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Miscellanous Authors
Mike Dellosso Chris Fabry Sibella Giorello Parker Hudson Dean Koontz Stephen Lawhead Katheryn Mackel Paul Maier Tom Pawlik Brian Reaves Phil Vischer Lis Wiehl There are some authors, for a variety of reasons I've only read one book by them. In some cases, it's the only one they've written. In other cases, I just haven't read more by them, but intend too. So, this is the catch all page for those I've only read one of their books. The only exceptions are Mike Dellosso and Sibella Giorello. I will be taking Them from the Miscellanous page and creating pages for them shortly.
Valley of the Shadow by
Tom Pawlik--Valley
of the Shadow is a sequel to Vanish. MAJOR SPOILERS for Vanish are
present in this review.
June Bug by
Chris Fabry—June
could not remember a time when she wasn’t traveling.
She and her dad zigzagged across the US, camping overnight on
Wal-Mart parking lots and never spending more than a few days at any one
location. Things began to
change when their RV broke down in Colorado and they had to wait several
days for a part. When
shopping in the store, June saw a picture of herself on a missing child
poster. She learned her real
name was Natalie and she’d been missing for seven years.
Questions she’d longed to have answered about her mom and desires
for a settled life bubbled to the surface and demanded answers. Meanwhile, the car that was thought to have carried
June away was found at the bottom of the Dogwood reservoir and the cold
case suddenly found itself in the middle of national media attention.
When June and her dad see the story, he decides it’s time to
return to his past and Dogwood.
It’s a trip that will forever change their lives. There is so much in this story to love. From the characters to the plot to the themes, June Bug is a well written story that will kept me reading well into the night. I originally decided to read the book because of the premises. It seemed like an interesting theme to explore. However, a few chapters in, I realized the plot was not what made this book special, it was the characters. I love character driven stories, and this one is excellent. June’s dad, John, was superbly written. He had enough mystery to keep me wondering exactly what had happened, but enough love to let me know, he did what he thought was right. It’s amazing how some characters can have such an amazingly live feel and John was alive. There were some great contrasts in June Bug. We have unloving mothers verses loving strangers. We have couples strained by grief that have managed to survive. We see pastors that are charlatans and others that are sincere. We get a great view of the diversity in this world and it is wonderfully believable. While the characters are phenomenal, the plot is
equally strong. There were
several times I kept thinking we’d find out what happened, but the story
would turn another direction and I’d have to wait a little longer.
The mystery was well concealed and revealed at just the right
time. Since I completely
enjoyed John’s part in the story, I would have liked for there to be
more about his past. We get
some pretty strong glimpses, but that could have been a story by itself.
Regardless, the plot’s tight and with one exception, it made
sense and wrapped up nicely. **SPOILER** Not lost are several themes and a great example of fatherly love. We are often blessed with people in our lives that we know are placed there by God. This was a wonderful exploration of God’s divine intervention. We also get a nice glimpse of devotion and commitment. A look at those who will not stop praying and will not give up hope. Not forgotten are the human emotion and actions that drive all of us. The love we have for our children and our dedication to them. Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl— Seventeen year old, Senate page, Katie Converse took the family dog for a walk and simple vanished. Was she kidnapped, murdered, or run away? What could have caused this bright young lady to disappear without a trace? Three friends, Nicole (FBI agent), Allison (prosecutor), and Cassidy (television reporter) find themselves drawn closer together by this mysterious tragedy, with each one trying to discover what happened to Katie. Who was responsible for her disappearance? Was it the Senator with whom Katie was having an inappropriate relationship, his wife, a serial killer, a homeless father? The list seems endless and the clues few and far between. Face of Betrayal was a good, solid mystery. There was a nice amount of suspense along with a plot that was both engaging and unpredictable. It reminded me quite a bit of a “Law and Order” episode. The scenes were short and they flipped from one location to another. Rarely was one part of the plot explored in consecutive chapters, which kept the plot moving at a nice steady pace. It is geared a little bit more towards woman than men. It’s not a romantic, chick book, but it definitely relates to women on a lot of levels. From exploring relationship abuse to pregnancy to the personalities the main characters, there’s a strong feminine feel to it. However, there were some weaknesses.
It covered a few too many topics.
Some would have been great themes to have explored on their own rather
than having them relegated to a bit part.
Spousal and relationship abuse, for example, would have been a nice
premise for a book featuring Cassidy, Allison, and Nicole.
I also wish the spiritual aspect of the book would have been worked into
the story a little better. It
presented itself in a more apologetic way, than displayed through the
character’s action. Lastly, I felt
like the background kept interrupting the flow of the main plot.
There were times when I would have been content to not know the exact
details of what happened in the past in order to continue the current story. Overall, Face of Betrayal was an enjoyable book. The characters were entertaining and the mystery intriguing. I’ll be buying the next book in the series when it comes out in 2010. Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead—Trying to summarize Byzantium is like trying to condense the Lord of the Rings trilogy to a couple of paragraphs. A summary could never do it justice. The depth and scope are too broad. Simply put, it’s an epic adventure. Given my ADD nature, it’s hard for me to sit down and tackle an 860 page book. However, given the acclaim this one has received, and my desire to dive into the world of Stephen Lawhead, I gave it a try. It’s awesome! For the number of pages it has, I found it almost impossible to put down. I stayed up too late several nights and accomplished far too little the following day. There were very few slow moments and most of those came when switching locations The story of Byzantium was absolutely brilliant.
From the abbey to the dessert, the plot kept me in suspense.
The characters were outstanding and beautifully developed.
All that aside though, the best part of Byzantium is what is said.
Here’s where the spoilers start. **SPOILER** It’s easy to make the Catholic faith a bit of a joke with its rituals and routines. However, what Lawhead created were faithful believers with devout hearts. At times their faith was very convicting and combined with Aidan’s character, they highlighted the difficulties of true belief. While I think it would have been easy for Lawhead to have
created some flat villains, he chose instead to create characters that instead
captured the heart and imagination.
The Vikings started out as heartless barbarians, but ended up as Christians.
To take their characters and develop them so that as a reader we ended up
loving them, is a talent. Gunner was
perhaps my favorite character. He
recognized earlier on that Aidan was not like the others.
While he was a Viking and killed others, he had a conscience and did what
he did to provide for his family. He
loved his wife, his son and his home.
He was a survivor. Gunner was
also open to the truth and understood it when he heard it.
I found myself pulling for him as much as I did for Aidan.
Harold was another Viking hero.
While seemingly barbaric only, he had an ingenuity and honor that set him
apart from being purely barbaric. In
the end, he too had a deeper understanding than what it seemed like on the
surface. Aidan’s spiritual struggle was epic.
While Lawhead left tons of juicy morsels for the reader, the best was
saved for the last chapter. Does God
really abandon us during our times of trials?
The easy answer is to quote scripture, it’s much harder to believe those
scriptures when you watch a beloved friend chopped in half.
As long as Aidan was at the abbey, he never really had to face himself
and the pride he clung too. After
trials, and all that he had was stripped away, he stubbornly continued to hold
to that pride. It wasn’t until
confronted with the simple faith of one who had lost more than himself, that he
was able to truly humble himself and serve God fully. It’s a very rare book that will cause me to cry. In the last 4 years I can remember only 4 that I was saddened and held tears back. This is the only one I actually cried while reading. It is written, not with the intent to lead to tears, but rather in a way that simply causes you to feel the characters hurts, because they’re not so different than our own. It’s truly a remarkable book and one I’d happily recommend to anyone.
Scream by Mike
Dellosso—He heard the screams, and within minutes heard his friend's death.
He heard the screams again, and a business associate died. Again and another
death. Are the screams phone interference or a wake up call for Mark Stone? A
man seeking justice is kidnapping women and holding them in an abandoned barn.
He feeds them, provides for them, and is obviously trying to keep them alive.
Why though? What is his purpose and can he be stopped before he executes his
final judgment?
The Hunted by Mike
Dellosso—When I was around age 9, I received a poster from VBS. The picture
was of a lion leaping out of the grass with teeth bared and claws extended. Its
purpose was to serve as a reminder of 1 Peter 5:8 which says, "...Your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." While I
was reading The Hunted, this picture kept reappearing in my mind. A vicious lion
seeking to devour. The Surrogate by Kathryn Mackel—It doesn’t take a lot violence and gore to make a chilling story. Sometimes all it takes is a look at the human heart. Kyle and Bethany Dolan have almost everything their heart desires. They have worldly success in abundance, a wonderful relationship with God and each other, a network of supportive friends, but they don’t have a child, which is their greatest desire. The death of their fourth child, when Bethany was five months pregnant, resulted in hemorrhaging and a hysterectomy. No longer able to carry their last embryo, they turn to a surrogate mother, Laurel Bergin (aka con artist Sable Lynde). Chilling is a very descriptive term for this book. It is dark and cold and unsettling. The Surrogate is written in small movie like clips, each digging into the character’s emotions and intents. The character’s motives and thoughts are what make this book. People are scary. Even the hearts of devoted Christians are scary, especially when we turn to pursue our own desires without regard to God or others. As dark as the Dolans become in the book, they are nothing compared to Sable who is without God. Her isolation stands in strong contrast to God’s light and his comfort. The Surrogate is very good until the last quarter when it falls into a fairly predictable story line. Since this is a Christian book, there were several things that would definitely happen, but there were a few directions the plot could have turned that would have been a more interesting conclusion in my opinion. However, overall it was a well written book. Very dark, which allowed God’s light to shine beautifully. A Skeleton in God’s Closet by Paul Maier--I read this book in 2000, and six years later I can still remember most of it. Interestingly enough, it really wasn’t one of my favorites. The writing style was awkward and I remember it having a very slow beginning. It took me awhile to really get into it. The reason it’s stayed with me, though, was the premises. What would happen if someone found the body of Jesus? What would happen to Christianity and how would the world react? It’s a fascinating thought, and it’s stayed with me all these years. I won’t go any deeper into the plot, but the main theme is certainly something to contemplate. The President by Parker Hudson--I know the exact date I finished this book. It was September 8, 2001. The reason I remember, is three days later when the Twin Towers were hit, I could not believe I had just finished a book that so closely resembled those events. It’s obviously been awhile since I’ve read The President, so most of my thoughts are pretty fuzzy. What I do remember of the plot had the US under a severe nuclear terrorist attack. During this crisis, the president turns to Christianity, and with him many in America decide to follow God as well. The President was very well written and I remember staying up very late to finish it. It was pretty easy to figure out what was going to happen, but written in a way that I still enjoyed following the story. I haven't found other fiction books by Parker Hudson. If there were some, I would not hesitate to pick them up and read them. Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story about God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer—From 1999-2002 we had bought every video that was sold by Big Idea, plush toys, clothes, books, you name it, we bought it. Our kids loved them and we loved them. To us, they were the answer to secular cartoons and children’s entertainment. High quality animation, excellent stories, solid teaching, and all around funny stories. I remember laughing till I cried when Bob told Larry to “grab a cart” in Madame Blueberry. We watched the videos with our kids. All three of our children learned their numbers, ABCs, shapes, and colors by reading the Veggicational Books with them. I read them so many times I can recite four of them from memory. We loved VeggieTales! Around 2002, though, we noticed things weren’t as good as they used to be. The 3-2-1 Penguin videos were weak and the new Larry Boy videos were pitiful. By 2005 we had decided we weren’t buying anymore VeggieTales until things improved. Early in 2007 we decided to investigate and see what happened to our beloved Veggies. That’s when we visited Vischer’s website and read the condensed version of the fall of Big Idea Production. Having gotten the general gist, I decided I wanted to hear the full story and bought Me, Myself, and Bob. I’m so glad I did. This is an incredible book. Vischer describes the rise and fall of VeggieTales. The mistakes and the successes. I admire Vischer for his honesty and taking responsibility for what happened to VeggieTales. Seeing the whole picture makes it very easy to understand and learn from Vischer’s experience. Vischer’s new approach to ministry is so simple, yet so correct. Become a jellyfish—set aside our own visions to pursue God’s, regardless of where it leads. Truly an inspiring book and I’m very glad Vischer took the time to write it. I’ve bought Vischer’s two new children’s books (Sidney & Norm and 47 Beavers on the Big Blue Sea) and my kids are loving them just as much as the VeggieTale books. I pray God will continue to use Vischer in a way more amazing than he could ever imagine. Me, Myself, and Bob is an excellent story and one everyone should read before taking the plunge into ministry. Top The Stones Cry Out by Sibella Giorello—I picked this book out mainly because of the title. I always loved Luke 19:37-40 37—Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying: " 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." 40 But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." So, when I saw the title, I thought it sounded pretty interesting. The caption on the back of the book is an excellent summary, "When nobody talks...the stones cry out." Young FBI agent, Raleigh Harmon, is assigned the job of investigating a civil rights case. The problem is, with hundreds of people attending a rally outside an old factory where a white detective and young black man fall to their deaths, no one saw a thing. The FBI wants the case closed quickly, forcing Raleigh to work quickly to discover what the stones are crying out. I very much enjoyed this book. Set in Richmond Virginia, Giorello has done a wonderful job of capturing that old south feel. She pulls the reader in and we're transported to a place where the pace is slower and racial tensions high. Corruption is always an option and the Good Old Boys network is thriving. The story is shrouded in mystery. Since no one will talk, the reader discovers the truth through evidence, dreams, and Raleigh’s instincts. The characters are excellent. Giorello gives the reader a great insight into each character, their strengths, weaknesses, fears, desires. There are many plots and subplots that run through out and in the end, not all are completely resolved. While we find out what happens on the roof, Raleigh’s story is not over. I look forward to reading more. The Rivers Run Dry by Sibella Giorello—For Special Agent Raleigh Harmon life is not going so well. Due to a disciplinary transfer, Raleigh had to leave the home she loved for Seattle. She quickly learns her place in her new field office. She’s assigned a car that stinks and doesn’t run well, a parking spot several blocks away, and supervisors that treat her like an errand girl. When she’s sent to collected evidence for what appeared to be a routine missing person’s case, she could never have guessed that things could get worst. As she quickly discovers, the missing girl is the daughter of a wealthy and influential couple. Using their connections, they pressure the FBI to become involved. Raleigh begins to more fully understand her status within the FBI when they keep her under close supervision and only given partial information. They don’t trust her. Frustrated and overwhelmed, Raleigh works as quickly as she can to locate a woman that by all appearances simply vanished. I loved Giorello’s debut novel, The Stones Cry Out. I’ve been anxiously awaiting The Rivers Run Dry feeling as though Raleigh’s story was not quite finished and wanting more. The wait is over, and the book was very satisfying. With a witty sense of humor, Giorello created a set of characters that keeps the reader slightly off balanced. From Raleigh’s supervisor, McLeod who mangles cliques to egocentric Jack, there’s a depth to each character that’s engaging and intriguing. Even minor characters are given great care and created in a manner that brings the reader into their life, which makes for a more interesting story. The mystery within The Rivers Run Dry is well written and the suspect nicely hidden. We get some glimpses of who could be involved, but the answer is not revealed too quickly. Though not set in the South, it still moves with a slow feel, similar to The Stones Cry Out. While I liked this in her first book, I thought the pace made this one feel a little slow and out of place. However, that’s a minor blemish on an otherwise well written story. Giorello does a nice job of weaving her themes into her stories. The new age aspect was handled with a healthy dose of sarcasm, which I appreciated having spent a great deal of time hiking in Sedona, AZ, which is well know for it’s new age philosophies and resources. However, she is careful to use tact in pointing the reader towards the true source of protection. The Rivers Run Dry was well worth the wait. I’m glad to see the series will be continued with another book coming in March 2010. Maybe we’ll finally find out what happened to Raleigh's dad. Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz—I normally do not review books that are not considered Christian fiction. However, after reading this one, I had to review it. Not because I thought it was a spectacular work of fiction, but because it is an excellent example of a ‘secular’ book by a ‘secular’ author with wonderfully portrayed spiritual themes. Please forgive the amount of ranting that is bound to be in this review. A year after flight 353 crashed, Joe Carpenter was still dealing poorly with the death of his wife and two daughters. Loathing life and wishing for death, Joe quit his job and isolated himself from his friends. On the one year anniversary of the crash, through a series of interesting events, Joe realizes he’s being followed. Who, he’s not sure, but after they attempt to shoot a mysterious woman taking pictures of his family’s gravestone, Joe is determined to find out. The path he takes leads to some deep and dangerous secrets, including what really happened to flight 353. Many people on the Ted Dekker boards have talked about Dean Koontz and the spiritual nature of his books. Many had said he was a Christian and many of his books had Christian themes. Koontz has about 40 books, so it’s kinda hard to pick one to start with. Thankfully his website is pretty helpful. The books are broken down by genres and one of those genres happens to be ‘Spiritual Suspense’. The local library happens to carry many of Koontz’s books and Sole Survivor happened to be the a ‘Spiritual Suspense’ that was available. So, that’s why I started with this one. Sole Survivor is a deeply spiritual book. However, it’s not blatantly Christian. The themes that are presented are present in many religions, but the references tend to be Biblical. For example, the there is a calendar with Jesus and three of his disciples. In Joe’s grief, he questions the Christian lady with the calendar on how she can keep her faith and believe in a loving God. Anyone familiar with Christianity will instantly recognize her response as being 100% Christian. This is one example, but consistent throughout the book. **SPOILER** Repeatedly we’re reminded of a Creator. The universe is not just a mindless machine. There is hope and there is peace to be had. Conversely, we’re also faced repeatedly with the question of how a loving God can allow so many innocent people to die. The grief and heartache that death causes for so many. Koontz handles these questions in a way that lets the reader understand the truth of God and who He is. Additionally, Koontz gives us a healthy dose of evil, the unethical nature of man, and man’s ever persistent desire to play God. When I closed this book, I was left with several thoughts. Here comes the rant….First off, the main thing that separates this book from being sold in a Christian store is the language. There is some swearing. It is not excessive or gratuitous. In fact, it adds to the story. Many Christian books are so white washed the flow of the story is interrupted. No murderer is going to call someone puke face. A murderer lacks morals and doesn’t care if they use lily white language. Evil is dark and to color it white eliminates its effectiveness. Secondly, this book is very much what I would like to see more Christians write. A good story, with strong characters, that show God. Doctrine and theology does not need to be taught in every fiction book. Readers can determine Biblical truth without it being spelled out. A character doesn’t have to quote scripture to get a message across. Let the characters act and the reader discern. Thirdly, I fully believe this book will have a greater impact on more non believers than the vast majority of Christian fiction books on the market. It’s believable, it’s not a sermon, it’s a great story, and it gives the reader something to think about and to discover for themselves. Lastly, while this is only the first book I’ve read by Koontz, I have a healthy level of respect for him. Even though several had said he was a Christian, I decided to research it myself. He is Catholic and from my very minor research appears to be fairly conservative. In this book, his beliefs were very evident and I applaud him for not hiding, limiting, or softening what he was writing about. This book very much reflected our Creator.
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