Review: Vanished, by Barbara Ann Derksen

Vanished, by Barbara Ann Derksen (Smashwords Edition, 2010)

Vanished is book one in the Wilton-Strait Murder Mystery series from Canadian author Barbara Ann Derksen. The novel opens with the abduction of Trent and Diane Michner and their young son, Jeffrey.

Andrea Wilton and Brian Strait, each a good friend of the Michners but not well-acquainted with one another despite attending the same church, discover the empty house and the signs of struggle, and become the newest targets of their friends’ enemies.

A dying man warns them not to trust the police, and launches them on an investigation that leads from the US to Haiti. This is pre-2010-earthquake Haiti, and the author’s knowledge of the island and of diving add a feel of authenticity.

I’m used to a deeper, more immediate point of view, which raises the suspense and builds a stronger connection with the characters. But the story is intriguing, and those readers who prefer a gentler mystery will find the novel a satisfying read.

The search for the missing family is the main plot, with subplots following Andrea and Brian’s developing relationship and their friendship with a young Haitian orphan girl. Readers interested in orphanages that care for Haitian children will also find the book interesting.

Canadian author Barbara Ann Derksen is a multi-published author of fiction and non-fiction, including a series of devotional books for bikers. Book two in the Wilton-Strait series, Presumed Dead, delves into the biker world. You can learn more about the author, including her books and speaking ministry, at her website.

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

Liebster Award

Thank you to Stephanie at Free 2 Soar for giving God With Us: Finding Joy a Liebster Blog Award.

The Criteria: The Liebster Blog Award is meant to showcase bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers. This is all done in the spirit of pay-it-forward.

The Rules: You must mention and link to the person who awarded you the Liebster and mention 5 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers you think worthy of the Liebster.

The catch: I don’t think there is one. It gives us an excuse to talk up some of the blogs we appreciate.

So without further ado…

I hereby award a Liebster to the following five blogs:

Susan at Accidental Poet writes a little about this, a little about that, and a little about her knitting… and she often cracks me up.

Chad at The Lucas Adventures also cracks me up with some of his experiences parenting four young and active kids.

Belinda at Whatever He Says invites readers into daily slices of her life and thoughts. It’s like having tea with a good friend.

Mary at Beech Croft Tales posts once a month… and always gives me a smile or a new insight.

Laura is better known for her Interviews and Reviews blog, but I’m sending this Liebster out to one of her other blogs, Enjoying the Journey, where she offers encouragement for the soul.

Now… people’s schedules being what they are, I haven’t been able to confirm that all five bloggers would like to receive a Leibster Award. If any of them don’t want to post the award badge and/or link to five other Liebster-worthy blogs, they’re free to pass. But I still think they’re worthy! Stop by and visit each one, and maybe you’ll find a new favourite or two.

How Irritating Are We to God?

The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.

The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”
Numbers 17:10-14, NIV*

Do you ever think about how irritating it is for God to put up with us?

Yes, He loves us. He wants to rescue us from the mess we’ve dug ourselves into—even at the cost of His own Son’s life—but so many times we just don’t get it.

I’ve been reading the account of Moses, how God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to bring them into the promised land: a place of peace and safety where they won’t be slaves anymore.

All they do is grumble and complain and wish they were back under Pharaoh’s thumb. The context of today’s passage is that some of the people accused Moses and Aaron of taking too much authority, of elevating themselves as better than the rest.

God settled it in dramatic fashion, destroying the usurpers. The people hurled more accusations, and God sent a plague. You can read the whole account in Numbers 16.

So God told Moses to get a staff from each of the tribal leaders, including Aaron. “The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.” (Numbers 17:5, NIV*)

Next day, when Moses collected the staffs, Aaron’s “had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.” (Numbers 17:8, NIV*) The others remained inert sticks of wood.

All this to give the people an enduring sign of approved leadership, so they’d quit complaining and would not die. And what do they immediately do?

God’s trying to protect them and they yell, “We’re all gonna die!” And they exaggerate: “We can’t even go near the tabernacle now!”

What if they’d trusted and obeyed?

What if we trusted and obeyed, instead of misunderstanding and overreacting?

Holy and patient God, how simple life would be if we’d just let You shepherd us, instead of trying to be in charge of our own lives. You tell us to trust You and not rely on our own understanding. But like sheep we’ve all gone astray. Teach us to seek You first, to trust You. To stop ascribing frightening motives to You and instead remember You are the only trustworthy one. Help us believe You instead of trusting our own fallible understanding.

∞

Todd Agnew’s song, “Shepherd,” speaks to where we too often find ourselves.

Review: The Realms Thereunder, by Ross Lawhead

The Realms Thereunder, by Ross Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, 2011)

The Realms Thereunder is a fun ride. Eight years ago, 13-year-olds Daniel and Freya discovered an underground world with sleeping knights and dangerous creatures. Today, Daniel lives on the streets of Oxford, England, and Freya is a university student there. And the lines between the visible and hidden world are blurring.

The novel tells both stories, in scenes clearly labelled “eight years before” and “now,” and it held my interest from the very beginning. The plot is complex but understandable, Daniel and Freya are real characters with real issues and neuroses (Daniel’s home life scarred him, and Freya hasn’t recovered from her first experience underground.)

There’s some delightfully understated humour, like Daniel’s reaction to a stone he’s supposed to put in his mouth, and there are mythical and disturbing creatures of all kinds. (Love the conversation about how to dispose of dead trolls in present-day UK.)

Naturally, most people around Daniel and Freya deny the encroaching danger, but there are a few who don’t: Scottish police officer Alex Simpson and the mysterious Oxford-based group, the Society of Concerned Individuals.

The Sleeping Knights (once awake) and their people use archaic names and titles, complete with some ancient letters that I can’t reproduce on this blog. The author is careful to have Daniel or Freya pronounce the key words phonetically the first time so readers can do the same. And there’s a pronunciation key at the back of the book if needed.

I applaud the publisher for allowing at least some of British spellings in the novel (they wimp out on manoeuvred and go for maneuvered). Words like honour, armour, colour, are a subtle way to remind readers that we’re in England. As a Canadian, I hope this is precedent for novels set in Canada.

On the other hand, this intricately-plotted story would have benefited from more careful polishing and copy-editing. We see a horse’s reigns and a creature trying to wretch, and a character exalt at the prospect of adventure, all simple spell-check issues. And there’s text with repeated words or phrases (“find purchase” three times close together) that a quick polish would fix.

These are minor things and hardly worth mention for most readers, but they’re evidence of a disturbing trend as even the big-league publishers find themselves with more work than time to do it.

The Realms Thereunder is Ross Lawhead’s first novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it, quickly passed it on to my son, and am looking forward to the next in the series, The Fearful Gates, available September 2012.

Click to read an excerpt of The Realms Therunder, and you can learn more about Ross Lawhead at his blog.

[Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson]

Celebration

Exodus 23:14-19 lists the three times a year that God tells the Israelites “you are to celebrate a festival to Me.”

They are:

Feast of Unleavened Bread: the anniversary of their deliverance from Egypt.
Feast of Harvest: the first-fruits of their crops.
Feast of Ingathering: when all their crops are brought in.

The Feast of Harvest is when they begin to see results from their crops—not when they actually receive the full harvest. It’s another example of praising God ahead of time.

While each celebration focuses on an event, past (Exodus), present (first-fruits) or future (harvest), they are celebrations to God.

I love how the Bible encourages us to celebrate, and the feasts sound like they’re whole-hearted events.

We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, milestones… but as I look at my own celebrations, I think they stop at recognizing the event rather than celebrating to the Lord who gave it.

Celebrating to the Lord…. Doesn’t that imply exuberant, abandoned praise? Like David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant?

It’s not just looking at the material and temporal, fine as they are, but looking to the Giver of the gift. Responding to Him in gratitude, love and worship.

Are we missing the fullest dimension of our celebrations?

I think gratitude is step one. How else can we celebrate to God without over-spiritualizing or turning everything into teaching moments?

Gratitude

Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the LORD had burned among them.

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!”
Numbers 11:1-4, NIV*

The people complained… the Israelites started wailing… Numbers 11:10 says every family was “wailing at the entrance to their tents.”

The people had hardships, real or perceived. But look at all the good things:

God provided manna to eat
God had rescued them from slavery
He was leading them to the promised land
He named them as His own people, and promised to protect them
He made a covenant with them
He gave them priests to make atonement for their sins
He consented to “dwell” among them in the Tabernacle
He spoke to them through His servant, Moses
They were led by the Ark of the Covenant and the cloud of God

That’s a lot of good! What if they’d concentrated on the blessings instead of their hardships? What if they’d trusted God to do what He said?

Mighty and rescuing God, holy and faithful, forgive us for the times we concentrate on the negatives and complain. The Bible says we’re welcome to bring You our pain, because You are our refuge. But You don’t want us spreading dissension and discontent among our brothers and sisters. Open our eyes to the gifts You give. Help us not to take them for granted, and not to prefer our own ways. Create in us grateful hearts to worship and to wonder at all that You’re doing in our world.

∞

Here’s a gratitude song I first heard live in concert, and I fell in love with it on the spot: Geoff Moore’s “Saying Grace.” This is a live recording, the sound isn’t great, but listen for the words… and watch the love on this Christian’s face as he sings his thanks.

For more on gratitude, consider joining Ann Voskamp’s gratitude community.

Review: Over the Edge, by Brandilyn Collins

Over the Edge, by Brandilyn Collins (B&H Publishing Group, 2011)

What if a man who watched his wife die of Lyme disease decided his best revenge was to infect the wives and children of the doctors and researchers who’ve convinced the insurance companies that there’s no such thing as chronic Lyme?

He starts with Jannie McNeil, wife of Dr. Brock McNeil, who is one of the loudest voices denying chronic Lyme. Her symptoms hospitalize her, but the standard Lyme test comes back negative. Her husband accuses her of faking, as if she’d make this up to discredit him.

An anonymous phone call tells her to convince Brock to recant his position on Lyme—or her nine-year-old daughter will be the next victim. Brock pulls farther away and thinks she made up the mystery caller too.

Over the Edge is a fast, compelling read. Jannie is a likeable and multi-layered character who’s trying to find out what’s happening to her, keep her family together, and protect her daughter.

What she (and readers) learn about the “Lyme wars” screams of injustice and wilful blindness on the part of traditional medical experts who stand to lose both face and funds if the true extent of Lyme were acknowledged.

I’m thankful not to have Lyme, but I’ve read enough from people who’ve experienced it to place myself on their side of the controversy. The author herself is a Lyme survivor and knows what she’s talking about.

But this isn’t an in-your-face, prove-my-point, sensationalist novel. It’s excellent suspense fiction with a heart-catching subplot about Jannie’s crumbling family relationships.

Jannie’s troubles bring her to a major crisis of faith, and she realizes she has a choice: to turn away from God or to praise Him despite her pain. Her decision to praise—in defiance of the circumstances—resonated with me from the times I’ve made that same hard choice.

The scope of the novel doesn’t allow readers to see how some of the loose ends weave in after the end, specifically Jannie’s relationship with her mother, and any repercussions from Brock’s research.

To read more about Over the Edge and to view the trailer, click here. To read an excerpt, click here. The book includes a discussion guide as well as extra Lyme information and resources. There’s also an online community at Lyme Over the Edge, where Lyme sufferers can share their stories.

You can learn more about award-winning suspense novelist Brandilyn Collins, her other books, and her own Lyme experience at her website, Seatbelt Suspense®.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Names of God in Praise

In August we talked about how using the names of God in prayer can affirm and strengthen our faith. Different aspects of God’s character seem especially appropriate to different prayer needs we face.

Choosing one of God’s descriptive names helps in praise too. I like to pick just one and spend time thinking what it says about His nature, His glory, His honour. They comfort me, encourage me, and inspire me to praise Him.

Some of my favourites:

Ancient of Days (Daniel 7)

Father to the Fatherless (Psalm 68:5)

My Rock and My Redeemer (Psalm19:14)

My Shepherd (Psalm 23)

The Author and Finisher of our Faith (Hebrews 12:22, KJV)

What are some of yours?

The Source of Our Worth

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

[Jesus] replied… “I have given you authority… However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:17-20, NIV*

No wonder the disciples are pumped: their mission succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. That’s a good thing. And I don’t think Jesus is rebuking their excitement. I think He’s giving them perspective.

Oswald Chambers interprets Jesus’ words here as “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” (My Utmost for His Highest, August 30: “Usefulness or Relationship?)

I’ve been reading about the damage perfectionism does, how much harm comes from basing our worth on how well or poorly we perform, and what a widespread problem it is even among Christians. (The Search for Significance, by Robert S. McGee)

From that angle, I see this verse as an antidote I can use when I don’t meet my own (or others’) achievement standards.

Step one: seek God’s direction first, not my own or someone else’s arbitrary standard.

Step two: rely on God’s strength.

Step three: celebrate success, acknowledge and learn from failure. Ask God’s opinion.

Step four: know my value isn’t performance-based but redemption-based.

Mighty and righteous Creator God, all our righteousness is only filthy rags compared to Your perfection. We can’t earn Your love or approval. Thank You for Your grace that redeemed us and made us acceptable—adopted—valued. Help us truly believe this, at the deepest level. Help us find our worth in You.

∞

This week’s song is “He Knows My Name,” from Geoff Moore’s Speak to Me album.

Review: Shadowed in Silk, by Christine Lindsay

Shadowed in Silk, by Christine Lindsay (WhiteFire Publishing, 2011)

It’s December, 1918. The war in Europe is over, and Abby Fraser sails from England to India to join her officer husband, Nick. She hasn’t seen him in four years, and he’s never met their son, Cam.

The ship docks in Bombay, but Nick isn’t there to meet them. Major Geoff Richards took a fancy to young Cam on the ship and his proper British chivalry insists he assist the stranded mother and son on the train ride to reach their home.

Geoff introduces Abby to Miriam, an Indian Christian whose loving ways make her an immediate friend.

Nick has been happily living the single life and his wife and child cramp his style. His military performance is slipping and his career is at risk. Geoff, himself a widower, keeps an eye on the family in concern but also in the line of duty: he’s been assigned to uncover the Russian spy said to be among the officers.

Shadowed in Silk is a richly evocative tale set in the closing days of British rule in India. We see the elegant lifestyles of the British officers and their wives (flirting is an unofficial sport, but don’t get caught), and the second-class treatment of the Indian nationals.

Geoff is one of the few officers who are not only troubled by the double standards but who see a revolution in the near future if things don’t change. It’s one of the attributes he shares with Abby, who considers all people equal no matter their ethnicity.

There are so many layers to this novel: romance, relationships, culture, faith, social justice, intrigue and danger. And it’s set at a point in history when Ghandi’s teaching of peaceful revolution was gaining influence but others wanted to light a fire.

I’m not familiar with historical novels from this time and place, but Christine Lindsay has done an excellent job of crafting a setting that comes alive to the novice. From what I’ve heard of her research, history buffs will find it accurate. The novel has been compared to M.M. Kaye’s Far Pavilions, which I may now have to check out.

Shadowed in Silk released earlier in 2011 as an ebook (eBookIt! and Amazon) and is now available in print through Amazon and your local bookstores. The unpublished manuscript was a Gold winner of the 2009 ACFW Genesis Contest for Historical. You can read the opening chapter or another sample scene from later in the book.

Christine Lindsay is a Canadian author of Irish descent. You can find her at her website and her blog. If you missed the interview with the characters from Shadowed in Silk, be sure to check it out. These are good fictional people to spend some time with. Here’s the book trailer for Shadowed in Silk.

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

Janet Sketchley

Writing Christian Mysteries & Suspense