Blackstock did excellet work in her newest book Truth Stained Lies. The story had me hooked after the first chapter, and I was on the edge of my seat until the end. Jay Cramer has been framed for the murder of his x-wife, but the police only see the evidence left by the real killer. Cramer's three siblings take up the task of finding the evidence that can get Jay off the hook. Meanwhile Jay's sisters are facing their own struggles. Holly just found out she was pregnant and doesn't even know who the father is. Juliet has a faltering marriage. And finally Cathy is recieving threatening letters because of a blog she writes. With all of these issues combined how can the family come together to find who the real killer is.
The story was full of suspense, I was constantly trying to figure out who was responsible for the murder. There are hints throughout the story who the actual perp is, but it is not until the final chapters in the book that it all becomes clear. Blackstock did a great job continuing the suspense even after the identity of the killer was given. With hostages, dying children and shoot-outs the stories conclusion is just as intense as the beginning chapters of the book.
I thought this book was extremely well written, and I am very excited to see where the next books in the Moonlighters Series will lead. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery story. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars, I enjoyed virtually everything about this story. Well done Blackstock!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Loves Complete
This book was a children's book about adoption. I thought it would be interesting considering my families personal desire to adopt. It was not an awful book, and I think the message behind the book was good, however I felt like it was written and thrown together very quickly. The pictures looked like poor computer animation, while the writing inside was also poor. It was written in a poetry style, but I found it hard to find the flow of the book. The poem was also very simple, some words in sentences were simply left out to make it rhyme. I was hoping for something a little more meaningful, and I am sure the author and his family find this poem meaningful, but I am not sure that applies to the rest of the world. The book does however outline the adoption process that families went through to adopt children from Russia, in the 1990s. I would not really recommend this book to anyone, but I am not saying it is useless. It serves a purpose, and if it is needed then great. I would rate this book a 2 out of 5 stars. I like what it is trying to do, I just don't think it did what it wanted to successfully.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Gods At War, by: Kyle Idleman
"Gods At War" is a book about what idols (or gods) are waring for the throne of your heart. Idleman lays out several key points and goes through various types of gods we come in contact with on a daily basis. His book is seperated into four sections: gods at war, the temple of pleasure, the temple of power, and the temple of love.
In the first section Idleman walks the reader through some differing ideas on what an idol truly is. Then he asks the reader to examine their life and find the idols that they bow down to, the ones that are ruling their lives. In the final chapter of this first part Idleman talks about Joshua 24 where Joshua gives a sort of ultimatum to the people of Israel. Joshua tells them to decide whom they will serve, other gods or the one true God. Idleman breaks down this passage into four main areas idols come from: parents, past, present and the one true God. He then ties these four areas back into the passage in Joshua.
In the following three sections Idleman describes common idols that we face in our world today. The section called "temple of pleasure" contains chapters about food, sex and entertainment. The next section contains the gods of success, money and power. And lastly in the "temple of love" section Idleman describes the gods of romance, family and self. He breaks each of these potential gods down into their barest forms and provides several anecdotes throughout the chapters as explainations and to give examples of real people who struggle with these gods.
The thrust of the book is to provide a good look at idolatry and a call to begin to take it seriously, as an issue we struggle with today. He is careful to say that these "gods" in and of themselves are not the issue, they become the issue when we begin to give them the glory God deserves.
I enjoyed the book, and found it challenging in many places. It was also very easy to understand and written in a user friendly way. Many stories were provided to explain or soliodify points throughout the story. I found them to be interesting and funny and I thought Idleman drew good analogies between the stories and the points he was trying to make.
Overall I would rate this book a 4 out of 5. I did not think it was a bad book, in fact I didn't have any huge complaints about it. However it is not a book that instantly became my favorite. The information within the book was presented in an interesting and engaging fashion, and at some points was challenging. but again, it does not make my top ten list. This book is an average book, rated right up there with Chan's "Crazy Love" and "Forgotten God" or Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis"
In the first section Idleman walks the reader through some differing ideas on what an idol truly is. Then he asks the reader to examine their life and find the idols that they bow down to, the ones that are ruling their lives. In the final chapter of this first part Idleman talks about Joshua 24 where Joshua gives a sort of ultimatum to the people of Israel. Joshua tells them to decide whom they will serve, other gods or the one true God. Idleman breaks down this passage into four main areas idols come from: parents, past, present and the one true God. He then ties these four areas back into the passage in Joshua.
In the following three sections Idleman describes common idols that we face in our world today. The section called "temple of pleasure" contains chapters about food, sex and entertainment. The next section contains the gods of success, money and power. And lastly in the "temple of love" section Idleman describes the gods of romance, family and self. He breaks each of these potential gods down into their barest forms and provides several anecdotes throughout the chapters as explainations and to give examples of real people who struggle with these gods.
The thrust of the book is to provide a good look at idolatry and a call to begin to take it seriously, as an issue we struggle with today. He is careful to say that these "gods" in and of themselves are not the issue, they become the issue when we begin to give them the glory God deserves.
I enjoyed the book, and found it challenging in many places. It was also very easy to understand and written in a user friendly way. Many stories were provided to explain or soliodify points throughout the story. I found them to be interesting and funny and I thought Idleman drew good analogies between the stories and the points he was trying to make.
Overall I would rate this book a 4 out of 5. I did not think it was a bad book, in fact I didn't have any huge complaints about it. However it is not a book that instantly became my favorite. The information within the book was presented in an interesting and engaging fashion, and at some points was challenging. but again, it does not make my top ten list. This book is an average book, rated right up there with Chan's "Crazy Love" and "Forgotten God" or Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis"
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