awakened to his former deadness and unsure if he can stand this new life on the ragged edge. Unsure if it is worth it. This hero’s journey is summed up in an exchange between Rom and the man they call Book, a keeper of the truth of former times.

“Keep your words. This pain is no life.”

“You only feel pain because you’re alive, boy!” the keeper thundered. “This is the mystery of it. Life is lived on the ragged edge of the cliff. Fall off and you might die, but run from it and you are already dead!”

The setup at the end of Forbidden leaves one impatient for what follows. Even so it can stand alone with its powerful prose, intense action, compelling characters, and premise that leaves one wondering how many walking our world are really dead and don’t know it. It’s been seven years since Ted Dekker revolutionized a genre with Black, the first in his Circle series. I have no doubt a new revolution is about to begin.

Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee
Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Center Street
Publication Date: September 2011

The prophetess for a
new generation.

My reviews don’t usually begin with the author’s pedigree or personal comments but Winter by Keven Newsome begs for a different approach. When was the last time you read a novel about a Christian Goth engaging in spiritual warfare with dark powers intent on taking over a Christian College? And, when have you ever read a thriller whose author is pursuing a degree in supernatural theology? My guess is most of you haven’t.

Keven Newsome’s debut novel is indeed about a young lady, Winter Maessen, who actively embraces Goth appearance while exploring her newfound insights that can only have one source, the God she loves. Winter finds much more than she bargained for when her father drops her off at Tishbe University for her freshman year at what, for all appearances, was a safe haven of academic, social, and spiritual life. In the place of acceptance and safety she is quickly confronted with darkness, hidden agendas and outright opposition.

A masterful job is done of telling Winter’s story in two parts in one seamless narrative. Along with her present-day struggles with a secretive an evil influence attacking her school and new friends we find a much more personal story set four years earlier. Bit by bit the author helps us understand the factors in Winter’s life that led to her unusual appearance and sometimes defeatist attitude. And, as she reconciles her past with her present we see her evolve from a withdrawn and doubtful outsider to, by the time the last page is turned, a force to be reckoned with. Because – Winter is now a prophetess for a new generation.

The author is well qualified to take on the subject matter as he is pursuing a Masters in Supernatural Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Without being heavy handed he offers an insightful look into the obvious reality of the conflict between good and evil as well as the more subtle struggle with prejudice and hypocrisy. Winter reminds us to avoid judging externals and to focus on inward realities. And in the end, Winter reminds us ..

“We’re all freaks. It’s just a matter of perspective.”

While a self-contained story, the ending leaves little doubt the world hasn’t seen the last of Winter. Congratulations to both Splashdown Darkwater’s and Kenven Newsome’s debut effort. Good things can only follow!

Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Splashdown Darkwater
Publication Date: June 2011

My thanks to Diane Graham at New Authors’ Fellowship for providing a review copy of Winter.

Over the next few weeks we will be featuring fiction from sources some don’t always consider: independents, boutique, and self-published. These are some of the most innovative and captivating suspense and thriller novels out there.

First up will be Winter by Kevin Newsome, the first thriller from Splashdown’s new “Darkwater” imprint. The review will be up in a couple of days but until then check out this fantastic trailer.

Four hundred eighty years have passed since civilization’s brush with extinction. Perfect order reigns. Humanity’s greatest threats have all been silenced. There is no disease, no malice, no hate, no war. There is only peace.

Until the day when one man discovers the truth: Every single soul walking the earth is actually dead. The human heart has been stripped of all that makes it human. Now only he is alive and only he has the knowledge that can once again awaken humanity.

But the way is treacherous and the cost is staggering. For, indeed, in that day life itself is…Forbidden.

It’s not quite time for a review yet but if you haven’t put this one on your “must buy” list you should do so right now!

Imagine a world, our world, nearly 500 years in the future. Imagine a world, our world, where its inhabitants are dead and don’t know it. No, this isn’t a zombie novel but rather a tale of depth and passion about a world that has lost its capacity to feel. Geneticists managed to eliminate all the emotions blamed for the Chaos that brought the near destruction of the human race leaving in their place just one – Fear. Now a world ruled by dread, the Order, and a fanatical devotion to its Monarch is about to discover the power of the blood running through the veins of a small band of unlikely heroes. The effects of their blood is temporary but there is one, a boy who will become king who promises to awake the world from its deathly slumber.

Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee have teamed up to not just write a story but to create a story world beyond comparison. Seldom does a story so grip me that I can’t help but read and re-read passages. Here is just a taste of what you will find in Forbidden.

It made no sense … The only sense Rom knew was pain. “Keep your words. This pain is no life.”

“You only feel plain because you’re alive, boy!” the keeper thundered. “This is the mystery of it. Life is lived on the ragged edge of that cliff. Fall off and you might die, but run from it and you are already dead.”

Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee will be available in September 2011.

Check out our previous review of Back on Murder, J. Mark Bertrand’s first Roland March mystery. For a limited time this classic murder mystery is available as an eBook at both Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.   
                      Kindle    NOOK

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The second Roland March Mystery, Pattern of Wounds, published by Bethany House and written by J. Mark Bertrand, reminds us of our first go-round with Houston Police Department Detective Roland March in Back on Murder. He’s cynical, can be abrasive, and he’s not about to submit to the perfect by-the-book investigations regardless of the reprimands involved when following his gut.

In a strict and exhaustive timetable approaching the Christmas holiday, we feel the fatigue and hear the silent clock ticking away the hours of chasing down leads, suspects, and the disappointments for a crime which eventually erupts into a second murder.

When a posed and carved up dead girl turns up by the pool of a female professor’s home where she was a boarder, there’s something eerily familiar about how she’s carefully positioned. When it hits March why he recognizes the layout of the crime, no one is willing to see the similarity. Except someone who is almost as familiar with the old crime as he is.

In the meantime the young Christian couple, Carter and Gina who were introduced in Back on Murder and who now rent March and Charlotte’s attached apartment, tentatively announces they are having a baby, knowing it could be difficult news since March and Charlotte lost their little daughter in a car crash. The news dredges up instant pain for March and multiple senses of loss. Along with this sorrow we learn more of March’s family background and none of it adds up to comfort and joy.

Roland March is an embittered, dedicated perpetrator of justice who holds a grudge the size of Texas against a God he can’t understand, refusing to try even when some things smack him in the face. Mark captures his character, unflinching at the exposure of his sometimes cold heart and his sometimes uncomfortable devotion to his wife. The detective is complex with multi-layered feelings even he can’t always rectify. As we learn more about his personal history in this second leg of the March journey, we can’t help but think much of his demeanor is a result of deep hurts he’s unwilling to turn loose. They’re as much a part of who he is as the brusque sarcasm, sharp wit, and unorthodox investigative hunches and practices.

Pattern of Wounds not only presents the reader with a great cover and a title full of innuendo, the story takes you step by step through the frustrations of pursuing the wrong suspects, the interference of a misled author, the deceptive efforts of an incarcerated murderer, and the histrionics of a deputy sheriff bent on attaching a serial killer to March’s murder victim.

Even more “noir” than its predecessor, Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertrand leaves us uneasy in the final scene but ultimately fulfilled for having read a so well-written and strangely touching story filled with dog-legged subplots and a more intimate look at Roland March

Reviewed by Nicole Petrino-Salter
Genre: Suspense
Publisher: Bethany House
Publication Date: July 2011

Day of War is the story of a restless mercenary and the warlord rumored to one day be king to whom he pledges his allegiance. Benaniah’s troubled spirit has not been satisfied with skirmishes with Amalekites, Philistines or even one-on-one contests with man eating lions. But in the mysterious warlord David, he senses something of destiny. Something worth living and dying for.

By way of disclaimer I must admit Biblical novels are not my favorite. Too often writers, in an effort to spin a good story, try to one-up the sacred account. Plus, telling a story in which anyone who has read the original already knows the plot and giveaways is seldom done with the effect of great fiction. In this case debut author Cliff Graham has not only managed to stay true to the Scriptural account and avoid the usual pitfalls of such novels but has raised the bar to level that will take quite a while for anyone else to surpass.

Once joined with David’s men, Benaniah soon becomes acquainted with what the troops call, The Powerful Three, Josheb, Eleazar, and Shammah. They have all been on a campaign far from their home base of Ziklag bolstered by iron weapons from the Hittite Keth, a master forger. We are warned in the preface that this is a story of war written by a man who has seen it firsthand. There are pulse pounding battles with killer lions, terrifying raids on helpless civilians and heroic charges against overwhelming odds. This is the story of David’s Mighty Men, a diverse and disaffected group of warriors held together by their leader’s charisma, military leadership and the unyielding sense he hears from a God that has become a dim memory to those he leads.

What sets this story apart, however, is the depth Cliff Graham plums, in exploring the nature of manhood and the relationships forged between those men in the most horrific of circumstances. Benaniah is a great warrior but he is also a man beset by guilt, insecurities and nagging frustrations. Many of David’s band of misfits simply follow him for the sake of plunder and women. But Benaiah perceives something more in the warlord many call The Lion. He sees a man of purpose with a supernatural destiny. He sees a man who hears a voice he wishes he too could hear and understand.

For those who say fiction from Christian publishers does not touch on the realities of life enough, I suggest they might rethink that after reading Day of War. This is a brutally honest book. It tells of broken men seeking to make some sense out of a broken world. It is the ultimate antidote for the whimsical and too often feminized version many have come to believe a follower of God to be.

This is the first of a scheduled five installments that begins in Day of War with an introduction to David’s mighty men as they fight as mercenaries alongside pagan kings and will conclude with Twilight of War which will explore the effects of a life time of war on David and his kingdom. What began as a self-published work in 2009 has now morphed into a fully contracted series with Zondervan, multi-media graphic novel, and an option for a major motion picture that is fast on its way to full production by no less that the producer of Spider Man fame. In other words, this is story is already a franchise.

All I can say is – It’s about time.

Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: June 2011

Review copy provided by Zondervan