American Warrior

by James Snyder

Paul is the under-sized son of an abusive father who will not allow him to read books in his own home. In a neighbourhood where low man on the totem pole gets beat down he is at the bottom of the pecking order. First day on his new paper route he finds a dead body. When an old customer rescues him from a beating and robbery in the barrio he persuades his benefactor to teach him an ancient Javanese Martial Art. The story moves on as the title suggests to see him choose the military over jail and given the period involved he ends up in Vietnam with an elite green beret unit operating in a theatre that officially does not exist. Unlike so many others he thrives on the action.

The book makes no moral judgments in describing the action. Paul is a soldier who is good at what he does. Betrayed by his inept leaders he finds his way home and ironically into the military prison system he joined to avoid. There he is tortured and subjected to psychological warfare. The injustice of training a man in black ops and then being embarrassed to have him around outraged this reader. Another writer depicts how America botched the war in Vietnam and betrayed the soldiers it sent to wage it.

The Christmas Throwaway

I’m always mystified as to why when the process takes only a few mouse clicks an author fails to justify the text of their writing. The writer has set a gay romance novel at Christmas. This is a coming of age story, literally, but the protagonists are already out; for the almost 18-year-old the issue that sees him homeless. Life in a small town can feel claustrophobic but it has its good points as well. Everything is close by, everyone knows everyone else, crime is low. The last time the jail cells were used was 15 years ago to allow some drunk teens to cool off.

The plot here is eminently predictable but even so it is the process of arriving there that makes this a decent read. Not great literature but heartwarming. The final chapters describe man on man action leaving one to remind oneself that the writer is a woman. Given the profanities used one wonders at the reluctance to use the words for male genitalia. I’m not sure the sex scene adds anything to the story.

the country ahead of us, the country behind

From the author of Snow Falling on Cedars a collection of ten short stories principally about hunting and fishing most involving teens. A good collection for the outdoorsmen in your midst. Like most good short stories little snatches of reality wrapped up in 8 to 20 pages.

God's Memory Part 2

By Michael Landsberg

In book 2 we learn the origin of the title which is the meaning of a terrorist’s name in Hebrew. We jump back once more to the 1600’s to learn how Jewish Bankers began the practice of using paper bank notes rather than gold coin. Concomitant was the rise of a white collar middle class seen by working people as producing nothing of a useful nature but rather victimizing manual laborers. This also bolstered anti-Semitism. In the present day we return to the world of spies, politics, and torture; the men in power and the moneymen who pull their strings. The action-adventure that begins the book turns polemical as the two adversaries preach lengthy sermons at one another that tend to go on and on and on. These philosophical tomes seem to be the ultimate aim of the book. The ending is rather bland and unsatisfying.

Legon Awekening

By Nicholas Taylor

A better than average fantasy the book suffers from the all too common problem these days of poor editing. Spelling errors spoil what would otherwise be a first rate story. The plot takes a while to develop and even longer for the various storylines to mesh but when they finally do the reader who sticks with it will become engrossed in the action. As we get introduced to the world of elves and dragons the exposition leaves us somewhat confused.

Defending Jacob

Justice is what can be proven in a Court of Law

Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent involves a DA leading the investigation into the gruesome murder of a colleague of which he is ultimately accused of committing and stands trial but is eventually exonerated after a self-serving, pompous, preening underling does a number on him. The parallels in William Landay’s present court room drama are uncanny save that here it is the DA’s teenage son who is accused of killing a classmate. This is not to say that this isn’t a great read, in many ways the better book, just that there are many similarities including the snapper ending. Neither book inspires much confidence in the justice system.

In a Small Town

I find it ironic that were I to quote the language used repeatedly in the first chapter of this book Amazon would refuse to publish my review. The use of this language adds nothing to the storyline and makes the author and his character appear vulgar and crude.

Sargent Friday Matt isn’t. When your superior officer acts outside the law and your captain appears to condone this kind of behaviour it places you in a rather compromising situation. Matters are complicated in a small town where two people constitute the entire detective department. Scratch an Italian in Hutchville and you probably aren’t too far from a mafia connection. Discovering that the FBI is sniffing around only thickens the plot.

Someone seems to have cleaned up the grammer and spelling since some of the other reviews were written but the language and situations described are not for delicate constitutions. The book still has a weak ending.

Introducing the Missional Church

Introducing the Missional Church

Alan J Roxburgh & Scott Doren

Mystery, Memory, Mission

These words are seen as describing the Christian Church.

Mystery in the sense of the divine which is beyond explanation and which will not yield to future scientific analysis.

Memory which goes beyond commemoration and embraces the event as co-participants. The Jews observe the Passover, we join with the entire priesthood of believers from every time and every place in Communion with the church universal and God himself who is present in, under and through the wine and bread we eat.

Mission The point is made that Mission is integral to the life of the Church, Christ’s body here on earth. Our goal is not to attract and keep members but to be God’s Servants to the world.

This is not something that can be encompassed by simple definitions or Mission Statements which serve to confine and constrict.

The writers of this book are true believers. In the end they are marketing a program that costs big bucks. I found the theological introduction interesting but whether or not you want to buy into the process is an individual corporate decision.

Ordinary Magic

Always a challenge to read the book after you’ve seen the movie. The movie version reviewed earlier this year on a sister blog was a Canadian CBC Production set in Paris on the Grand in Ontario. The book similarly begins in and around Madras, India but takes Ganesh to America instead. Whereas a movie shows you a book tells you and the narrative adds nuances one may have missed. And one catches the details changed for simplicity or to save time and improve pacing in the movie setting.

The resolution, when it comes, happens quickly and leaves the reader hanging. Most people’s lives do not have happily ever after fairytale endings.