Book Review of “Double Cross” written by James David Jordan

“Double Cross” is the second novel in a series by James David Jordan. This book, not to be confused with a title of the same name by James Patterson, is a suspense thriller following the former Secret Service agent Taylor Pasbury. Her story this time deals with the fallout after the death of prominent televangelist Simon Mason. This tragedy came at the hands of Muslim extremists in the Middle East while they held his daughter Kasey hostage. His death should have been the end to all injustice that happened around Simon Mason Ministries but now the target is Taylor. Taylor’s viewpoint is expressed throughout the book.

Having not read Mr. Jordan’s first book “Forsaken,” I did not feel that I missed out on anything since he seemed to summarize what happened in it well as this story first began. I appreciate it when author’s do this so that I do not feel lost and can pick up the story from any book. “Double Cross” has a great suspense character in Taylor Pasbury. It is like following Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan or Jack Bauer from their points of view. I hope that Mr. Jordan continues this character so I can follow it as long as James Patterson’s Alex Cross character has continued for him. This is my first reading of a James David Jordan book and I must say that I am impressed. I give it 4 out of 4 stars.

Be blessed!

Brad

Deliver Us From Evil book review

In “Deliver Us From Evil” by Robin Caroll, the plot of U.S. Marshall Roark Holland having to transport a heart to a critical witness of a case dealing with the largest child sex trafficking ring in history is a grabbing premise. The setting, of the Great Smoky Mountains as a backdrop during a blizzard, is filled with high energy throughout and this could also be another attention getter. Robin Caroll’s beautiful descriptions and story telling is magic. She has twists and turns, likable characters, and a little bit of romance for all to enjoy.

Why should men want to read this female author? The tastefully done suspense scenes with exploding elevators and gun violence taking you from Point A to Point B in Knoxville, Tennessee in one piece, hopefully is a first reason why. Another reason is how Roark works with a strong female character Brannon Callahan. She is a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Forestry Service and a real professional. They become attracted to one another and this is played out well. The borderline descriptions of what child sex trafficking looks like and how males and females deal with it, made me as a reader also interested in the storyline.

What makes this a Christian book? God is questioned, shown and called upon through various characters in this story. Brannon Callahan and her partner, Lincoln Vailes, are very good friends who happen to be coworkers. In many scenes with them, glimpses of God are told the best as they quiz each others knowledge of scripture.

I give this book a 3 ½ out of 4 stars and a rating of PG-13 for the content discussed. This book is for those wanting to escape into great storytelling. I hope you pick up a copy and enjoy it as I did.

Be blessed!

Brad

By the way, This book does not come out until February 2010.

“From Peanuts To The Press box” book review

Eli Gold, when you hear that name does anything come to mind? Well, unless you are a sports fan of NASCAR, college football or hockey you probably don’t have a clue. Eli Gold is the voice of University of Alabama football and a voice on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) every Sunday during race weekends. He is also on “NASCAR Live” Tuesday nights talking about NASCAR racing. If you are a die hard sports fan or know someone who is a die hard one then you need to read this book. It is titled “From Peanuts To The Press box: Insider Sports Stories from a life behind a Mic.” The stories told are endearing, funny, informative, sad and entertaining. I really enjoyed the book and will recommend it to all my friends who are fans of the sports mentioned above. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Thank you Mr. Gold for an interesting and entertaining history book for this reader!

Be blessed….

Brad

Healing Promises Book Review

“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21…. This verse being the only words on one sheet of paper is how this novel began and it truly was fitting and needed before diving into this book. “Healing Promises” is the second book in the “Defenders of Hope Series” by Amy Wallace. This book picks up almost where the first book ended with a new camera lens shift from the main character in “Ransomed Dreams” which was the first book. The view is focused not on Steven Kessler and his son’s teacher Gracie Lang as the first. Instead, it’s on Steven’s partner Clint Rollins, an FBI Agent in the Crimes Against Children Unit, and his wife Sara. For all of you fans of Mrs. Wallace’s books, she did keep Steven and Gracie as sub characters of this book. The focus on Clint, who was shot in a standoff with a serial killer of small children, found him diagnosed with Cancer. His wife did not pick up on the signs during the running of procedural tests for gunshot victims. Why is that important? Sara Rollins is an Oncologist.

“Healing Promises,” dealing with a diagnosis of cancer and how a patient and a doctor deal with it as husband and wife, becomes real and personal on many levels. Sara’s dealing with it as a doctor, showing that lens, was perfectly told by Mrs. Wallace… as was the behavior modifications and desires of Clint as he tries to remain an agent.

I recommend this book to anyone that has dealt with or is dealing with the disease of Cancer. It’s also for those in their late teens and older if you have be blessed to not have encountered this diagnosis. You will be educated by the information presented during the story and the beautiful testimonies that are written by real life Cancer survivors or their families discussing this serious subject at the end. I think Amy Wallace, yet again, impressed this reviewer’s take on how she paints the pictures in words and beautifully shows all emotions in her storytelling. I give this book 4 out of 4 bookmarks.

Be blessed!

Brad

Dangerous Calling Movie Review

When you hear the phrase Christian thriller, what comes to mind? Is it suspense and horror? How can Christian and horror go together? Does that mean Satanic and Devil Worshipping? Ok, so it is not normal. This new movie from the Daws Brothers named Josh and Jeremiah (writers / directors) have made a Christian suspense thriller with a horror twist. “Dangerous Calling” takes place in a fictious small North Georgia mountain town called Willit Springs. The story is about church politics and the perversion some people have on the church’s direction from week to week. It should be safe and secure some believe. No loud rock music and no change allowed. At least that is what one character Miss Pat Hinton believes. The other two main characters, Pastor Evan and Nora Burke, deal with a new church after the mysterious death of its former pastor and how possibly we all should handle the Miss Pat’s in churches today. I felt inspired and relieved that this movie finally dealt with an issue I feel is big in the churches now despite the denomination.

The lessons taught through story progression are noteworthy for “Dangerous Calling”… so is the acting. The Daws brothers have assembled a great cast who all live near Atlanta, Georgia. The brothers not only live and shoot their projects in Georgia; it seems they like to get their talent from there also. I hope that audiences from 15 to 75 see this movie and find hope and faith in it. I really enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the screenwriting and directing and hope they are around the independent film business for a very long time producing great quality products like this movie. Their brand of skewed and mind opening views of the Christian community is refreshing and needed for a better balance of the community in the future. My rating for this project is 3 out of 4 popcorn tubs.

Be blessed!

Brad

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry Movie Review

In this independent movie from 5 & 2 pictures, writer / director Rich Christiano brings together 2 TV veterans, Gavin Macleod and Robert Guillaume, to lead a group of unknown actors and actresses in “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.” Mr. MacLeod plays Jonathan Sperry an elderly man who has a love for God and an unusual way of talking to people about Him.

This movie is set in the summer of 1970. It is heartwarming as it tells of 75 year Jonathan Sperry befriending a 12 year old boy Dustin played by Jansen Panettiere the younger brother of Hayden Panettiere. Dustin tries to make a little money mowing yards for people every summer. One afternoon Mr. Sperry notices Dustin next door mowing his neighbors grass and walks over to ask if he would like to mow his. After Dustin excitedly agrees, this opened the door for Jonathan Sperry to begin telling his stories to him and Dustin’s two best friends that summer.

“The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry” tells of life lessons taught, Bible reading of the Book of John and love changing adventure that everyone should watch. If you want to have an experience like never seen before on the big screen or on video, then this is the movie. Everyone’s acting is superb and will stay in your heart and mind for a long time. The theme of this movie of “everyone can be somebody and make a difference in somebody else’s life” gives me just one reason why I wrote this review in hopes many will see this film.

For more information about the film go to http://www.sperrymovie.com there still is an ability to see this film on the big screen before it comes out on video.

Be blessed!

Brad

The Osiris Alliance Book Review

What can I say about the first book written by Jack Ford? I like to read political intrigues and thriller type books to read as this one is. My favorite authors in this area are John Grisham, James Patterson and Robert Ludlum for favorite fiction writers. When I was asked if I would review “The Osiris Alliance” even though I have only reviewed Christian fiction books so far, I have been challenged to broaden my horizons in my reviews to express opinions on secular or non-religious books while still keeping my family focused reviewing. While I get what they mean, I believe that people can read anything if they want to and find a little bit of themselves in any fiction story without having to be put a Godly spin or Christian spin to the story. However, with this story, “The Osiris Alliance,” I am going to start a rating system on my reviews and consider reviews outside of my comfort zone.

Why do I want to start a rating system? Because I realized that there are no rating scales on books and this one requires a rating. The movie industry has one from Rated X down to Rated G so why not books. I will give you my rating of the book later at the end of my review.

“The Osiris Alliance” is a story of mystery, national security matters and dealing with a kidnapping of the Lindbergh child. It starts out on April 3, 1936 discussing the execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, the convicted killer of the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh’s child. After this is explained, the story jumps to 1998 New York City, NY or Long Island, NY to be precise. After which, the story slowly builds for few chapters after introductions and then it rockets until the end.

Adam Stark, a U.S. attorney for the Justice Department, has been brought in to investigate and break a smuggling ring to import and export nuclear weapons to the Russians. As he starts to investigate, he determines that a reporter Megan Delaney has been also investigating the same thing for her TV station and they decide to become allies in trying to solve this case. With many different turns and switching from the Lindbergh kidnapping to the Russians while trying to track down a missing journal with all the secrets, this story picks up steam on many levels.

Now as for the reasons I think this book got me thinking about a book rating, it became clear this should be rated R for excessive and unneeded excessive profanity, extreme written violence and the steamy love scenes described throughout. This book fits the “Goodfellas” level of profanity. I can see this book turned into a movie with the ways Mr. Ford describes scenes in detail for a screenwriter to use. This story seems to be a cross between “The Firm” meets “Clear and Present Danger” meets “The Bourne Identity.”

I do like “The Osiris Alliance” but would have enjoyed it better without the profanity and non-consideration of his reader. This is not a book for anyone under 16 to read. If you are a religious person, then you might want to consider if you should read this knowing what will take place as I have vaguely described. I will give Mr. Ford a 2 out of 4 stars rating for this first novel. I hope that if he writes again in the future he considers a wider audience to appeal to with less profanity and better description of feelings. The use of God’s name in vain is not a good description of anger. Until next time…

Be blessed!

Brad

The Sacred Cipher Book Review

When I first heard about this book, “The Sacred Cipher,” it was pitched to me as a Christian version of an Indiana Jones type book that deals with history and the unlocking of secrets potentially back to Biblical times. It is set in three cities and two eras. I must say I loved the Indiana Jones movies of the past. With this book potentially being a Christian version of that was exciting to hear and I wanted to read it.

After beginning to read this book, I was even more interested in it as it told about Charles Haddon Spurgeon being a part of the story. While this is a book of fiction, the usage of the real life historical figures such as Mr. Spurgeon, Sir Edward Elgar, and Dr. Louis Klopsch makes it a more intriguing read than unknowns pursuing this lofty seemingly uncrackable cipher. A cipher called the “Rosetta Stone” was not cracked for many centuries. “The Sacred Cipher” feels so real, believable, and it could happen in our lifetime.

Since finishing this debut work by Terry Brennan, the impression left is a good one. When I read more about Mr. Brennan on the back cover, I was struck with the thought that Terry Brennan could be Tom Bohannon. This novel could really be Mr. Brennan’s adventure and the hopes that he could one day unlock something of biblical proportions like The Sacred Cipher. Mr. Brennan’s writing made me feel that I was one of his tagalong researchers learning and becoming a fan of this group whether as the computer geek or mister know it all Dr. Johnson.

For those that don’t want to see everything and how they went from point A to point B, this can be a turn off. If you removed an e-mail text message from Kallie Nolan in her research from the beginning explaining everything detailing with the Temple Mount’s history in Jerusalem and a Jewish ruler named Abiathar in Jerusalem and a few other little areas, you could shorten this book to be under 300 pages.

My hope for Mr. Brennan, in the future, is more of this same type of writing so a new saga in the realms of Indiana Jones or King Solomon’s Mines is begun and maintained. It will be cool to follow the adventures of Tom Bohannon and his quest to unlock more secrets of this world from a Christian point of view. How about Noah’s Ark and its possible find… or the lost city of Atlantis… or other lost civilizations to bring Christian and Jewish cultures into a more clear HD focus from the Bible dealing with possible end of the world scenarios if you are interested in those stories?

In closing, I think the historically minded and end of world interested people might really like this. Especially those who like Joel Rosenberg’s books, Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins’s Left Behind series, and Larry Burkett’s “The Illuminati” book.

Be blessed!

Brad