VEILED FREEDOM & FREEDOM'S STAND BY J. M. WINDLE

VEILED FREEDOM & FREEDOM'S STAND by J.M. WINDLE are two of the most thought- provoking novels I have read. Set in war-torn Afghanistan with the Americans trying to help rebuild the country with humanitarian aid and para-military protection, we meet, amongst other colourful characters, a young aid worker, Amy, an ex Special Ops soldier, Steve, and a young Afghani, Jamil, who is full of hatred and the desire for revenge.

Amy builds up New Hope where women who have been released from prison can live with their children. She comes to love these people, and Steve at first finds her rather naive and far too trusting, although he comes to see her true strength in the end. Amy lives out her Christianity and many are touched and drawn to Jesus, or Isa Masih as He is called there, through her witness. She tells the children Bible stories from the Old Testament to which they can relate.

Jamil is her helper and we see how he is also touched by the love of God and how his hatred melts away when he understands the sacrifice that was made on the cross to set him free. Whereas he feels that he can never do enough to make up for his sins and satisfy Allah, thus attaining paradise, he comes to know that the God of the holy book Amy has given him will welcome him freely. We see how he struggles to accept this free gift of salvation which goes against all he has been taught. The gentleness and understanding he sees in Amy's dealings with everyone and her uncompromising faith in her Lord, affect him profoundly. Amy is careful not to proselytize, but is desperate for the people she has come to love so much to find true freedom. She and Steve feel that there will never be true freedom in the country until people are allowed to choose who they will worship. Also women should be able to choose as far as marriage and a career are concerned. There is much fuss made about the up-coming elections, but there is not much to choose between the equally immoral candidates. Steve sees the double standards of the Americans who are willing to turn a blind eye in order to keep the peace at all costs, backing Khalil in spite of proof of his corruption because he is relatively pro America.

It is dangerous to practice Christianity there, in spite of the fact that the country has been "liberated" by the Americans, and dangerous to interfere where women are concerned as they are still treated like chattels. This is something Amy feels very strongly about and she is desperate about "her" women and children until she realizes that Jesus loves them more than she does and commits them into His care. Things change at New Hope while she is home in the States for three weeks leave and this devastates her. She is passionate about her work there and is forced to sit back and watch the place being run as a tight knit business by her new superior and the Afghani couple she left in charge while she was away.

We also see clearly the very understandable mistrust that the Afghanis have of the Americans who often don't bother to try and understand their ways and who can leave and go home to their own country at any time. We also see the very real corruption in high places and amongst the populace, where there may be talk of democracy but where it is each man for himself.

We see how Steve, this muscular, focused soldier, who is afraid to love because of the risk of getting hurt, softens and turns back to God, letting people come close.

All three of the main characters show unconditional love, the willingness to forgive, and to lay their life down for others as they serve The Lord under very difficult and dangerous circumstances.

Whilst each book can be read as a stand alone novel, I recommend that they are read together in order to get the most out of them. The novels are very exciting and are so full of biblical truth that I can highly recommend them.

CITY OF ANGELS BY TRACIE PETERSON and JAMES SCOTT BELL

CITY OF ANGELS BY TRACIE PETERSON and JAMES SCOTT BELL is the first book in the KIT SHANNON series. It is a legal drama which takes place in the early 1900's in Los Angeles.

Kit arrives in Los Angeles determined to become a lawyer. She causes quite a stir as women lawyers are practically unheard of at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Kit has had a sad and difficult childhood, but through it all she has never forsaken her faith in God which was instilled in her largely through her beloved preacher father. Orphaned at a young age and harshly treated at St Catherine's orphanage, she holds on to The Lord and to His word found in her most precious possession - the Bible her father left for her.

She comes to live with her Aunt Freddy, a wealthy widow to whom social standing means everything, and who tries to dissuade Kit from practising law, wanting her instead to pursue more socially acceptable pastimes whilst waiting for a husband and children!

Kit meets the legendary Earl Rogers who takes her under his wing and helps her become a member of the bar. Kit shows her brilliance in the courtroom in spite of opposition.

In her search for truth Kit becomes the object of persecution, but she is undaunted in pursuing justice for her clients. She comes up against snobbery, police corruption, the lies of those who are covering up the truth, for example the lawyer Heath Sloate, Dr Lazarus the false preacher, racism and the teachings of Darwin.

Her life is one of prayer and determination and she sees her law career as God's calling on her life. We see how she defends her friend Ted Fox when he is falsely accused of murder, and also her friend Corazon's brother who has been set up on an assault charge, and how she longs for her Aunt Freddy to come to a relationship with The Lord.

I have just re-read the whole series, but City of Angels can be read as a stand alone book. There is a strong Christian message throughout, the characters and life in that era are well portrayed and it is an exciting read. In fact I can highly recommend reading the whole series in sequence.

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IN DARKER PLACES BY BRANDT DODSON

IN DARKER PLACES by BRANDT DODSON is the fourth book in the Colton Parker series and is well worth reading. It is a modern story of the "lost sheep" that Jesus speaks of in His parable of the same name.
Callie Parker runs away, and her father pulls out all the stops to find her. He follows the leads to Las Vegas and it is in "Sin City" that Colton realises that he is also lost and needs saving.
Callie, largely due to her grief over losing her mother, becomes involved with kids at school who are into Goth clothes and anti- establishment behaviour and this leads to her becoming part of a satanic cult. The leader of the cult, who draws young girls into prostitution, takes a special liking to her and she becomes one of his followers. Colton realizes that he is unable to fight against the evils of occultism in his own strength and he turns to the God who his wife, his friend and former colleague Mary, his new friend Marty, and his wife's pastor, have been talking about for so long.
The novel exposes the dangers children face today. Drugs, satanism, new age philosophy and prostitution are realistically exposed. There is also a strong theme of unconditional love running throughout. It is an exciting read and I can highly recommend it.



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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.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT BY T. DAVIS BUNN

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT BY T. DAVIS BUNN is a suspense story with a romantic twist.
Wayne Grusza is asked by his sister, Eilene, to look into the finances of a seniors' complex where she ministers from time to time. Eilene and Wayne were orphaned quite young and, as the older sister, Eilene despairs of her brother ever settling down and prays constantly for his conversion to Christianity. Wayne has been through a lot and his past troubles him. Having been in special ops, married too young and divorced by his wife while serving in Iraq, he is bitter and very angry. He has come to the end of himself and has nowhere else to go, so he goes to work at the seniors' community and finds friendship and acceptance there. While he was in the armed forces he was put in an office job where he found an incredible aptitude for figures. He finds that the residents have been badly conned and gets their money back in a most unorthodox manner!
Eilene is a pastor who has a church in Orlando with an outreach centre. She has a beautiful friend, Tatyana, a lawyer who works for Ted Easton. There is something strange going on in his company and Tatyana asks Wayne to use his expertise to look into the books. Easton is a Christian who is forced to stay under virtual house arrest due to a threat against his life. He has been warned by an "angel", and the same person also warns Wayne of danger.
There are a lot of likeable characters in this novel, including the elderly Victoria who prays without ceasing for Wayne, Foster and Jerry who become his friends and who, together with Julio, the teenager his sister asks him to take under his wing to save him from the gangs, back him at every turn.
We see broken and lonely people restored to wholeness and hope. We see the power of intercessory prayer as Victoria prays for those The Lord brings into her life. We see how Wayne and Tatyana become able to love again when they let go of feelings of betrayal and anger and learn to forgive.
I can highly recommend this novel, it is an exciting read and is full of Scriptural truth.







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SCREEN PLAY: A NOVEL BY CHRIS COPPERNOLL

SCREEN PLAY: A NOVEL by CHRIS COPPERNOLL is a charming book about a young girl's dreams, and like the play Apartment 19, there are many layers to the story.
Harper Gray is a young actress who has been through a difficult year, her thirtieth year, without work, living in an apartment in Chicago with nothing to do.  Her boyfriend has left her and her best friend, Avril, has left for New York where she is doing well in the acting scene.  She is ready to give up until she meets Bella who invites her to church and gently leads her into a relationship with the Lord. 
She gets a call from Ben, a friend from college, who is now a director, telling her that his leading lady's understudy has left suddenly and he wants her to come to New York and take her place.  She knows this is an answer to prayer and is very grateful.
We see how she copes in a difficult situation, with an impossible leading lady, an unfriendly director's assistant and a feeling of not fitting in anywhere.  
She is a young Christian but she makes a definite stand for the Lord.  She feels she has been placed in this situation for a reason and is determined to see what He wants her to do here.
One of her dreams is to become a good actress and the other is to meet the right man. Avril has found a boyfriend online called Jon, with whom she is madly in love, and Harper very tentatively joins the Love.Set.Match website where she meets Luke from Alaska.  Harper has great compassion and finds herself praying for the people she comes in contact with, even the men she meets online.  When she is acting in the play, she takes it to a different level by praying with all those involved before going on stage.  We see how the other actors come to love her and stand up for her when she is maligned by Helen Payne.
We see the difference between Harper and Avril.  Avril misses the underlying meaning in Apartment 19, whilst Harper relates to a character enduring life in a difficult situation as she has  been doing just that for the past year.  Avril seems to live a charmed life, and is sadly disillusioned when she finds her boyfriend has been lying to her. Harper sees clearly the difference between acting and reality.  She feels acting is her ministry, and succeeds in her first dream.  
Although in the natural Luke seems to be quite wrong for her, living such a different lifestyle and being so far away, Harper comes to see that he is the soul mate she has dreamt about for so long.
This is a novel that I enjoyed immensely.  It is beautifully written and has tremendous depth and a strong Christian message.  I love the interaction between the characters, and Harper is a heroine that one cannot help taking to one's heart.  

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