Leona's Reviews: Christian

Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Queen's Handmaid by Tracy Higley

From goodreads.com:

"From the servant halls of Cleopatra’s Egyptian palace to the courts of Herod the Great, Lydia will serve two queens to see prophecy fulfilled.

Alexandria, Egypt 39 BC

Orphaned at birth, Lydia was raised as a servant in Cleopatra's palace, working hard to please while keeping everyone at arm's length. She's been rejected and left with a broken heart too many times in her short life.

But then her dying mentor entrusts her with secret writings of the prophet Daniel and charges her to deliver this vital information to those watching for the promised King of Israel. Lydia must leave the nearest thing she’s had to family and flee to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy City, she attaches herself to the newly appointed king, Herod the Great, as handmaid to Queen Mariamme.

Trapped among the scheming women of Herod’s political family—his sister, his wife, and their mothers—and forced to serve in the palace to protect her treasure, Lydia must deliver the scrolls before dark forces warring against the truth destroy all hope of the coming Messiah."

Paperback, 400 pages

Published March 18th 2014 by Thomas Nelson

ISBN

1401686842 (ISBN13: 9781401686840)

edition language

English

Leona's Review:

I thought I had read Tracy Higley's books in the past, but find this is my first read by her. I always like to read historical fiction and this book did not disappoint. It is full of history and gave me some more knowledge of the times and people. I did not know that Cleopatra, for example, had sisters. There is a map of the Mediterranean area in the front of the book and the family charts of The Hasmonean Dynasty and also Herod's Family.

The book is dedicated to: For Steve Laube. In gratitude for nearly a decade of unwavering support, wise guidance, and genius friendship.

The book begins in Alexandria, Egypt on January, 39 BC.

Lydia is the handmaid to Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. She is to become the handmaid of Herod's future wife Mariamme and so travels to Jerusalem.

The journey is long but on the trip Lydia becomes acquainted with David, who is younger than her.

Lydia's mentor, Samuel, was killed but before he dies he had passed the scrolls from the prophet Daniel to Lydia with instructions where to deliver and to whom. The scrolls are usually passed from father to son but these were now for Lydia to deliver. Lydia must carry the scrolls with her and keep them a secret and so they are hidden most of the time

There is a lot of warfare in this novel with some descriptions of death but fits the story and the history of the wars at that time.

The Queen's Handmaid is full of history and of the Jewish religion and beginning of the Christian religion.

I give this a 5 star rating. It is a historical fiction book with some romance. The author, Tracy Higley, shows she has done extensive research to write this novel. The end was unexpected for me but I was pleased with it. This is a book that can be re-read for those interested in history.

I wish there had been a list of the characters and the places in the book. There were many and I think it would have helped the reader.

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Church Builder by A. L. Shields

From the jacket of the book:
"For two months, small-town lawyer Bethany Barclay has been mourning the hit-and-run death of her enigmatic best friend, Annabelle Seaver. Then the son of her wealthiest client is found murdered in her kitchen. When Bethany herself becomes the leading suspect, she must flee both the authorities and a mysterious killer. But there is more at stake than she knows: Bethany is caught in the web of a shadowy organization determined to destroy Christianity."

Leona's Review:
This book was somewhat of a disappointment for me. I found grammar errors as well as other errors such as at the top of one the pages, it talked about the tea bags and the end of the page, it said he stirred his coffee.

I think more could have been accomplished with a better ending as well as less activities happening in the book. There were too many names and I was unsure of the good guys and the bad guys for a time. It took me to get to page 90 to really find an interest.

Bethany is a lawyer who has written a will for a client and the son is upset the money was left to an organization. He is found dead at Bethany's house and then she begins her run from the law and others.

I never find a connect with her and the other characters in the book. It is a mystery and does have the twists and turns a reader would expect from a mystery book. I kept waiting for someone to really be trusted.

Religion is part of the book but not overly done.

I would also have found a different title for The Church Builder; I do not think the title fits the book.

I do suggest that the reader complete the book as it does have some interesting portions and surprises. I will probably do a re-read of it.

I am unsure of the ratings I want to give it; I have been from a 3 to a 5 and will end up with a 4.
I received a complimentary copy of The Church Builder from booksneeze.com to read and review.
The opinions are my own.

From zondervan:
A. L. Shields is a pseudonym for Stephen L. Carter, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale, where he has taught for thirty years. He is also the author of seven acclaimed works of nonfiction and five bestselling novels. His first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002), spent eleven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. His most recent novel, The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, was published in July of 2012.
Write to Zondervan authors or their estates in care of Zondervan. Your mail will be forwarded as soon as possible, but please note that the author might not be able to respond personally. Send postal mail to:
A.L. Shields
c/o Zondervan
ATTN: Author Care
5300 Patterson SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49530
http://zondervan.com
http://zondervan.com/shieldsal

Monday, September 30, 2013

Fatal Tide by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson

Fatal Tide (East Salem Trilogy #3)
From goodreads.com

by Lis Wiehl (Goodreads Author), Pete Nelson (With)
Fatal Tide

Dani and Tommy discover that the vicious killings in East Salem were merely the birth pangs of a greater evil about to be born.
Occultist leaders at Saint Adrian’s school are in league with an East Salem pharmaceutical company. Together they've developed a drug that acts as a time-bomb in children, attacking and killing the prefrontal cortex—the moral center of the brain—once adolescence begins.
East Salem residents Dani Harris, forensic psychiatrist, and Tommy Gunderson, former pro-football player, have discovered the plan to deliver this drug into the water system and will stop at nothing to halt it. Their secret weapon? Reese Stratton, a student who barely escaped from St. Adrian’s—without his twin brother.
Now demonic creatures are terrorizing East Salem under the cover of darkness. Having killed two residents, the beasts have surrounded Tommy’s hillside home. But their deadly attacks seem to have been just a prelude to greater disaster: during a physical battle between angels and demons, a dam breaks, flooding the town of East Salem, but also washing it clean.

Leona's Review:
This is the third book in the East Salem Trilogy by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson. I have not read the other two books but Fatal Tide is a stand alone read.

The book is about a fight of good and evil, angels and demons.

Tommy Gunderson has taken in Reese Stratton-Mallins who has escaped from St. Adrian's school. Reese has a twin, Edmund, who has changed; the twins at one time communicated with each other verbally and mentally. Their parents were killed in a car accident. The twins are 17 years old.

Dani Harris and Tommy Gunderson are some of the main characters in the book and closer that just friends. They work together with friends and others to rid the evil from the school.

There are many medical terms used in the book; I found I have "hypnagogic dreams" which are dreams that incorporate external stimuli into dream experiences. A dreamer hearing someone mowing the lawn, might dream he was riding a motorcycle. (page 232)

Some touches of humor in the book. Reese, a Brit, says "This is quite good. I've never had a jelly and peanut butter sandwich before". "Peanut butter and jelly, Ruth corrected him. I don't know why, but jelly never comes first." (page 182).

This is a fast moving book that focus on Christian teaching of evil. The time this all happens is December 20-25.

No bad language or sex in the book but some violence.

The back of the book has twelve reading group guide questions. Two questions are: 1.Can you cite and incidents where angels have directly intervened in your life and 2. The East Salem Trilogy uses, for literary purposes, the idea of prophecies. What prophecies do you believe in? What's the difference between a false prophecy and a true prophecy?

I give it a 5 star because I really liked it.

I received a complimentary copy of Fatal Tide to read and review from booksneeze.com. The opinions are my own.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.liswiehlbooks.com/

About this authoredit data
Lis Wiehl is the author "Face of Betrayal," a New York Times Best Seller.

She has also written "Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life" and "The 51% Minority: How Women Still Are Not Equal and What You Can Do About It."

In addition to her written work, Wiehl is currently a legal analyst for Fox News. She has been with the network since 2001.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Wiehl is an adjunct professor at New York Law School.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pete Nelson

Pete Nelson lives with his wife and son in Westchester, New York. He got his MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1979 and has written both fiction and non-fiction for magazines, including Harpers, Playboy, Esquire, MS, Outside, The Iowa Review, National Wildlife, Glamour, Redbook. He was a columnist for Mademoiselle and a staff writer for LIVE Magazine, covering various live events including horse pulls, music festivals, dog shows, accordion camps and arm wrestling championships. Recently he was a contributing editor and feature writer for Wondertime, a Disney parenting magazine.

He's published twelve young adult novels, including a six-book series about a girl named Sylvia Smith-Smith which earned him an Edgar Award nomina...more Pete Nelson lives with his wife and son in Westchester, New York. He got his MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1979 and has written both fiction and non-fiction for magazines, including Harpers, Playboy, Esquire, MS, Outside, The Iowa Review, National Wildlife, Glamour, Redbook. He was a columnist for Mademoiselle and a staff writer for LIVE Magazine, covering various live events including horse pulls, music festivals, dog shows, accordion camps and arm wrestling championships. Recently he was a contributing editor and feature writer for Wondertime, a Disney parenting magazine.

He's published twelve young adult novels, including a six-book series about a girl named Sylvia Smith-Smith which earned him an Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. His young adult non-fiction WWII history, Left For Dead (Randomhouse, 2002) about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis won the 2003 Christopher award as was named to the American Library Association's 2003 top ten list.

His other non-fiction titles include Real Man Tells All (Viking, 1988), Marry Like a Man (NAL, l992), That Others May Live (Crown, 2000) and Kidshape (Rutledge Hill, 2004). His novel The Christmas List was published by Rutledge Hill Press in 2004. He wrote, with former army counterintelligence agent Dave DeBatto, a four book series of military thrillers, including CI: Team Red (2005), CI: Dark Target (2006), CI: Mission Liberty (2006) and CI: Homeland Threat (2007) published by Time-Warner. A More Unbending Battle; The Harlem Hellfighters' Struggle for Democracy in WWI and Equality at Home, was published in 2009 by Basic Civitas books. His novel, I Thought You Were Dead, will be published by Algonquin in 2010. He also has two CDs out on the Signature Sounds label, the first entitled The Restless Boys Club (1996), the second called Days Like Horses (2000).

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Voice in the Wind

A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers

A historical novel set after the the death of Jesus Christ and most of the book is based in Rome. A graphic book with the details of the Gladiators, brutal treatments of the Christian people and also of the Jewish. Rome is the ruler at this time period. The reader is taken into the lives of the people.

An interesting book to read. The research of the time period is very complete. Some historical characters but most are fictional. The details of the Christians, the Romans, the Coliseum, people, dress, food and even the cemeteries are good. For one that has studied Roman history and knows a lot of the customs, it helps the reader.

Hadassah, the main character, is a Jewish slave that has become a Christian. She is the slave of Julia, sister of Marcus who falls in love with Hadassah. The parents of Marcus and Julia is Phoebe and Decimus Valerian. She is very devout to God. Sometimes, I think I wished she could bend a little. A faithful slave and such an understanding of people.

This is the first book of the Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers. Francine Rivers is a New York Times Best Seller Author.

I would not recommend this book for younger readers, I suggest at least High School. Good for a Christian book club. There is a discussion Guide on page 521. There is a color Roman Empire Map- C. 117 AD. The book is 524 pages including the guide.

Contents:

Forward by Mark D. Taylor ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Part l: Jerusalem page 1

Part ll: Germania page 23

Part lll: Rome page 41

Part lV: Ephesus page 349

Francine Rivers has dedicated this book to her mother, Frieda King.

I look forward to reading the other two books of this series, Echo in the Darkness and As Sure of the Dawn

I give A Voice in the Wind a 5 star.

The author may be reached at www.francinerivers.com

I wish to thank Tyndale Publishers and Francine Rivers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Leona Olson

Monday, August 6, 2012

Where Heaven Begins By Rosanne Bittner

The book begins August 4, 1898.

Elizabeth Breckenridge has just been informed by the church deacons that she must leave Reverend Selby's residence because of an incident that was not her fault. Now, left alone in the world with her parents dead and her brother in Alaska, she has an uncertain future.

Elizabeth has decided to go to Alaska to find her brother, Peter, who is a minister of a church in Dawson.

Her journey begins at the wharf in San Francisco as she prepares to board the Alaskan Damsel. Elizabeth sees all kinds of people also waiting to board: Chinese, Negroes, painted women, a couple of men that might be Eskimo as well as the men searching for gold. She has never been around people of different races even though her father did minister to everyone.

Elizabeth's purse is robbed by a man and as she is yelling, another man comes to her rescue and retrieves her bag. His name is Clint Brady, a bounty hunter who is going to Alaska to get a criminal.

Now the adventure and hardships begin. Clint and Elizabeth are the main characters of the book.

Where Heaven Begins is filled with quotes from the Bible and Elizabeth prays all the time. I found it a fast moving and page turning book. I will give it a five star because it really kept my attention. A book of history, love, hardships, emotions, patience and tolerance.
You can find the author at : www.rosannebittner.com

Leona Olson

mnleona.blogspot.com
http://mnleona.blogspot.com/2012/08/where-heaven-begins-by-rosanne-bittner.html