TRUTH STAINED LIES BY TERRI BLACKSTOCK

TRUTH STAINED LIES by TERRI BLACKSTOCK is an exciting thriller with a definite Christian message.
When Jay Cramer is suspected of murdering his estranged wife, his three sisters, Juliet, Cathy and Holly, and his best friend Michael Hogan, are totally committed to getting him released from prison and reunited with his five year old son, Jackson, who has been placed in the custody of his very sick maternal grandmother and uncaring uncle.
Cathy is a lawyer who is no longer practising - she now writes a blog where she tries to get justice for victims of crime by giving her slant on court cases. When her brother is proclaimed guilty by nearly everyone, she realizes she must be more careful what she writes in future and should even ask for God's guidance beforehand! She sees how easy it is to ruin someone's life by what one says or writes about them.
Her relationship with The Lord was badly affected when her father, a pastor, left his family and ran off with his secretary. Holly was also badly affected, and we see how the trauma they go through trying to save their brother and nephew draws them back to The Lord and even leads them to visit their father and to forgive him. We also see Holly, who has lived a wild and selfish life, show compassion to old Mrs Haughton, and gain self esteem when she is asked to help Michael, who is now a P. I., after disgracing himself and his family as a cop by withholding evidence which led to his brother's killer being set free, asks her to help him solve the crime.
Juliet learns to be more understanding of Holly and is impressed by her maturity. When Holly sees Warren Haughton's disregard for his nephew's unhappiness she makes a major decision in her own life.
Michael battles with guilt for being thrown out of the police force, but he mostly feels that, as a Christian, he has let his Lord down! Cathy was engaged to his murdered brother, Joe. They both feel guilty when they find they have feelings for one another.
The plot is well worked out, the characters are believable, and the story is fast paced. I like the way the characters work through their feelings and relationships. It is good to see ordinary people dealing with what life throws at them, and coming out stronger when they realize that God is not the source of their problems, but is indeed "a very real help in the time of trouble." I enjoyed this novel and can recommend it.


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DAMASCUS COUNTDOWN BY JOEL ROSENBERG

 DAMASCUS COUNTDOWN by JOEL ROSENBERG follows The Twelfth Imam and The Tehran Initiative, both of which I reviewed on the 9th January 2012, and which I recommend you read first in order to get the most out of this novel.
It is also full of biblical prophecy and shows how Iran, Syria and Israel fit into God's scheme of things.  
The Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi, has set himself up as a tyrannical "god" and has forced other leaders in the Middle East to bow to him as supreme leader of the Muslims.
There are two nuclear warheads that were not destroyed with the others and David Shirazi is sent back to Iran to find them before they are fired on Israel and even maybe the United States.  He has to leave when he knows his beloved mother is not much longer for this world, but is comforted by the fact that his father knows the truth about his work and is proud of him.  David doesn't know that Marseille Harper has found out the truth from something that was let slip at the C.I.A. Headquarters.  Marseille, who has recently committed her life to Christ, shows great compassion and is a tower of strength to the Shirazi family at the time of his mother's funeral.
Marseille feels that the Lord has drawn her and David together but is also aware of the fact that she cannot be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.  She remains unaware of David's conversion to Christianity until he comes home after the mission.
In this novel we see the forces of evil unleashed against Israel and the hatred shown by militant Islamists towards those they call infidels, namely anyone who doesn't embrace their beliefs. We see the determination of the Jewish leaders to prevent a second Holocaust, and the weakness of the American president who believes that the Mahdi will see reason if he is treated with diplomacy.  We see Israel refusing to hold back and their determination to protect their homeland and citizens.
The warheads are on the move and David uses his contacts amongst the Twelvers, who have come to trust him, and information from the Israelis, to hear that they are going to be launched from Damascus.
The book is very exciting and well worth reading, in fact it is rather like reading tomorrow's newspaper!
The author keeps our interest with well portrayed characters and interesting relationships throughout the story. We are keen to find out what will happen between Marseille and David, whether Dr Birjandi will ever reveal his allegiance to Jesus Christ to the Twelvers, and whether David's rather desperate plan to find and deactivate the warheads will be successful.
We see bravery and patriotism at its best, and bigotry and hatred at its worst. We also see God's faithfulness to His people. I can highly recommend this novel.