Obsessed by Ted Dekker

Today, I am taking a look back at Ted Dekker's Obsessed(released Feb. 2005). On occasion, I will be looking back at books that have been recommended to me. If your local bookstore does not carry them, they can usually order the book for you.

Obsessed is one of my favorite Dekker books. Ted has produced many exciting thrillers. This is one of the best.

Stephen Friedman is making a good living. An ordinary guy. Until he discovers a secret, his past is not what he thought it was. From the grave of a Holocaust survivor comes the message that he is the heir to an incredible fortune.

As Stephen begins his quest, so does another man. The only other man who can understand the clue to the treasure is a serial killer named Roth Braun. Unknown to Stephen, Roth has been waiting 30 years for him. Roth was stopped from killing him once before but this time he will let nothing get in his way. Roth is one of the most sadistic villains in Christian fiction.

The chapters alternate between the story of what happened in the concentration camp Torun that set these events in motion, Roth's obsession, and Stephen's quest for the truth. The author does an excellent job of turning up the suspense with each chapter. This is one of those books that you will not be able to put down once you start reading it.

This book helped convince me that Ted Dekker is one of Christian fiction's greatest treasures.

Visit Ted's website at http://www.teddekker.com.

Squat by Taylor Field

What would it be like to live 24 hours in the life of a homeless man in New York? Taylor Field knows the answer.

He is a Princeton graduate but instead of taking a lucrative job and settling down to a comfortable life, he chose to be a missionary to inner city New York. He and his family have lived there since 1986. This is a fictional account of his real life experiences.

Squat is the tale of a day in the life of a man named Squid. Due to some bad choices, Squid is now being hunted by Saw. Saw is involved in Satanism, drugs, and collecting "rent" from fellow squatters. Saw turns the other squatters against Squid by offering a reward to anyone who helps him catch his prey.

Squid has had a rough life. He was abused by his mother's boyfriends, grew up in poverty, suffers from obsessive compulsiveness, and finally escaped to find a home living in a squat. His closest friends are his sometimes mentor Unc and Bonehead(who is obsessed with hitting rocks with a stick). Unc sums up their lives as...

"We live in squat. We don't know squat. We don't have squat. We don't do squat. We don't give a squat. People say we're not worth squat."

The one ray of happiness in Squid's life is his unspoken love of Rachel, a soup kitchen volunteer. Rachel truly cares about everyone. Even this goes wrong for Squid when he is introduced to Rachel's boyfriend Jason.

With limited resources, Squid must stay ahead of Saw until the inevitable showdown. The suspense keeps building as each hour passes. This is definitely a book you don't want to start unless you have plenty of time to read it. It is hard to put down. And once you read it, you will never look at other people the same way again. Especially those who are down on their luck.

After reading that the author is a missionary to the homeless, I expected this novel to contain a heavy handed message. I would not have been surprised to find a weak story wrapped around a sermon. Instead, I was glad to see that Taylor has managed to craft what I think is one of the best Christian novels of the year. And this is just his first fictional novel. I can't wait to see if he writes another.

Another bonus to this novel is that all of the proceeds are going to Graffiti Community Ministries, Inc. to help the homeless.

Squat is available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805432922/

New Look

Welcome to the new look for my site. I was not happy with the original design. The new look is closer to what I wanted. As I learn more about blog design, the site will probably be changed again.

Coming in the next week, you can expect to see 2 or 3 new reviews. I will be covering Karen Kingsbury's Like Dandelion Wind and Taylor Fields' Squat. I also hope to have a review of another older book. The days that I do not post a review I plan on commenting on books, authors, and websites. Eventually, interviews will be added.

I have joined the Christian Fandom staff as the Biography Editor. Tina Kulesa has also been added to the staff position of Fantasy Editor. Christian Fandom has over 400 pages of content covering Christian fantasy, science fiction, western, horror, and mystery books. Take the time to drop in and check it out.

God bless.

CSFF Blog Tour-Kathy Tyers(part 2)

Kathy Tyers' Firebird Trilogy is one of the most praised Christian science fiction series ever. Is it worthy of the praise it has received in numerous sites? So far, I have only read the first book but I would have to agree. Kathy appears to have been inspired by Star Wars. If you look hard enough, most authors take an existing story/idea, turn it on it's side, mix it with their own thoughts, and have a new creation. She has used some of the world building and themes from the better space opera books and fused it with the character development of the romance genre. Excellent job on book 1.

I plan on reading her other books between the books I have to review for this site. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves science fiction(or well written fiction in general).

Go to Beth Goddard's blog for a two part interview with the author.

Best news of the tour award goes to Karen Hancock's posting for today. In it she reveals that Kathy is back to writing fiction and is hard at work on a new book set in the Firebird universe.

What other Christian speculative fiction has been published? Which ones do you recommend?

I put together a list(in no particular order) from my collection. Eventually reviews will be posted on these books.

Kathy Tyers-Shivering World

Ted Dekker-The Circle Trilogy(Black, Red, White).

Karen Hancock-Arena

S. Wise Bauer-The Revolt(In the near future, Virginia separates from the United States. An idealist discovers that it may be impossible to establish the kingdom of God on earth. A very interesting first novel).

James Byron Huggins-Leviathan(an unholy alliance between science and nature unleashes havoc beyond measuring).

Nancy Moser-Time Lottery(what if you had the chance to go back in time and relive one decisive moment?)

Gregory Smith-Captive Planet, Operation Master Planet(rebels on the planet Tsu fighting against the Dominion).

Randall Ingermanson-Double Vision, Transgression, Retribution, Premonition.

John Olson/Randall Ingermanson-The Fifth Man, Oxygen.

Andrew Seddon-Red Planet Rising(Christians on Mars are being persecuted by a supposedly benevolent leader).

David Gray-The Shepherd Series(The Shepherd's Man, The Shepherd's Path)(end times novel about a corrupted world that is persecuting Christians).

Stephen Lawhead-Dream Thief, Empyrion.

Make sure you visit the other sites that are participating in the tour.

Valerie Comer
Bryan Davis
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Pamela James
Jason Joyner
Tina Kulesa
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Cheryl Russel
Mirtika Schultz
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith

Rebecca LuElla Miller

CSFF Blog Tour-Kathy Tyers

The focus of our August tour is Kathy Tyers. Kathy started as a successful science fiction writer in the secular market. Her first published book was Firebird(first in a trilogy). It was followed by Fusion Fire(second in the Firebird trilogy), Crystal Witness, and Shivering World. She hit the bestseller list with her first Star Wars novel, The Truce at Bakura. This was followed with another original novel, One Mind's Eye. Kathy reached an agreement with a Christian publisher(Bethany House) to let her rewrite Firebird and Fusion Fire as she had originally intended them. Then she finished the trilogy with Crown of Fire. She received the call to write another Star Wars novel, New Jedi Order: Balance Point.
Take the time to visit her home page at http://www.kathytyers.com. Kathy has her biography and a list of all the books(and short stories) she has published.
Tomorrow I will have comments on the Christian science fiction field(including Kathy's work).
Other sites that are participating in this tour are:

John J. Boyer
Valerie Comer
Bryan Davis
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Pamela James
Jason Joyner
Tina Kulesa
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Cheryl Russel
Mirtika Schultz
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith

A Day with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory

David Gregory has followed up his excellent Dinner with a Perfect Stranger with another great book.
In the first book, Nick Comminsky had dinner with Jesus. As Nick presented all of his doubts and questions to Jesus, he replied with love and grace. Now this book shows what happens when Nick returns home and tells his wife(Mattie) about the dinner.
Mattie flies off on a business trip to give herself a chance to think over what her husband told her. Has her husband gone crazy? Should she leave him? While on the plane, Mattie has an encounter with Jesus. She has her own doubts. As she talks with Jesus, she begins to realize who this man is in the seat beside her.
David has presented another view of an encounter with our Lord. I like the way that he shows Jesus handling the questions. Jesus does a perfect mix of explaining and leading the non-beliver into thinking for themselves. I hope he continues with a third book in this series.
I know he has me thinking about how I will explain Christianity to others.
A Day with a Perfect Stranger is available at most bookstores.
The publisher has set up a website at http://www.randomhouse.com/waterbrook/Day/

Congratulations Chris Well!!!

Time to celebrate! One of our own Christian writers has hit number one on the Technorati book charts. Deliver Us From Evelyn(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736914064) is the most discussed book on the entire web. Technorati tracks 50.8 million blogs to determine the most talked about books.

Congratulations Chris on a job well done.

Dinner With a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory

I thought it was appropriate to review David Gregory's "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger:An Invitation Worth Considering" before commenting on his new book "A Day With a Perfect Stranger". And in a moment that could only be coordinated by God, last week I happened to tune into a radio broadcast of Haven Today. The show was called "For God so Loved a Hezbollah Terrorist". This tied in perfectly with David Gregory's books.

A mysterious envelope appears on your desk at work. When you open it you find an invitation to dinner... from Jesus. Nick Comminsky assumes that it is a practicle joke or another attempt to get him to attend a local church. He decides to keep the dinner reservation. When he gets there he finds a man who knows too much about his personal life. The more they talk the more he realizes that this is the real Jesus.

The author has written an excellent book for Christians and non-Christians alike. It shows the Christian how to approach non-believers. For non-Christians, he answers a lot of their questions but not in the way that they expect.

People might tell you that Jesus does not appear to people the way he did in this book. It is a work of fiction. Then Haven Today airs the story of Muslim man named Afshin. This man memorized the Koran and devoted his life to Allah. After being imprisoned, he becomes the leader of the Muslims in the prison. There he came face to face with Jesus. Afshin became a Christian. You can listen to his story at:
http://www.haventoday.org/archives.php

It is interesting to listen to Afshin's tale and read "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger". It is a good reminder that Jesus is reaching out to people every day.

"Dinner With a Perfect Stranger" is still on sale at many bookstores. Next time, I will review the sequel "A Day With a Perfect Stranger".

Other Sites of Interest

If you are looking for other sites that talk about books, check out Speculative Faith. The address is http://specfaith.ritersbloc.com/
Six different writers post on this site. The focus of the discussions is on Christians exploring speculative literature. Different subjects they have covered includes:
What is horror and does it have a place in Christian books?
The current wave of Christian science fiction and fantasy books.
Can we learn anything from secular fiction?
It is an excellent site that I recommend.

Waking Lazarus by T. L. Hine

Jude Allman became famous as the man who died and came back to life three times. Now he's a recluse, hiding from the world in the deep forests of Montana. But when children around him begin disappearing, his days of hiding are over. Only Jude has the key to stopping the abductions-hidden inside the mysteries of his own deaths. Now he must face the questions that have haunted him. What if his deaths aren't just accidental? What if there's a reason behind it all? What if he's been brought back just for this moment?

This did not read like a first novel. I was caught up in the story from the first page on. This was a book that I made the mistake of taking to read on vacation. We stayed in a condo in the Catskills Mountains. As Jude's story unfolds and the action starts to move into a cat and mouse game with the killer the last place you will want to be is in the mountains. T. L.'s novel will make you nervous to be alone anywhere but definitely read this with other people around. The book is part thriller and part the life story of Jude Allman. The author keeps you guessing as to who the killer(called the Hunter) is until the end. Hand this book to anyone who says that Christian fiction is boring and tame.

Highly recommended. One of the best books(Christian or secular) of the year.

T. L. has a blog athttp://www.tlhines.com/blog/

The Amazon link for his book ishttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764202049