The Martyr's Song

Reviewed by Burton: 9.5 out of 10.

I read a blog post the other day which stated (and I quote):

Ted's novels aren't deep... None of them cause you to think deeply about your faith, nor do I know anyone who has come to a deeper walk with God because of reading them.

To the above statement, I respond (and I quote):

Pshh.

The Martyr's Song is, in essence, the pure oil of Dekker's story writing gift in a 128 page novella. Profound, spiritual, suspenseful, disturbing, moving, utterly memorable. An unforgettable story that vividly shows how heaven is far more real than the world we can see.

“Make me beautiful.” That’s what Marci wants from the old woman—not “inner beauty,” but real, physical attractiveness to save her from being a teenage outcast. The woman offers a gift in the form of a story—a strange tale from 1940s Bosnia about a group of soldiers who terrorize a town of women and children, brutalize their priest, and murder a child. Somehow, in the midst of the horror, a window opens to another reality—a world of impossible beauty, infectious music, irresistible laughter, and a vision that somehow changes…everything.

As the title suggests, this is a story about martyrdom... people who die for their faith in Christ. But like no other martyrdom story I've read, Dekker allows the reader to see what heaven sees, the refuge of the righteous in the time of calamity.

The Martyr's Song is a war story, a violent story, a love story, and an easy 9.5 out of 10.

Point of interest - The hardcover edition comes with a CD which contains The Martyr's Song written and performed by Todd Agnew. As I listened to the song once finishing the book - it was definitely a powerful moment.

The Martyr's Song is book one of the Martyr's Song series. I will be reviewing the other 3 books in subsequent posts.

Read more >>

Pulse

Reviewed by Lesmond: 8 out of 10.

There is a bit of history to this book. It all started when my great mate Burton coerced me into a fun-filled afternoon chasing the mysterious Bigfoot in Whangarei's Mair Park (see here).

So, after winning the competition as part of the author's viral marketing campaign I was delighted to receive amongst the very generous pile of books (payment for lying in a wet puddle) a signed copy of Pulse, the uncorrected Advanced Readers Copy - oooh aaahh.

I had previously read and enjoyed Kronos by Jeremy Robinson (See here for the review and interesting facts about the author himself) and I was keen to see how his latest offering would pan out.

I found Pulse to be a fairly light read. No deep character formation, but at just over 300 pages, less is more... more action anyway.

Jeremy Robinson introduces us to the Delta Force Operatives known as the Chess Team. You can look forward to seeing more of them in upcoming novels. King, Queen, Knight, Rook and Bishop (no really, they are cool) take you on a high speed thriller ride which blended with a touch of sci-fi produce a story that I didn't want to leave unattended for to long.

There are some truly great action scenes (with some of the most unlikeliest villains) that would keep any James Byron Huggins fans happy and also a few twists to satisfy the Dekker fans amongst us.

Like Kronos, Pulse contains a smattering of questionable words - which for all the emphasis they added could have been left out altogether.

Short and sweet, keeping you on the edge of your seat. An easy and extremely enjoyable read.

Click here to visit Jeremy Robinson's website.

Read more >>

Offworld

Reviewed by Burton: 6 out of 10

Christopher Burke and his crew of NASA astronauts are the first human beings to walk on the surface of Mars. Their return to Earth was supposed to be a momentous day. But a surprise is waiting for them there that's beyond imagining. Safe after a treacherous landing in Florida, the crew emerges to find the unthinkable: every man, woman, child, and animal has vanished without a trace. It's not a dream. It's not a trick. It's real. Alone now on their home planet, the crew sets out to discover the extraordinary secret behind the disappearance of mankind. And whether or not everyone can be brought back. But they may not be as alone as they thought.

I'm always keen to read stories by new authors. I came across rave reviews for Robin Parrish and his Relentless trilogy, but thought I'd start off by reading his standalone latest offering entitled 'Offworld'.

Once again, it was the cover that convinced me to buy Offworld. As you can see, it is outstanding (although it seems a little too similar to Shyamalan's The Happening movie poster - hmmmmm).

The premise is phenomenal... astronaut's return home to find that everyone in the world has disappeared, and for once, the rapture isn't responsible. That in itself earned an extra star ;-)

Unfortunately I was disappointed. It started with promise, but very quickly became mediocre and tedious.

I must say that I am among the minute minority of reviewers that disliked Offworld. It boils down to personal preference I know, but when compared to the great tales I read regularly. I stand by my 6/10 verdict.

Reasons below:

1. It seemed (to me anyway) that Offworld was written for young adult readers. Not a bad thing at all (ie: Hobbit)... but I felt a little deceived, anticipating an intelligent read, and getting a graphic-novel-like novel instead.

2. Offworld's many action sequences (the entire story is just one big string of action sequences) just weren't well written enough to fully engage me. I was confused on more than one occasion, and grew tired of the many simply-too-far-fetched-and-unbelievable-to-be-enjoyed chases and escapes.

3. The mystery is revealed in the last few chapters, and what Parrish does do well, is frustrate the reader. He sucked me in to the story enough that I just had to finish the book even though it was tedious to keep reading (for the reasons mentioned above).

4. The faith aspect is present, but is weak indeed, and on one occasion theologically questionable.
5. Was the climax, and revelation worth it? Not for me. Once again, too far-fetched to be plausible - even for the sci-fi genre.

On the positive side, I'll keep this on my bookshelf for my tween-aged son to read... and for the excellent cover ;-)

Offworld. Recommended for young lovers of implausible Sci-fi/Action. Not this reader's cup of tea.

Click here to visit Robin Parrish's site.

Read more >>

October Giveaway Winner and some sad news

The winner of September's book giveaway (thanks to random.org) is...

Sarea!

Congratulations Sarea! I'll post the book across the seas as soon as I get an address.

Everyone else, thanks heaps for becoming followers of Flannelgraph. It is with some sadness that I will be ceasing the monthly giveaways for the time-being. Postage over yonder is an expense that I can't really afford right now. I'll fully understand if you want to un-follow ;-(

GBU, Burton (and the Flannel friends)

Read more >>

The Knight

Reviewed by Burton: 8 out of 10

I began reading The Knight almost immediately after finishing The Rook. In this third installment of 'Patrick Bowers thrillers', Steven James has done it again, and even better than his previous tale.

Agent Bowers is used to tracking the country's most dangerous killers, but now it looks like a killer is tracking him. When he realizes the murderer is using clues from an ancient manuscript as a blueprint for his crimes, Bowers faces a race against time to decipher who the next victim will be and to stop the final shocking murder--which he's beginning to believe might be his own.

As I mentioned in the Rook's review. Patrick Bowers stories read like a 24/CSI episode, the protagonist being a modern day Sherlock Holmes. As far as intelligent-fast-paced-crime-scene-murder-mystery-thrillers go, you can't get much better than this.

Steven James is edgier than most Christian authors I've read... no profanity, no steamy scenes and no wishy/washy morals, but definitely a big dollop of violence, and gruesome murder descriptions, which is not everyone's cup of tea, and quite frankly - after reading two of these books back to back... I'm over this genre, for quite some time (perhaps until mid 2010 when The Bishop is released), and I feel as though I've become too familiar with Steven James mystery formula. Time to read something completely different... like Bambi.

In conclusion, out of the three Patrick Bowers thrillers so far, I still rate The Pawn as the most superior story, then the Knight.

Click here to visit Steven James' website.

Read more >>