Reviewed by Symon: 7 out of 10.

The Night Watchman (Ray Quinn Series, Book 1) by Mark Mynheir.

Eleven months ago, Ray Quinn was a tough, quick-witted Orlando homicide detective at the top of his game-until a barrage of bullets ended his career, and his partner’s life. Now medically retired with a painful handicap, Ray battles the haunting guilt for his partner’s death. Numbing the pain with alcohol and attitude, Ray takes a job as a night watchman at a swanky Orlando condo. But when a pastor and an exotic dancer are found dead in one of the condos in an apparent murder-suicide, Ray can no longer linger in the shadows.

I semi-enjoyed this book and read it relatively quickly.  I must say it felt like a made-for-TV-crime-scene mystery, rather than an original big-screen-blockbuster  (and aren’t we all a little over the crime-scene mysteries these days).

This book is an anomaly in the genre of Christian crime fiction however, as the protagonist is a fairly anti-God, self-centered, bitter alcoholic who doesn’t find God at the book’s conclusion.  Also surprising, is the minimal violence which may (or may not) encourage more readers.

Author Mark Mynheir, is a real-life detective and therefore this story is highly realistic. The plot, characters, and crime-solving techniques are all highly believable.  Realism  may be the book’s Achilles Heel though, as it does make for a somewhat predictable, ‘no-surprises-there’ read.

The Night Watchman is receiving rave reviews and has been nominated for a Christy award.  Avid Christian crime-fiction/mystery fiction buffs will enjoy. For me, it was goodish but definitely not great – Maybe I’m getting harder to please in my old age, or perhaps Ted Dekker has raised the bar too high for most.

Reviewed by Rachel: 6 out of 10.

Firefighting burns in Aidan O’Neill’s blood, but his innate gift for reading flames has made him overconfident and sometimes puts lives in danger. When one call goes horribly wrong and a rookie is hurt, Aidan ends up suspended and finds himself questioning everything.

An arsonist is targeting Reno, leaving a scorched path of destruction. The department needs Aidan back, but his return is troubled. The gift he relied on for so long has gone silent . . . and it’s as though the fires are coming for him, hunting him down. Teaming with a beguiling fire investigator who may know more than she’s saying, Aidan must discover where his trust rests as the flames burn ever closer.

This book had the potential to be really really good. Unfortunately, it seemed to lack something and filed to grab me right from the start. Usually I love books about fighting fires, but I wasn’t so impressed with Through the Fire.

The twists and turns, instead of leaving me wanting more, left me more confused.  I loved the ending, but felt it needed to be a bit longer and perhaps in other parts shorter to keep interest high and concentration levels from waning.

In spite of my disappointments though, I did enjoy this book.  If you are in for a light thriller/mystery, with a little bit of ‘life’ drama and romance thrown in, then this book is for you.

Reviewed by Symon: 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.

Reviewed by Stephen: 6.5 out of 10.

If writing ability alone determined the rating I gave this book, then it would, without a doubt, get a straight 10 out of 10. The creative descriptions, ingenious similes, down-to-earth dialogue, cliff-hanger chapter conclusions and cunning storyline were all highlights while reading Comes A Horseman. Robert Liparulo is, as one person so fittingly put it, a writer of immense talent.

In the opening chapter we are catapulted straight into a fast-paced, action-packed assassination scene. Having a soft spot for books that propel you directly into an action sequence, I had high hopes that Horseman would climb its way into being one of my all-time favourite books. This high-octane quickly ebbed, however, as can be expected in a novel to make room for character development in a situation not under pressure. But along with the waning energy came the lengthy, and yes, sometimes tedious descriptions.

By the end of Horseman, I had developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with Liparulo’s in-depth descriptions within the story he was telling. On the one hand, I appreciated, and was even sometimes astounded, at the creativity he injected into whatever and whoever he described. You could more firmly grab a hold of the intricacies of the scene and become better adjusted to what was happening. On the other hand, these same descriptions quite often tripped up the story and caused what I would call ‘reader slogging’, where you as a reader must wade through the hard yards of the first half of the book to get to the stage where you can’t put it down.

My biggest criticism with this book was the stage of ‘not being able to put it down’ not making itself apparent until the final 5 chapters. This ‘reader slogging’ would also, unlike other thrillers, keep popping its head up, even so much as during a fight scene. Halfway through an intense hand-to-hand combat with a ‘walking bicep’ you would be thrust into some childhood memory, flashback or training technique learned in the past. To illustrate my point further, the character wouldn’t just take his shoes off; he would untie his shoelaces, take his shoes off and carry them with the ring and middle fingers of his left hand. Sometimes detail is excellent; but sometimes you just want to cut the talk, skip to the good parts.

This story, I would have to say, is not one for the queasy or faint of heart; it is quite a gruesome book, and Liparulo makes no apologies for not shying away from gory details. However, he does have a strong underlying sense of morality and a clever portrayal of Christianity that is so real and so compelling that it can’t possibly turn away an unbelieving reader. These things, along with Liparulo’s fresh take on the events surrounding the end-times as described in the book of Revelation, were what reconciled the reading of this book to me as being worthwhile.

My final thoughts would be that, although I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I would have liked to, Horseman is still worth the read — even if only for the astounding writing and thoughts that come from the hand and mind of Liparulo. It gave me a fresh glimpse of just how horrifying evil can be, and the tremendous hope that we, as Christians, have in Christ.

Liparulo certainly has a strikingly unique story with Horseman, which, in a world of copy-cats and lookalikes, can always be appreciated. But, by all means, please enlighten me if you understand how the story and back cover description ties in with the title of the book. Maybe I just missed something.

Click here to visit Liparulo’s site.

Reviewed by Symon: 8 out of 10.

Firstly, I must say that because of this series, Steven James has just become one of my favourite authors. There is currently no better crime fiction/mystery author in my opinion.

The Rook is the second installment in a series of crime fiction/thriller/mysteries where FBI Criminologist, Patric Bowers, tracks down serial murderers (or should I say they track him down?) It follows The Pawn, and precedes The Knight and the upcoming The Bishop.

Reviewed by Kristy: 7.5 out of 10.

Reviewed by Symon: 8.5 out of 10.

The Pawn by Steven James has finally ended my ‘When am I going to read a book that I can’t put down?’ drought. This review in 3 words: Exciting, compelling and disturbing (possibly the most disturbing book I have ever read). Okay… that’s 13 words.

From the back cover:

Special Agent Patrick Bowers never met a killer he couldn’t catch. Until now. Called to North Carolina to consult on the case of an area serial killer, Bowers finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Cunning and lethal, the killer is always one step ahead of the law, and he’s about to strike again. It will take all of Bowers’s instincts and training to stop the man who calls himself the Illusionist.

If I could judge Steven James’ authorship based on this book alone, he would easily make it into my top five favourite author’s list. His writing is fast-paced, his plot-crafting is very intelligent and unpredictable, and his ability to create a vivid scene in the reader’s mind is masterly. So much so, that before you rush out to find a copy of The Pawn to read, I must give a warning…

This book is definitely not for the squeamish. In some places it is extremely disturbing. The Pawn’s plot revolves around a sadistic serial murderer, and quite frankly too much detail is given at times. I was going to say that nothing is left to the imagination… but in this case, my imagination was given plenty, resulting in some not-so-pleasant dreams about serial murders (not surprisingly). Needless to say, this book will play with your mind long after you’ve turned out the light.

The Pawn leaves me in a conundrum. I agree with Dekker’s reasoning: that to really understand how great the light is, one must understand how great the evil is, but… When it comes to depictions of violence in Christian fiction, where is the line drawn? Especially with novels, that aren’t overtly Christian such as this one?

Definitely something to think about while I track down book 2 in this series, entitled The Rook

Click here to visit Stephen James’ site.