Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Unleash the Writer Within, by Cecil Murphey

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Unleash the Writer Within cover artUnleash the Writer Within, by Cecil Murphey (OakTara Publishers, 2011)

This book is a keeper. It’s not a “how-to-write” book, although Cecil Murphey is an excellent teacher of the craft. It’s more a collection of vignettes that prompt the reader to do what the title says: unleash the writer within.

Cec Murphey was on faculty one year at Write! Canada. I don’t remember what he said, but how he said it left me with great respect for not just his knowledge but his heart. If you read Unleash the Writer Within you’ll know what I mean.

Some of the short chapters cover typical writerly issues such as giftedness, inner critics and writer’s block. Most deal with topics like discovering who you—the writer—really are, finding/embracing/growing your voice, and learning how to like and to be gentle with yourself.

Before you dismiss the latter ideas as impractical, “out there” or whatever, stop to think about it. If we don’t really know who we are, if our creative and critical sides are in constant battle, we can’t reach our potential. We can’t write authentically, and we’ll miss touching a lot of lives.

Many of the chapters grow out of two key questions Cec Murphey asks when he teaches: “Why do you write?” and “What makes you keep writing?”

The book is an easy read, but one I chose to take in daily chapter doses so I could internalize what I’d read. Each chapter ends with a summarizing aphorism, like “I write to find out who I am” and “My inner critic can be my friend, so I honor and trust that voice.” Chapters are written in a very open, humble and self-effacing style, honestly revealing Mr. Murphey’s own struggles so that we can relate with our own.

My copy is flagged with coloured tabs for sections I’ve marked to re-read. It’s one of those books that I’d probably lend to a trusted friend, but only with a strong warning that I wanted it back.

Cecil Murphey is a multi-published, New York Times best-selling author. His website is The Man Behind the Words,  and writers will also want to check out his blog: Cec Murphey’s Writer to Writer.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Zinovy’s Journey, by Ginny Jaques

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Zinovy's Journey cover artZinovy’s Journey, by Ginny Jaques (Millennium Journeys Press, 2011)

When the world ends…
Zinovy’s journey begins.

Zinovy Kozlov was a successful assassin. Then he was running for his life. Now the earth itself has changed and his enemies are dead or out of reach. As he tackles the physical pilgrimage to the one remaining city on the planet, he doesn’t see that he and his companions are on a spiritual journey as well.

Zinovy’s Journey is “a speculative novel in three parts: The End, The Journey, and The Beginning.” It offers a little bit of just about everything: action, intrigue, suspense, a spacewalk, relationships, revenge, philosophy, end times, a whole new world, and surprises at every turn.

Author Ginny Jaques has envisioned a richly wondrous world set during Revelation’s thousand-year reign of Christ, and I’m sure the real thing will be all that and more than we can imagine. Reading about it made me wistful.

The author has chosen to interpret biblical references “as literally as possible in creating the setting, because that approach made an interesting physical backdrop for Zinovy’s journey.”

People have many different expectations about the end times, and if you read this novel checking it against your own understanding you’ll probably find differences. But you’ll also miss the story. Readers who take it as fiction and not doctrine will engage the universal story of human choices on the journey to a relationship with God.

One of the many things I appreciate about the novel is it doesn’t end with Zinovy accepting Christ. That happens in the middle section, and then we get to see his struggles as he learns what his choice means – and what it costs. For a rational man like Zinovy who has always dismissed Bible stories as fables taught by his mother, the path to faith is indeed quite a journey.

I found the pace slower in The Journey section, because there’s a lot of philosophical discussion among the travellers. Readers who enjoy deep thinking will be satisfied, and the characters touch on all the heavy-duty spiritual questions. To the characters, it’s not slow; it’s a necessary part of working through their concerns. And the action never stops, it just happens between conversations. There’s still danger lurking.

The characters came alive to me, especially Zinovy, Sara, and the boy Caleb. The day after finishing the story, I caught myself wondering what was happening in their world now. It was a bit disappointing to remember I couldn’t pick up the book and read more!

Zinovy’s Journey is Ginny Jaques’ first novel, and I really like her writing style. The novel is available through the Zinovy’s Journey website, where you can also view the trailer and read a sample chapter. Those who’ve already finished the book are invited to visit the About the Novel page for background information and deleted scenes. You can also read my interview with author Ginny Jaques.

Author’s Warning: Some scenes in this book contain violence, strong language, and religious ideas.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Dying to Read, by Lorena McCourtney

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Dying to ReadDying to Read, by Lorena McCourtney (Revell, 2012)

Cate Kinkaid is working for her Uncle Joe, “dipping her toe into the world of private investigation” until she can find a real job. Her past work experience, and her ex-fiancé, have left her feeling like a failure.

Her first investigative assignment seems to be more of the same: all she has to do is verify the address of a young woman named Willow, but Willow’s gone. Instead, Cate finds a dead body and ends up saddled with the deceased’s cat.

But Cate has spunk and some good instincts, and the official verdict of accidental death doesn’t feel right. Plus, she’s determined to find Willow before her uncle discovers the assignment’s still unfinished.

Suspects abound: Willow, the dead woman’s book club, her niece, her boyfriend. It’s not all bad, though. Cate meets a handsome handyman, Mitch, who appoints himself her bodyguard. Even that’s troublesome, because she still wonders if God will bring her ex-fiancé to his senses.

Dying to Read is book one in Lorena McCourtney’s new series, The Cate Kinkaid Files. After enjoying her Ivy Malone books, I was eager to give this one a try, and I look forward to reading more of Cate’s adventures.

Lorena McCourtney’s characters are always a treat, blending humour and eccentricities with hearts that are surprisingly real. Cate doesn’t trust her intuition, but she’s wiser than she knows, and she’s too stubborn to quit.

To learn more about the author and her books, visit Lorena McCourtney’s website. At the publisher’s website, you can read an excerpt of Dying to Read, or if you’ve already read the novel, check out the discussion questions.

[Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.]

Review: Dancing with Dynamite, by Tim Huff

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Dancing with Dynamite, cover artDancing with Dynamite, by Tim Huff (Castle Quay Books, 2010)

Dancing with Dynamite is subtitled “celebrating against the odds.” Something we all need to learn sooner or later.

It’s not a feel-good book, but it’s not depressing or painful either. It’s a good-for-you book, introducing real people in hard places and revealing surprising—and thought-provoking—moments of celebration.

It’s an invitation for us to really see the people around us, to see ourselves, and to dare to celebrate no matter what our circumstances.

Tim Huff writes with honesty about individuals he’s met: street people, group home residents, orphans and the aged, and more. The people society tries not to see. Sometimes the deeper story is how they affected his life—and how they can touch ours.

The book shares vignettes of his experiences in ministry to street youth in Toronto, working at a camp for the deaf, and playing Santa for orphans and the elderly in Romania. Although they’re accounts of the poor and marginalized, they’re about the larger human condition.

The author’s goal?

“My prayer is that you’ve found some semblance of yourself within these pages. And in that, that you know you belong. That you are worthy to be celebrated.” (p.163)

Canadian author and speaker Tim Huff has also written Bent Hope: A Street Journal for adults, and the children’s picture book The Cardboard Shack Beneath the Bridge: Helping Children Understand Homelessness, both bestsellers. All three books have won awards (in 2011 Dancing With Dynamite received the Grace Irwin Award, Canada’s largest literary prize for writers who are Christian).

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Cooking the Books, by Bonnie S. Calhoun

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Cooking the Books cover artCooking the Books, by Bonnie S. Calhoun (Abingdon Press, 2012)

When Sloane Templeton fled her abusive husband, she moved into an apartment above her mother’s bookstore in Brooklyn, NYC. Her mom’s sudden death left her co-owner of the store, and business partner with store manager Felicia Tyler.

Sloane’s not the bookstore type. She’s a computer forensics pro. But she’s not ready to let go of the connection to her mother and move on with life. Especially not now, when community business owners are under pressure to sell out to a big developer and she can still hear her mother’s thoughts on the subject.

Sloane is a vibrant, sassy character with a penchant for strays (of the human variety). Her self-appointed mother-hens, Felicia and Aunt Verlene, are as supportive as they can be. Sadly for Sloane, that support comes in the form of shooting lessons, fear-inspiring home cuisine, and a concerted attempt to set her up with nice young men despite her current relationship.

Then the email threats start. Her former boyfriend (not the ex-husband, he’s trouble of a different sort) wants her back. Rude but wealthy men compete for a valuable book. And the developer piles on the pressure to sell. What’s a girl to do?

The characters make the novel. Felicia and Verlene are larger-than-life comedic individuals like you’d find in Janice Hanna Thompson’s Weddings by Bella series. Between the fast-paced banter and all that’s going on in Sloane’s life, it’s a fun read. And a good mystery: who’s behind all this?

When the immediate mystery is solved, there are enough threads left to warrant a sequel. Always a good thing… I hope we’ll see more Sloane Templeton Mysteries. For a bit of fun, click this link to meet Sloane Templeton.

Bonnie S. Calhoun is director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and owner/publisher of the popular Christian Fiction Online magazine. Cooking the Books is her first novel, and it fits her tag line: snark & suspense. For more about the author, visit bonniescalhoun.com. And check out Vonda Skelton’s interview with Bonnie.  You can also read the first chapter of Cooking the Books.

[Review copy from my personal library.]
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Review: Nick of Time, by Tim Downs

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Nick of Time cover artNick of Time, by Tim Downs (Thomas Nelson, 2011)

“The Bug Man is getting married on Saturday … if his fiancée can find him.”

Nick Polchak is a forensic entomologist: he studies bugs, specifically the ones attracted to corpses. One thing these bugs do is help him pinpoint the time of death.

His fiancée, Alena, trains rescue dogs for work sniffing out drugs or finding cadavers. They’re her family. She lives in a locked compound outside of town, and she doesn’t encourage visitors.

For all his eccentricities, Nick shares one thing with most engaged men: the whole wedding preparation thing bores and scares him. Maybe that’s why he insists on leaving town for a cold-case meeting with his colleagues.

It’s the week before the wedding, but he can back the next day. Except one of his friends dies, he clashes with the responding police officer, and things progress from there. Suddenly Nick is following clues that take him farther from home—and his wedding date is getting closer.

When he doesn’t phone her as promised, Alena sets off after him with three of her best dogs. She’s a formidable tracker and good at getting the information she needs, but Nick is on the move and she’s always one step behind.

Page one of the novel hooked me, and page four had me laughing aloud. Yes, Nick works with gross bugs with fancy Latin names, but the story doesn’t have a significant ick factor. (If you hate bugs, you might disagree…) It does have a lot of funny bits, usually to do with Nick’s words and actions.

Nick and Alena are blunt-spoken, borderline socially-dysfunctional characters. I loved reading about them—I want to go back and start the series at the beginning—but I sure wouldn’t want to live with either of them. They’re a good match.

Nick of Time picks up where Tim Downs’ previous Bug Man novel, Ends of the Earth, left off. I was able to pick it up cold and enjoy. If you want to start with book one in the series, look for Shoofly Pie. At Tim Downs’ website, you can read the first three chapters of any of his books.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Words in the Wind, by Yvonne Anderson

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Words in the Wind cover art Words in the Wind, by Yvonne Anderson (Risen Books, 2012)

Words in the Wind is book 2 in the Gateway to Gannah series. Book 1, The Story in the Stars, introduces Dassa, the sole survivor of planet Gannah, and Dr. Pik of planet Karkar. Dassa looks like most humans, but Karkars are taller, with six fingers and toes per hand/foot, and the only emotions they show are through their ear movements. The two planets, Gannah and Karkar, have a bloody history.

I can’t review book 2 without giving spoilers for book 1, so if this is a new series to you, click over to my review of The Story in the Stars. You may want to read that novel first.

[Scroll down for the rest of the Words in the Wind review]

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Words in the Wind takes place 20 years after Dassa, the last Gannahan, is rescued, and 10 years after she and Pik have married. They’re leading a settlement of humans whose goal is to repopulate Gannah according to the Old Gannahan customs, culture and language.

It’s a harsh culture in some ways, based on honour, truth and communal living. Many of the Old Gannahans had embraced Christianity when it was shared from Earth, partly because God (they call Him the Yasha) spoke directly to them. The settlers are Christians as well.

True Gannahans have a meah organ in their brains, allowing them to hear one another as well as God. A Gannahan was never truly alone, until Dassa became the last survivor.

In Words in the Wind, Dassa is stranded on the far side of the planet when her shuttle crashes. The impact damages her meah and she’s cut off from her children and from her God. She must survive in harsh surroundings and find a way home if her people can’t locate her. And she needs to learn to live her faith the way other races do, relying only on the words in the Bible and on God’s providence.

Pik has no contact with her but he’s convinced she’s still alive. Weather and equipment foil his rescue attempts, and the harder he tries to keep the settlers together and to lead in her absence, the worse he seems to do.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Dassa’s journey is an adventure, and while it’s dangerous, I wasn’t afraid for her. And then there’s the whole rediscovering Gannah aspect: this amazing planet with habitations and archives ready to be explored and put to use. Plus there’s the trust these people (most of them) have in their God to be with them in the hard times and to make a way.

When I reached the end I kept wanting to turn pages but there were no more! I’ll be eagerly waiting for book 3, Ransom in the Rock. In the mean time, if you like Christian science fiction that’s light on the science and more about the people and the planet, I highly recommend the Gateway to Gannah series.

You can learn more about Yvonne Anderson at her website, Y’s Words. Or follow this link for more about the Gateway to Gannah series. Yvonne is also part of the team at Novel Rocket.

[Review copy provided by the author in exchange for a fair review.]

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Review: Destiny’s Hands, by Violet Nesdoly

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Destiny's Hands cover artDestiny’s Hands, by Violet Nesdoly (Word Alive Press, 2012)

Destiny’s Hands is the story of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt as seen through the eyes of a gifted young Hebrew. Bezalel has trouble of his own, first as a slave and then as a free man, and family connections keep him close enough to Moses to observe the key events of the Exodus.

We may know the historical backdrop, but it’s interesting to stop and imagine what it felt like to the people living through it. They didn’t know what we know now, and Moses brought upheaval. Some believed, some didn’t. Most found it hard to trust Moses and to obey his instructions. Even sincere followers struggled with doubt and uncertainty.

The novel is a gentle read that acknowledges the harshness of the times but doesn’t dwell on the suffering. Instead its focus is the characters’ journey, both physical and spiritual. It covers the actual Exodus and the trip to Mount Sinai, including familiar elements like the crossing of the Red Sea, the grumbling in the wilderness, the golden calf and the Ten Commandments.

I enjoyed reading Bezalel’s story and the fresh look at his people’s liberation. My only disappointment was that it stopped so soon, and I’m hoping that means there’ll be a sequel. If you don’t know who the real Bezalel was, I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say God had a plan for his life. Destiny’s Hands ends as he steps into that purpose. I’d like to see him walk through it, and I’d like to see his people enter the Promised Land.

Canadian author Violet Nesdoly writes in many forms and genres. Destiny’s Hands was short-listed in Word Alive Press’ 2011 publishing contest, and it’s her first novel. To learn more about Violet, visit her website (previous link) and check out my interview with her: part 1 and part 2.

[Review copy provided by the author in exchange for a fair review.]

Review: Death of the Couch Potato’s Wife, by Christy Barritt

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Death of the Couch Potato's Wife cover art Death of the Couch Potato’s Wife, by Christy Barritt (Lighthouse Publishing, 2012)

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Laura Berry and her husband Kent have relocated from Chicago to a town called Boring, Indiana.

The locals call them city slickers, the Homeowners’ Association rules are driving them nuts, and Laura’s only friend is a senior citizen who tries to talk like a teenager. Kent is putting in long hours as new owner of the town pharmacy, and Laura can’t get a  handle on the housewife thing after being a career woman.

Then she finds her neighbour dead—murdered—and someone starts sending anonymous threats. Will the mystery jolt her out of her depression, or send her over the edge?

Christy Barritt weaves an intriguing plot that kept me guessing until the end. Laura is a lifelike character who’s struggling emotionally, yet she’s someone we can relate to. And the mystery balances her introspection.

In some ways Laura is a textbook “unreliable narrator” in that readers begin to suspect her perceptions and perspectives may not be as accurate as she thinks. That’s a good lesson for all of us, because so often we do the same things to ourselves.

Award-winning mystery author Christy Barritt’s novels include the Squeaky Clean Mystery Series and a number of Love Inspired titles. You can learn more about Christy Barritt and her books at her website.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: You Are A Writer, by Jeff Goins

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You Are A Writer cover artYou Are A Writer, by Jeff Goins (Kindle edition, 2012)

This e-book’s full title is You Are A Writer (So Start Acting Like One), and Jeff Goins packs a lot of coaching and practical information into its digital pages.

His premise is that writers (and wanna-bes) need to stop waiting for permission or endorsement from someone in the industry. We need to write our passion instead of writing to please the gatekeepers. And we need to do it well.

It begins with showing up. Day after day.

We need to talk ourselves into writing instead of out of it. Writing regularly will train us and develop our voices. If we risk posting that writing on a blog or sharing it with our friends, we’ll discover what works and what doesn’t.

All of this—this business of becoming a writer—starts not with the hands, but with the head. (Kindle location 156)

That’s one of the key messages of You Are A Writer. The other is that it’ll take a lot of work and perseverance. Here again, a large chunk of the battle is mental.

If passion isn’t what drives you, you may not have much tolerance for the pain, rejection, and disappointment of the writer’s life. If, however, you write because you have to—because you can’t imagine not doing it—then there may be hope for you yet. (Kindle location 787)

Once we’ve decided to show up, or to rediscover the joy of writing if we’ve become disillusioned or worn down, You Are A Writer has good advice on things like platform-building, branding and connections.

Jeff Goins’ approach is to “serve your way into relationships” (Kindle location 514). Not in a manipulative way, but as a way of life. Give to others. Meet their needs. It’s the old saying: what goes around, comes around. Or the Golden Rule: treat others the way you wish to be treated.

We all know sometimes this will bite us. But it works. And it makes for a more contented life.

It’s definitely worked for Mr. Goins. He’s served up plenty of free, quality writing advice on his blog, and the gatekeepers are now coming to him with invitations.

My review copy is one of the free Kindle downloads he offered. I’m doing this review, not as repayment or even as a thank-you, but to help spread the word about a valuable resource that could make a difference in your life – if you are a writer.

Visit Jeff Goins, Writer for more about the author and to see what you can learn from his blog. You can also check out the You Are a Writer website for quotes, endorsements etc, or join the conversation on Twitter with the #youareawriter hashtag.

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