CFBA Tour-Taylor Field Interview(Part 2)

Welcome back for the second part of the Taylor Field interview. Taylor is the author of the excellent Squat.

SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!!!!! The following questions contain spoilers for the novel Squat.

The Bedford Review(TBR): Bonehead was doing the work of God(whether or not he realized it). Was he an angel?

Taylor Field(TF): I would go back to Unc's favorite Bible verse, which Squid mentions in his last conversation with Rachel.

TBR: I thought that it was a good decision not to reveal if Squid accepted Jesus. This rings true to life. Have you had many comments on this?

TF: Just a few. My hope was that people would reflect on the very question you have raised. Thanks for your thoughts.

TBR: Do you read fiction(Christian or secular)? If so, who are your favorite authors? Favorite books?

TF: Anna Karinina by Tolstoy and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

TBR: And the big question that everyone wants to know...can we expect more fiction novels from Taylor Fields?

TF: I have the rough draft of a far-out novel about the future, kind of a Brave New World from a faith perspective. I wrote it on the Isle of Patmos during my study leave. It seemed a good time and place for me to look ahead instead of looking backward. My book agent said that after Squat, this new novel might give the reader whip-lash. I have in my head a second novel about Squid and Unc, twenty years after the day in the first novel, but I haven't written it down yet.

Thank you to Taylor Field for taking the time to answer my questions. I know that I will be eagerly looking forward to your next book.

Coming next week is a review of the Christian noir book Seventy Times Seven by Brandt Dodson.

CFBA Tour - Taylor Field Interview(Part 1)

Day 2 of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance tour for Taylor Field's Squat brings us to the first half of my interview with the author. Many thanks to Taylor for taking the time to answer my questions and to David Woodard, of Broadman&Holman Publishing, for his help.

The Bedford Review(TBR): Is Jason's character based on you and your experiences when you first went to the city?

Taylor Field(TF): My experience was different than Jason's, but I have struggled with some of the same issues he is struggling with.

TBR: Unc states many different theories to help make Jason think. From your experience, do you believe that the church has contributed to this culture?

TF: I believe that many actions have unintended consequences. Many of our deeds as individuals and as churches produce results we did not expect. These issues can be especially intense when addiction is involved, and I wanted this novel to come at some of those problems from a different perspective. I remember hearing a song by the songwriter David Wilcox entitled "Guilty Either Way." The songwriter felt guilty if he helped his alcoholic friend, and he felt guilty if he didn't help him. I wanted to show Jason struggling with some of the problems many of us struggle with in terms of the help we provide and the motives behind our help.On another level, a case could be made, for example, that in the 1930's cheap food and cheap housing in the Bowery contributed to attracting a particular group of people to its neighborhood. Did free food from churches and free housing in squats attract a certain kind of person to the Lower East Side in the 1980's? I was interested in the fact that few Christian providers in the area wanted to talk about such a possibility in this neighborhood at the time. However, my hope was that the novel could convey heartache of some of these problems from some other angles besides the sociological.

TBR: What impact has Graffiti Ministries had on the homeless situation?

TF: I don't think we can really evaluate the long-term effects. In some way or other, the ministry reaches out to over ten thousand people a year. However, at this point in my life, I see the truth in the scripture which says "people cannot see the scope of God's work from beginning to the end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). I do believe that Jesus has instructed us on how to give a party (Luke 14:13). I hope we at Graffiti continue to say, "Yes, Lord, we follow your instructions." It is certainly true, in my opinion, that the bigger the city, the more personal we need to become.

TBR: What do your sons think of the mission field you are involved in?

TF: This mission was and still is their family. I find it fascinating that they both left the city to go to school and they are both business majors. I've never taken a business course in my life.

The second part of this interview will be posted tomorrow. Make sure you join us because Taylor will let us in on his future writing projects.

To learn more about the author and this book, follow this link.

Please take the time to visit the other blogs that are participating in the tour.

Alison at A Little Creative LicenseAmber at Amber MillerBonnie at Bonnie WritesBrandilyn at Forensics and FaithCaleb at Reviews Plus+Camy at Camy TangCheryl at Unseen WorldsChris at Chris Wells: Learning CurveChris at So Much Stuff I Can't RecallChristy at Christy's Book BlogDaniel at Daniel I. WeaverDave at Curmudgeon's RantDave at Stupid Human TricksDebbie at On Considering InconveniencesDebra at Soul ReflectionsDee at Christian FictionDineen at Kittens Come From EggsErnie at Writing: My Adventures In WordsGeorgiana at Georgiana DGina at Refreshment In RefugeJim T. at The Well-Dressed BranchJaime at Just a Little Something To Read Before BillsJason at Spoiled For The OrdinaryJennifer at UnwrittenJerome at Christian Political FictionJoe at Words on a PageJoleen at faithfictionKathleen at Reading, Writing and What Else is There?Katie at Christian NovelsKelly at A Disciple's StepsKelly at Scrambled DregsKevin H. at Collected MiscellanyKevin L. at The Bookshelf ReviewLaShaunda at See Ya On The NetLauren at Wren ReviewsLinda at Musings From The WindowsillLisa at Author IntrusionMarcia at Writer-leeMarilynn at Rhythms of GraceMimi at Mimi's Pixie CornerMichael at gritty and brightMichelle at Just A MinuteNessie at Illuminating FictionRebecca at A Christian Worldview of FictionRuth at Booktalk & more...Sean at Sean SlagleShanna at Intertextual MeSue at Never Ceese - A Spiritual FantasySusan at Susan May WarrenTina at Scraps of MeTony at TLHinesTricia at It's Real LifeTy at Cookie MixValerie at In My Little WorldVicki at The Savvy Christian WriterVirginia at Crazy about Coffee

CFBA Tour - Squat by Taylor Field

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Tour for Squat by Taylor Field.

Click here to find my review of Squat.

Next, rush out and buy your own copy. You will want to read this and then pass it on to your friends. Everyone who reads this book will be blessed with the ability to look at everyone as Jesus would look at them. To learn more about the author, book, and ministry follow this link.

My interview with Taylor Field will appear during the next 2 days. Thank you to Taylor for taking the time to answer my questions. I also want to thank David Woodard for being my contact with the author.

Thursday's questions will focus on characters and ministry. Friday will be a look at Taylor's favorite books and his plans for future novels.

Please take the time to visit the other blogs(listed below) in the tour.

Alison at A Little Creative LicenseAmber at Amber MillerBonnie at Bonnie WritesBrandilyn at Forensics and FaithCaleb at Reviews Plus+Camy at Camy TangCheryl at Unseen WorldsChris at Chris Wells: Learning CurveChris at So Much Stuff I Can't RecallChristy at Christy's Book BlogDaniel at Daniel I. WeaverDave at Curmudgeon's RantDave at Stupid Human TricksDebbie at On Considering InconveniencesDebra at Soul ReflectionsDee at Christian FictionDineen at Kittens Come From EggsErnie at Writing: My Adventures In WordsGeorgiana at Georgiana DGina at Refreshment In RefugeJim T. at The Well-Dressed BranchJaime at Just a Little Something To Read Before BillsJason at Spoiled For The OrdinaryJennifer at UnwrittenJerome at Christian Political FictionJim B. at The Bedford ReviewJoe at Words on a PageJoleen at faithfictionKathleen at Reading, Writing and What Else is There?Katie at Christian NovelsKelly at A Disciple's StepsKelly at Scrambled DregsKevin H. at Collected MiscellanyKevin L. at The Bookshelf ReviewLaShaunda at See Ya On The NetLauren at Wren ReviewsLinda at Musings From The WindowsillLisa at Author IntrusionMarcia at Writer-leeMarilynn at Rhythms of GraceMimi at Mimi's Pixie CornerMichael at gritty and brightMichelle at Just A MinuteNessie at Illuminating FictionRebecca at A Christian Worldview of FictionRuth at Booktalk & more...Sean at Sean SlagleShanna at Intertextual MeSue at Never Ceese - A Spiritual FantasySusan at Susan May WarrenTina at Scraps of MeTony at TLHinesTricia at It's Real LifeTy at Cookie MixValerie at In My Little WorldVicki at The Savvy Christian WriterVirginia at Crazy about Coffee

The Lazarus Trap by Davis Bunn

From my bookshelf comes this thriller from 2005. It is the first book by Davis Bunn that I have read.

This is a book length parable. Before we accept Jesus, our lives are full of sin. When we become "born again" we get to start over. Our previous life was foolish and filled with the mistakes we made. A new leaf is turned over. We begin the new life that Jesus has for us. Davis Bunn has written a modern parable that reflects this change in life.

Dying may be the chance of a lifetime. A man wakes up in a jail cell, bleeding from his head, and can't remember anything. Not even his name.


Slowly his memory returns. His name is Val Haines. The world thinks he is dead. Framed for murder and embezzlement, he is goes on the run. Val discovers that he was not a very nice guy. His arch rival managed to steel his wife and daughter, his job, and made it look like Val was a crook. With only a few personal belongings and a large amount of cash, Val has a decision to make. Does he try to get his life back or make a new life for himself? The tension mounts as his rival finds out that Val survived the explosion that was meant to kill him. He starts hunting down Val, knowing that he is the only one who can expose the truth.


Davis Bunn crafted an exciting thriller that will keep you on edge until the final scene.

Coming This Week

Wednesday through Friday will see a blog tour focused on Taylor Field's Squat. The author has been gracious enough to allow me to do a short interview with him. If you are a fan of his, you will want to be here Friday to read about his future writing plans. Don't miss it.

Some of the older books that I will be posting reviews of...
Prophet by Frank Peretti
The Visitation by Frank Peretti
The Lazarus Trap by Davis Bunn
The Revolt by S. Wise Bauer
Wormwood by G. P. Taylor
Blinded by Darkness(this one is a novella) by Tony Burton

New books that will be reviewed include...
The Election by Jerome Teel
Like Dandelion Wind by Karen Kingsbury
Violet Dawn by Brandilyn Collins
Seventy Times Seven by Brandt Dodson
Violette Between by Alison Strobel
Coldwater Revival by Nancy Jo Jenkins
Blind Dates can be Murder by Mindy Starns Clark
Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett
The Last Ten Percent by Michelle Mickinney Hammond
The Cubicle Next Door by Siri L. Mitchell
Something That Lasts by James David Jordan

I thank God for the support I have received from the various contacts I made through the internet. All the authors have been very helpful. Both the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and FIRST have been great. I look forward to working with them in the future.

Saint(A Graphic Introduction) by Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker has started the Forest Guard. This is a volunteer group to help promote his works. When my son joined up, he received Saint: A Graphic Introduction.

From what I can tell, this is the opening of Ted's new book Saint . If this story is any indication, Saint will be one of his best. This teaser presents an intense introduction that will have you running to your local bookstore to get in line for the novel. Do not miss this one.

I think that the comic is a great way to spread the word. Mike S. Miller(and his friends at Alias Comics) has captured the feel of a Dekker book. This is a top notch package.

FIRST Day Tour: Squat by Taylor Field

It's September 1st so it is time for another FIRST Day Blog Tour. The first of each month, we post the first chapter of a new book. This month's featured author is Taylor Field.

Taylor Field has worked since 1986 in the inner city of New York where he is pastor of East Seventh Baptist Church/Graffiti Community Ministries. He holds a M.Div. from Princeton and Ph.D. from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Among his previous books is the award-winning Mercy Streets. Field and his family live in New York, New York.

If you want to know more, please visit The SQUAT Website!

To order Squat, click HERE. It goes on sale Sept. 1.

My review can be found at http://jimfictionreview.blogspot.com/2006/08/squat-by-taylor-field.html.

Enjoy this first chapter. Squat is one of my favorite books of the year.

Chapter 1

Calmly, the girl on the sofa reached out and pulled up a flap of skin on the little boy’s thin arm. It could have been a gesture of affection. But then she pinched the skin and twisted it. Hard.
“Ouch!” He whipped his pencil in front of her face once, like a club, and then cracked it on her forehead. He pulled the pencil back, ready to strike her again, crouching against the back of the couch like a cornered weasel.

The little girl wrinkled up her round freckled face but did not cry out. She looked toward her mom, who was talking to the receptionist. The boy’s mom, seated across the room, didn’t look up. She continued to look through the pages of her magazine, snapping each page like a whip.
“You could have put my eye out!” the freckled girl hissed.

The boy rubbed the two blue marks on his arm. He looked her steadily in the eyes and growled.
His mom called him over. “Come sit by me, honey, and stop making so much noise.” She patted his hair down in the back and smiled at him. She wore lots of eyeliner and widened her eyes to make even sitting in a waiting room seem like an adventure. “You’re such a big man, now,” she had said this morning as she combed his hair and helped him put on his best shirt. She was humming “Getting to Know You” even though her voice quivered just a little. She had put a lot of extra perfume and sprays on this morning. She smelled like the women’s aisle in a drugstore.
Once the little girl’s mom finished with the receptionist and returned to the sofa, the little girl started crying with one soft, unending whine.

The boy rolled his eyes and looked for a book to bury his head in.

“What’s wrong, honey?” the mom asked as she swept her little girl up.

“That boy hit me.”

A stuffy silence reigned in the waiting room except for the sound of the bubbles in the aquarium above the magazine table. The girl’s mother glared at the boy and then at his mother. The boy picked up a children’s book with some torn pages and began studying it seriously. His mom hadn’t been listening to the girl. She was still snapping through the magazine’s pages.
Finally, she threw it down with disgust and looked at her watch again. “I’m going outside to smoke a cigarette, honey,” she said, oblivious to the stares of the mother and daughter across the room. She stood up, adjusted her dress with an efficient tug, and stepped outside the office. They gaped at her departure with their mouths open, like two goldfish.

The aquarium continued to gurgle. In the following silence, the little boy became dramatically interested in the book in front of him. It had been pawed over by a lot of children waiting in this doctor’s office, and the first few pages had been torn out. The pages that remained had rounded corners and smudges along the edges. The little boy squinted his eyes in exaggerated concentration. He preferred the smudged pictures to the astonished fish eyes of the adult across the room.

He studied a picture of a man who wore a robe down to his ankles. He had a beard and a sad look in his eyes. In front of him was a young man with no beard, lying on a stone with his hands tied. The man with a beard had a knife in his hand and had his hand raised high up as if he were going to stab the boy. Out of a cloud an angel was reaching out to grab the hand of the man. The angel hadn’t touched the man yet, but his hand was getting close. The man didn’t yet know that the angel was there.

The boy forgot about the girl and her mother. The color of the man’s robe was so deep and blue. The angel’s wings were more gold than his mother’s best bracelet. The boy on the stone had a robe that was silvery-white like clouds. The sun in the background was redder than any sun he had ever seen. It was as red as a hot dog. The little boy felt he was swimming in this world of rich colors and robes, a sleepy world tempered by the sound of the bubbles in the doctor’s aquarium. The boy put his finger above the picture book, to the right of the book, and then to the left of the book. “One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three,” he whispered to himself, touching each of the three points three times.

His mom opened the door and came back in. The summer heat from outside reached in to bathe him in warmth. She shut the door with exasperation. She sat down beside him, reeking of cigarette smoke and hair spray. She adjusted his collar and gave him a nervous smile. “You’re such a big man now,” she said and patted his hair again.

The boy pointed to the man in the robe in the picture. “Mom, is that boy that man’s son?”

“I don’t know, honey.” She picked up the same magazine again and started ripping through it at lightning speed.

“What’s he doing with the knife, Mom?”

His mom gave a half smile and looked at the picture absentmindedly. “He’s protecting his boy from someone who might hurt him. Stay still, honey. Why is the doctor making us wait so long? If he doesn’t see us by twelve, we’ll have to leave. He ought to pay us for making us wait.”

The boy studied the picture again.

“That’s Abraham, stupid,” the little girl stage-whispered from across the room.

The boy looked at her and scowled. “Yeah, like you know.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and turned it upside down.

His mom backhanded a few more pages, put the magazine down, and looked him in the eyes. She beamed. “Honey, I have a surprise for you. I’ve been waiting to tell you, and I’ve been looking for the right moment. I guess no moment is really the right moment. At 12:15 today we are going to see Sammy again. He’s come back. He’ll be waiting for us at our place. Isn’t that exciting? Everything will be different. You’ll be nice to him, won’t you? Honey, don’t bite your thumbs, you’ll make them bleed again.”

The boy wouldn’t look at his mom. He stared down at the picture of the man with the knife. Then he looked up at the clock above the receptionist. The little hand was close to the twelve and the big hand was on the eight. He turned the page of the book and another page was torn out. The next page after the torn one had a picture of a man sleeping with his head on a rock. He didn’t have a beard and he looked scared. His robe was a dull gray and looked dirty, but in the background, angels were coming up and down out of the sky on a shimmering stairway.

“I want to camp out on my own like this guy does, away from everybody, away from the house,” he told his mom.

“That’s sweet, honey,” she said as she finished the magazine again and looked at her watch.
The little boy’s lips moved as he carefully scrutinized the words beneath the picture of the man camping out. His eyes got wider. He traced a word with his finger. He almost forgot where he was. “I want to be like this guy,” he whispered.

A man in a suit breezed in and talked to the receptionist. Immediately his mom sat up straighter. The man finished with the receptionist and turned around and looked for a seat. His mom widened her eyes and smiled at the man. He smiled back.

The next page of the book was also torn out. On the following page was the best picture of all. A youth was wearing a beautiful robe with many different stripes of colors. He seemed so happy and looked as though nothing bad would ever happen to him. A man with a white beard was smiling next to him in the picture. The boy stared at the colors in the book for a long time. If he focused his eyes beyond the page, the colors blurred together like rainbow ice cream. Somehow looking at it kept his stomach from hurting so badly.

“Mom, I want a coat like this one.”

His mom looked at the picture for a moment. Her tone sounded much more patient with him now that the new man was in the waiting room. “Everybody wants a coat like that, honey. You’ll get yours one day.”

The little girl stretched her freckled face up as high as she could so she could see the picture. “That’s Joseph, you toad,” she said hoarsely from across the room. “Don’t you ever go to church?”

Her mother pulled her back close to her lap and said, “Hush.”

The boy looked at the clock. The big hand was on the nine. “Mom, let’s just stay here. It’s nice and cool and our air conditioner doesn’t work at home. I like looking at the books here. I like the fish. Let’s just stay here and not go back home. It’s too hot there.”

His mom looked at her watch again. “Why are your hands so clammy, sweetie? You’re making the book wet. What’s wrong with you? Stop biting your thumb or you’ll make it bleed right before we see the doctor. Do you want to get me into even more trouble?” She smiled at the man as she got up and walked past him to the receptionist. “Could you tell me how much longer it will be until we can see the doctor? I have another urgent appointment.” She conferred with the receptionist for a few minutes in hushed tones.

The boy found an envelope in the back of the book with all the colorful pictures. It had bright green writing on it and a red border. The envelope said you could send off for more books with other stories. The boy looked up at the little girl across the room. She was yanking on her mother’s sleeve and whispering something in her ear. She was probably talking about the boy’s mom. While making sure the girl was still looking at her own mom, he carefully folded the envelope once and put it in his jean pocket.

The girl was staring insolently at him again. He wanted to do something to the book. He wanted to add a character to protect the boy from the father with the knife. He reached in his other pocket and pulled out half a red crayon. He wanted to draw a picture in the book. He wanted to put someone in there to help that angel keep that boy from getting cut, but he knew that the girl on the opposite couch would never let him get away with drawing in the book. He pulled out his stack of baseball cards as she continued to stare. He carried only Yankees. He pulled his prize Reggie Jackson card from the stack and began to place it in the book but decided against it. He pulled out a relief pitcher, Dick Tidrow. He would be a good enough guard to help the angel. Then he put the card carefully in the page where the sad man was dressed in the long robe and holding the knife. He made sure that the edge of the card was exactly parallel to the edge of the book. He knew the girl was watching him. He closed the book very slowly and with great respect. Very quietly, with just one finger, he touched three sides of the book again, three times. “One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three,” he said under his breath. He put the book down gently on the table and then put both hands on his stomach and doubled over until his head touched his knees. A groan came out of him before he knew it.

The little girl sneered at him, “You’re nuts!” Her mom held her closer and made a shushing sound.

The boy looked at the clock again as his mom plopped down on the sofa with a snort. The big hand was already past the eleven. “Mom, let’s stay here. We’ve already waited a long time. Let’s stay.”

“Straighten up, sweetie. Why are you bent over? Everything is going to be fine. Soon we will see Sammy and everything will be different. It won’t be like last time. You’ll see. Everything will be fine.” She looked at her watch again then got up to talk to the receptionist. She seemed to be talking faster and faster. Finally she marched back to her son and said firmly, “We’re going now. We’ll have to come back another day. Let’s go, honey. Straighten up and stop frowning.”
She grabbed his hand, but he grabbed the arm of the sofa with his other hand. The arm of the sofa had padding on the top, but a metal support on the side. It was just right for grabbing. She pulled and his knuckles whitened. “Come on, sweetie, don’t be silly.” She smiled at the man and the other mother. She was petite and could not get her son to loosen his grip. He was small for an eleven-year-old, but his grasp was almost as strong as his mother’s. She reached to loosen his grip with her hand, but he simply grabbed the arm of the sofa with his other hand.

She smiled sweetly to the man and said, “Would you mind helping me, please?”

He hesitated, got up awkwardly, and began to loosen the grip of the other hand. The aquarium began to rumble like a volcano, and both the receptionist and the other mother stood up. The boy was stretched out like a cartoon as the mother pulled and the man pried his fingers from the sofa. In the middle of the hubbub, the little girl came up to hold his torso, as if to protect him from falling. Where her mother couldn’t see, she grabbed the sensitive skin next to his ribs and pulled and twisted at the same time as hard as she could.

In the tussle, the book with the men in robes fell to the floor and the little girl slipped on it. The baseball card slid underneath the sofa. The receptionist picked up the phone to call someone. The other mother grabbed for her daughter. The little boy squealed a high squeal; he was a desperate guinea pig grabbed by many hands.

Finally, the man got both hands loose, and his mom dragged him by the torso and opened the door. He clutched at the frame of the door but couldn’t hold on. By that time, some people in white coats came out with the receptionist and shouted as his mom dragged him out to the steaming parking lot. His mother roared back at them with a curse. He cried and whimpered for help as he got one last glimpse of the girl looking out at him from the waiting room window. She stood with her hands on her hips and her tongue sticking out.

Until he ran away from home, a number of years later, the little boy never went back to a doctor.

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

FIRST Day, August 1st: FULL TILT by Creston Mapes

Welcome to The Bedford Review. If you visited this site in the past, you know that my postings were not done on a regular basis. This is a new start for me. I have been visiting other blogs and have caught the fever.

The first day of each month I will feature the first chapter of a new book.

The rest of the month will include the Christian Fiction blog tour and the Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy Tour. Between the various blog tours, I will review books that have a Christian theme, other blogs and websites, and possibly some movie/TV reviews.

Now on to the FIRST tour.

It is August 1st, time for the FIRST Day Blog Tour! (Join our alliance! Click on the link!) The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and their latest book's FIRST chapter!

This month's feature author is:
Creston Mapes

Creston Mapes' first book, Dark Star: Confessions of a Rock Idol, has been selected by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) as a finalist for its 2006 Inspirational Readers Choice awards in the category of long, contemporary novel. Awards will presented this summer in Atlanta at the Marriott Marquis hotel.

Full Tilt, the second book in the Rock Star Chronicles, is racking up a number of fine reviews, many stating that its story/writing has surpassed the quality of that in Dark Star. His third novel, a psychological thriller based in Las Vegas, is due out in 2007.

As he has for 20 years, Creston resides in the Atlanta metropolitan area with his hometown sweetheart and four marvelous children. He loves reading, painting, morning walks with his dog, family outings, watching hockey, going on dates with his wife, meeting friends for coffee, and spending time in God's Word.

Rock Star Chronicles, Book 2

Full Tilt
a novel
by Creston Mapes

1

Black night. Familiar backstreets. Windows down. Cold air. Cruisin’ free.

Top of the world.

This was what it was about, baby. Lit on meth and movin’ at what seemed like the speed of light.

Lords of the night.

Over to Fender’s Body Shop on autopilot. Hands drumming on the dash and seats to the beat of the night and the pulse of the blood pounding through their veins.
Down the slope.

Whoa.

Past the dimly lit customer entrance and around back of the shop the Yukon swung and jerked to a stop. One, two, three of them exited the SUV and glided through the gate that was cracked open.

Wesley Lester was last to pass through the high chain-link fence. He slowed to peer at the snow-covered wreckage way out back of the shop, much of which had sat unchanged, like an eerie sculpture, for months beneath a haze of dim yellow lights. Dozens of mangled cars and pickups, SUVs, a hearse, vans, and an old school bus sat like jagged headstones in a haunted cemetery, some piled one on top of the other.

Several hundred yards away, in the vicinity of the far lamppost, David Lester’s black Camaro lay still and sinister. Wesley’s little brother and two teenage friends had perished in that car with David at the wheel. Seventeen years old. Too dang young to die.

After having rushed to the surreal scene of the wreck in nearby White Plains a year ago, Wesley had never ventured back to reexamine the remnants of his little brother’s car—or the totaled Chrysler that carried an elderly couple from Scarsdale, also pronounced dead at the scene.

On the way toward the huge body shop, Wesley shivered at the chill of the New York winter—a feeling his little brother would never experience again. Grinding his teeth, Wesley ran several yards, bashing the already dented door of a white Beamer. Spinning away, he welcomed the sense of release, thrust his dead brother out of his jumpy mind, and followed the others.

Brubaker led the way through the employee entrance, slamming open the heavy steel door against the outside of the fabricated beige metal building. "Ah, smell that?" he said, not looking back. "Good ol’ Bondo. Be high all day if you worked in here."

Wesley cruised in last, leaving the door wide open and purposefully taking a giant whiff of the pungent air that reeked of metal and plastic dust.

Like mice, the three figures zigzagged through a maze of half-repaired vehicles toward an area that glowed white, back in the far corner of the building.

As they drew closer to the dancing light and long shadows, hard-driving music mixed with the static sound of a welder. A dark blue ’65 Mustang sat up on a hydraulic lift, and beneath it—behind a welding hood—stood Tony Badino.

Brubaker and Wesley came to a standstill, fascinated by the sparks that rained down on Tony’s dirty, charcoal coveralls and scuffed brown work boots; the kid stopped between them, equally entranced.

Tony must have seen them but went on welding like a macho man, his brawny legs braced apart, tool belt hanging low around his lean waist, broad shoulders and triceps locked in place as he hoisted the blazing welder.

Brubaker was like a four-year-old. Constant motion. Bobbing his head, singing unintelligibly, rubbing his face and arms, and repeatedly peering back toward the door and out the dirty windows. His paranoia was enough to make anybody start seeing things. The kid in the middle watched spellbound as Tony melded metal to metal.

In the scalding flame, Wesley remembered his brother, curly haired and anxious, slapping a twenty-dollar bill into his hand for a teener—one-sixteenth of an ounce of some of the best crank Wesley had ever come across. Then he flashed back to David’s demolished Camaro hours later—what was left of the engine, parts of the car scattered along Post Road, still smoking.

Once again Wesley was slapped in the face by the fact that he was the one who had poisoned his brother’s bloodstream the day he drove to his death.

No. No. No!

It wasn’t the meth that killed his brother. It was the years of Everett Lester’s tainted music that had contaminated David’s mind. It was Everett’s empty promises and repeated letdowns that had sent David longing for the grave and a so-called better life on the Other Side. And Everett would burn for it; uncle or no uncle, he would pay. Because Wesley was hearing the voice again.

Wesley actually jerked when Tony snapped back the flame, lowered the welder in his right hand, and flipped the dark visor up with the other.

"Boys." He eyed the dazed kid in the middle.

"This is the dude we told you about, from Yonkers," Brubaker yelled proudly above the music, rubbing at the insides of his elbows with his wrists. "Needs an ounce."

Tony extinguished the pilot on the welder, lowered it to the concrete floor by its cord, then walked over to the stereo and turned it off.

"Slow down, Brubaker." Tony shook off his big, stiff gloves and removed the hood to reveal a tough face with small, pronounced features and a glistening scalp covered only by what looked like about two weeks’ worth of brown hair.

Reaching inside the front waist pocket of his coveralls, Tony pulled out a silver Zippo and a pack of Marlboros. Tapping one out, he stuffed it in the side of his little mouth and lit it with a grimy hand. As he took a long drag and snatched the cigarette away with his left hand, Wesley noticed a small tattoo of an upside-down cross on the inside of his wrist.

Tony was one creepy dude. Knew what he wanted. Had kind of a fiendish aura about him. People were naturally scared of the guy. Maybe that’s why Wesley liked running with Tony, because it was risky and unpredictable. That gave him a rush. And it didn’t hurt that Tony always had the best jenny crank on the street.

Grabbing a hanger light from the frame of the Mustang, Tony walked beneath his work, inspecting the length of the exhaust system.

"How do you know Lester and Brubaker?" He tapped the muffler, cig in hand.

"Uh…a friend introduced me to Wesley at a party," the middle kid said.

"When?"

"Last week."

"And Brubaker?"

"Met him a couple nights later."

"Been tweekin’?"

"Uh…when do you mean?" The kid’s eyes darted to Bru then Wesley.

"Tonight." Tony stopped and stared at him.

"Earlier today," Wesley interrupted. "Couple teeners."

Tony went back to inspecting his work. "That same stuff from the other day?"

"Yeah. Finished it off." Wesley coughed, feeling somewhat like a raw recruit reporting for duty before some high-ranking officer.

"This new cristy blows that stuff away." Tony glanced at the three visitors, his right eye twitching. "Just in from Pennsylvania. Keep you amped for days. I’ve been workin’ nonstop since yesterday—goin’ on, what? Thirty-five hours?"

Brubaker and the stranger nodded, swayed, and laughed. Wesley simply stared, promising himself he wouldn’t bow down to the grease monkey like everybody else.

"So you need an ounce." Tony held the light up close to the tailpipe.

"Yep," piped up the kid in the middle.

"Good old Wesley Lester. I can always count on him to bring me the finest clientele." Tony nodded toward Wesley. "Do you know who this guy is? Who brought you here tonight?"

The kid stared at Tony with hollowed eyes and shrugged.

"This is the great Everett Lester’s nephew. Bet you didn’t know that."

What the heck?

The kid turned to Wesley. "No way."

"Straight," said Tony. "You’re in the presence of the bloodline of one of rock ’n’ roll’s greatest legends."

"Dude," the kid exclaimed, "I saw one of their very last shows—at The Meadowlands. They played three and a half hours, at least."

"With Aerosmith," Tony chimed in. "I was there. Wesley was supposed to be there backstage, but Uncle Everett stood him up."

"That’s cold," Brubaker mumbled.

Silently, expressionlessly, Wesley agreed.

Tony smirked at Bru, but it went right over the head of the kid in the middle.

"I lived and breathed DeathStroke," the kid said. "Lester was so stoned out of his mind that last show, he could barely stand by the end. But they jammed their hearts out."

"And now he’s a Jesus freak." Tony’s eyes shifted to meet Wesley’s, but his head didn’t move.
Wesley met his glance without flinching. His nostrils flared and his temper cranked up like the flame on the welder. He searched Tony’s face for the reason he would be trying to push Wesley’s buttons.

The kid in the middle picked up on the friction.

Tony smirked, knelt down, and began banging his tools into the drawers of a tall red metal toolbox on wheels.

"What’s he like, anyway?" the kid barged ahead. "Everett Lester, I mean…"

Brubaker looked uneasy, twisting and bouncing slightly on his toes.

"He’s a loser, okay?" Wesley snapped, walking over to a workbench cluttered with jars of nuts and bolts and old tools. "Dude’s a lyin’ hypocrite. Dang waste of breath!"

"Where does he live?" the kid asked. "Does he still have a place in Manhattan?"

Wesley’s back was to the others. He fingered the tools without a word. I wonder if he’d shut up if I heaved this jar of bolts at his head.

Brubaker ran interference. "He has a farm near Bedford and a place in Kansas—where his wife’s from."

"Oh yeah, that chick who converted him," the kid said.

Tony slammed the middle drawer closed.

"That was some story. I heard she wrote to him ever since she was like a teenager—Jesus this and Jesus that. And finally it stuck…can you believe that? The guy went off the deep end!"

Tony stood, banging another drawer shut. "Some people hit you over the head again and again with that Jesus hype till you’re brainwashed. Seen it happen."

"Well, look at the guy," the kid said. "I mean…he’s changed! I saw him and his wife on Larry King Live and he, I mean, it’s like he’s a different person—"

"Let’s do this deal!" With three long strides and a commanding kick, Wesley booted a large piece of scrap metal twenty feet across the dusty white floor.

The corners of Tony’s mouth curved up into a quick smile as he raised an eyebrow at the kid in the middle, stomped out his cigarette, and walked over to an old white sink. Pushing up his sleeves, he rinsed his hands and squeezed a glob of gray goop into his palm from a bright orange bottle.

"You got the cash?" he asked the kid above the running water.

"Yeah, yeah." The kid dug almost frantically into his front pocket and pulled out a clump of folded bills.

"Count it, Wes," Tony ordered, still washing.

Wesley hesitated before snatching the wad and rifling quickly through the bills. "Fifteen hundred. It’s here."

Tony dried his hands with a dirty towel, wiped his face with it, and looked at himself in the smudged mirror above the sink. Then he found the kid’s reflection in the mirror. "You don’t know where this devil dust came from."

"Oh…d-definitely n-not." He smiled anxiously. "I don’t even know you. We never met, as far as I’m concerned. Nope. Never met."

Tony dropped the towel on the edge of the sink and walked to the tool chest. Lifting the top, he pulled out a Tech .22 assault pistol with his right hand and a good-sized bag of off-white, crystal-like powder with the other. Turning, he tossed the bag to the kid, who fumbled it awkwardly but mangled it at the last second before it escaped his hands. Embarrassing.

"You hear about the body that turned up in Canarsie other day? In the scrap yard?" Tony approached the kid, whose forehead was glistening with sweat.

Here we go. Wesley wished Tony hadn’t picked up the gun but, at the same time, found it strangely exciting.

"Uh…no." The kid eyed the piece. "No, I missed that."

"Well, don’t miss what I’m telling you." Tony’s voice grew vicious as he neared the kid’s face.

"That guy had it comin’, okay? I know that for a fact."

The kid’s mouth was wide open, big eyes flashing, cheeks red as radishes.

"He was blabbin’ about where he got his rocket fuel."

"Listen, I…"

But before the kid could eke out another word, Tony lifted the modified Tech .22 sideways, shoulder-high, squinted, and blasted six rounds across the base of the metal wall beneath the workbench with one squeeze of the trigger.

Brubaker floundered back four feet as the smell of gunpowder hung in the air and the rattle of gunfire echoed in their ears.

The kid’s red face went ash white, and he looked as if he might lose his dinner.

Wesley kept a stone face, not wanting to show a trace of the fear that was making his hands shake.

"You know how many twenty-twos this mag carries?" Tony grabbed the fat magazine with his free hand.

The kid jerked his head in one rapid no.

"Twenty. And I got it rigged so I pull the trigger once and the thing can unload. You understand?"

The kid opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Word on the street is, the dude in Canarsie was a rat-squealing tell-all." Tony lightly tossed the Tech .22 in his right hand. "He got himself whacked for blabbing."

"Oh…don’t worry—"

"And the same will happen to you if you tell one soul where you got that cristy, you read?"

"Oh, hey, I read, I read. I’m not about to—"

"Now beat it!" Tony hoisted the weapon up to his shoulder and the kid scrambled an about-face, practically sprinting for the door with a blubbering Brubaker right on his heels.

Badino’s dark eyes locked in on Wesley, followed by the cock of his head and a smirk. "He ain’t gonna do no talkin’, now is he, Wes?"

Wesley watched the two figures scurry into the darkness. "No, I don’t believe so."

As Tony banged the Tech .22 back into the toolbox, two things occurred to Wesley: 1) He would love to see the bullets from that weapon rip through Everett Lester’s sickening, superspiritual flesh, and 2) if you ever wanted to commit a murder, Tony Badino was probably a very good person to know.

************************************

Excerpted from Full Tilt © 2006 by Creston Mapes, Inc. Used by permission of Multnomah Publishers, Inc. Excerpt may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
FULL TILT
published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
Published in association with the literary agency of Mark Sweeney & Associates, 28540 Altessa Way, Bonita Springs, Florida 34135© 2006 by Creston Mapes, Inc.

International Standard Book Number: 1-59052-506-X

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:New American Standard BibleÒ Ó 1960, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Other Scripture quotations are from:The Living Bible (tlb)Ó 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.All rights reserved.

Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc., and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.

For information:
MULTNOMAH PUBLISHERS, INC.601 N. LARCH STREETSISTERS, OREGON 97759
06 07 08 09 10—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Waking Lazarus

This month's blog tour is for T.L. Hines' book "Waking Lazarus". I am in the process of reading it and will post a review as soon as I finish it.

T. L. has a blog at
http://www.tlhines.com/blog/

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

Deliver Us From Evelyn

Take a moment and treat yourself to the opening chapter of Chris Well's newest novel "Deliver Us From Evelyn". Chris also has one of the best blogsites at...
http://chriswellnovelist.blogspot.com

After reading this chapter I am sure you will want to rush out and buy this book and Chris' first novel "Forgiving Solomon Long".

Follow this link to the first chapter...
http://novelspoilers.blogspot.com/