Robert B. Parker. Walking Shadow. Berkley, 1994.

I have always had in the back of my mind to read a Spenser detective story. I knew they were set in my favorite city, Boston, and I recall back in the eighties students of mine talking about the TV show and Spenser’s buddy Hawk. Now I can say I have done it, and it was fun.

Spenser’s Harvard PhD girlfriend is on the board of a theater company in Port City. This fictional city sounds a lot like New Bedford, Massachusetts, except that it is north of Boston—a fictional mashup of a couple of towns. During a performance which they are attending, an actor is shot and killed while on stage. The shooter disappears before anyone can catch him, and Spenser gets involved.

There is a lot to get involved in. As is true of many such charitable boards, the board is mostly made up of serious donors. One of the board members is Rikki Wu, wife of a local tong leader. For the uninitiated, a tong is a Chinese criminal gang. Spenser gets a visit from Rikki’s husband and two bodyguards warning him to stay out of Port City. Of course, he doesn’t.

The chief of police in Port City is an acquaintance of Spenser’s, a former state policeman who left that force under some dubious circumstances. Port City was once a thriving mill town with a well known college (if it had not been in Massachusetts, I would have figured it for Brunswick, Maine). It also has a significant population of Portuguese fishermen and Chinese immigrants who work in fish processing or other menial labor in the area.

We get interesting views of Chinese immigrants (legal and illegal), organized crime, and struggling regional theaters. It also has a lot of the elements of classic noir: rain, beautiful but untrustworthy women, a criminal gang, kidnapping, corrupt officials, and dangerous love affairs. For those who like such stories, it is a lot of fun. And, yes, it gets the Boston vibe pretty well. (Spenser is fixing up a recently purchased house in the town next to the one where I grew up. Parker knows what he is writing about.)

As is usually true in such tales, things are not what they seem in Walking Shadow. The plot keeps twisting. The characters and stories keep us guessing with numerous interesting details and surprises. It also is quite literary with allusions to Chaucer, Shakespeare (more than just the title), Hemingway, Eliot, and Merle Travis among others.

Robert Jordan. The Great Hunt. Tor, 1991. The Wheel of Time.

When I reviewed The Eye of the World a little over two years ago, I wrote that while I enjoyed the novel, I had no urge to run out and obtain a copy of the sequel. Finally, last week I did get a copy and have just completed it, The Great Hunt. I found it as equally gripping as the first one, once again leading to a dramatic climax.

The main characters are the same as in the first one, but there are groups of new supporting roles as this takes us further along in the adventures of Rand al’Thor. Rand has been told that he is the so-called Dragon Reborn, an apocalyptic figure who is supposed to bring about a new era after an earth-shaking battle or battles. Rand wants nothing to do with that and resists all efforts of people who might know and might want to defeat evil to persuade him otherwise.

The main person who tries to persuade him of this is Moraine, an Aes Sedai, The Aes Sedai (“servants of all”) are a kind of female holy order who can channel the power of the Creator. Some people consider them like nuns, others view them more like witches. They have all taken vows of purity and honesty, but in the course of the story we learn that some have broken those vows. We also learn more about the different “Ajahs” or societies within the order, each having a certain characteristic or specialty.

Rand spends much of this story trying to avoid any Aes Sedai and getting away from Moraine. The irony is that two of his traveling companions in the first novel have decided to join the Aes Sedai. That involves training and initiation at their headquarters/convent, the White Tower at Tar Valon. Egwene and Nynaeve are both recruited because they can channel and otherwise have some supernatural or near-supernatural abilities. We read about the psychologically intense initiation rite Nynaeve goes through to become an Aes Sedai.

There are numerous complications. One obvious one to anyone who has read the first book is that Aes Sedai normally do not marry, and yet Rand and Egwene both see the other as a potential spouse. Part of the novel involves Rand trying to locate Egwene—many of his friends think he died. At the same time, he gets distracted by other women, or perhaps I should say, females since it is not clear that a couple of them are really human.

A main story thread involves Rand and a few associates trying to obtain the Horn of Valere, a literal battle horn from ancient times which is supposed to be blown to begin the end of the current age, perhaps an echo of the “last trumpet” mentioned in I Corinthians 15:52 or the seven trumpets of Revelation. Rand had obtained it at the end of the first book, but it was stolen, so he and a group of associates including Mat and Perrin from the first book try to get it back. Along with it is an ancient dagger with some supernatural associations that Mat had owned for a while and wants back.

Both objects are morally ambiguous. Whoever blows the horn, what will he or she start? Will it destroy the world or just the evil in it? Again the dagger gives its bearer some extra power, but we all understand that power can corrupt, and previous owners of the dagger have never ended well (not unlike the rings in Lord of the Rings).

Like The Eye of the World, we follow the adventures of several different groups at the same time. Occasionally they come together, but never, it seems, for very long. We meet some more Aes Sedai and learn a lot more about the White Tower. We also are introduced to the clever and complicated politics of a few different cities.

In the city of Cairhien, Rand, the tracker Hurin, and the Ogier Loial encounter the local nobility and royalty. In the government courts of that city-state, politics is seen as a Great Game. Everyone assumes Rand does not really mean what he says and is up to something. It is not so much that things get complicated, it is more that things are always complicated there.

Author Jordan understands pacing very well. When one group may merely be resting in a village or spending days on the same path, someone else is having a life and death struggle. There are still some Trollocs and Darkfriends around, but the continent has a new adversary, too.

The Seanchan, a group from overseas though originally from the continent, have launched a naval attack to re-take what they see as their original homeland. They have women not unlike the Aes Sedai, except that they have used their knowledge to enslave others—not servants of all, but all serve them.

Besides Trollocs and their allies, we meet monster three-eyed frog creatures. The Seanchan apparently have trained some of them for battle.

A major theme of The Great Hunt is trust. Who can we really trust? Can we even trust the Creator and His plan? How do we know anyone is just not in it for himself? What if we are hurt even by “good” people. And what if it seems others are trying to use us? Even if it is for a just cause?

Yes, there is a lot of human conflict in this story, but there is also a lot of psychological conflict as well. The reader may know things that some of the characters do not know, but how can we even know which ones are truly on the side of the right? This is another sparkling tale in the Wheel of Time series. As with the first, it is a complete tale but does suggest a sequel will follow. Will I pick up the next book? Who knows? Time will tell.

P.S. I tried an experiment which I am not sure I would try again. I was watching the Amazon series while I was reading this. Season Two is basically the story of The Great Hunt. (Does that mean Amazon will take fourteen years to tell the whole story?) The TV series leaves a lot out, and modifies some of the characters and events. Min, a friend of Egwene and Nynaeve in the book, becomes a friend of Mat in the TV series. The politics of Tar Valon and Cairhien are different here. The TV series also tends to personify the evil more than the book. At times I felt like I was watching a horror movie. It serves its purpose, most of the acting was decent, but I liked the book better. I am more likely to read the next book than watch the next season on Amazon.

M. D. House. Crossroads of Awakening Memory. M. D. House, 2024.

Crossroads of Awakening Memory has an obscure title. Even after reading the book, I am not sure what it means. Having said that, let me tell you what the book is really like. Imagine Starship Troopers being a fantasy novel: You have Crossroads of Awakening Memory.

Rain is a fifteen year old military trainee on the planet of Tenris. Tenris has basic medieval technology—horses and wagons, swords and shields—with a certain amount of magic. In other words, a fantasy novel setting. We mostly follow Rain as he goes through the rigors and harassment of basic training under the tutelage of famous general Ileom.

Rain is a farm boy from the outskirts of New Haven, a peaceful city that has virtually no history of any wars, like Two Rivers in The Eye of the World. Suddenly it is attacked by a well organized group of bandits or guerrillas. Even though they have not finished training, the city is forced to call up the trainees led by Ileom to fight them, not unlike the Civil War Battle of New Market where cadets from Virginia Military Academy were called up to fight a Yankee army.

With the help of an uncanny horse, Rain, Ileom, and the other trainees manage to drive back the bandits. Rumors begin coming about other attacks and uprisings in other parts of the world. Something is going on. The significance becomes even more apparent as Rain and Ileom are visited by the beautiful Antara, who has certain magic and prophetic powers.

The New Haven battle with the bandits is just the beginning of battles and wars in this book. There is a lot of action. Perhaps Crossroads is an appropriate word in the title because not only do different peoples and nations in Tenris cross paths, but soon we see, thanks to some magic keys, different planets cross paths. Communities in Tenris are attacked by warriors riding griffons and being defended by others riding dragons, neither beast being native to Tenris.

Then there are other warriors, mostly dressed in dark green and carrying fire-spitting wands, in other words, guns. A third world has crossed paths with the conflicts, namely contemporary Earth. The author shows a certain amount of humor as Rain tries to figure out what those fiery wands and noisy mechanical “beasts” from Earth are.

Without going into too much detail, it appears that the people starting the fighting have been able to travel among all three planets and have a vision not unlike that of Hitler who wanted to create a Third Empire. There are also some people—from Tenris and not from Earth—who have special healing abilities, again reminiscent of other fantasy tales. So just as Starship Troopers involves an attack from another world, so does Crossroads of Awakening Memory. Just as Johnny Rico in that novel learns from a wise and experienced mentor, so Rain learns from both Ileom and Antara—not to mention a horse and a dragon.

One warning: This book is the first in a new series, and the book does not complete the tale. In other words, it is more like The Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord Of the Rings rather than The Eye of the World in The Wheel of Time. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it means we will have to wait to find out what happens next.

James Patterson and James O. Born. Ambush and Manhunt. Grand Central, 2018.

For a shorter review, go to the following:
Ambush by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading some heavy theological works, I felt I should take a break and read something a little less serious. After I picked up James Patterson’s Ambush and discovered that there was a second novel in the edition, Manhunt.

Patterson is famous for promoting reading. He writes that people who say they don’t like to read simply have not found the right thing for them to read. His police and action tales are not for everyone, but they will appeal to many readers in spite of the high body count in Ambush.

Patterson and Born produced a couple of page turners. The average chapter length was three pages. Both were entertaining. It would be easy to envision Ambush as an action film and the shorter Manhunt as an episode of a TV show along the lines of the old Columbo series.

Although critics may not take Patterson seriously because he writes potboilers, one other Patterson I read before I started this blog had a clever unreliable narrator. Ambush also had an interesting narrative technique. Half the chapters were first person narratives told by NYPD Detective Michael Bennett. The other half are third person describing the actions of the criminal.

Bennett is a very appealing character. He is a real family man—ten adopted kids and a grandfather who is a Catholic priest. (The grandfather went into the ministry after his wife died.) Bennett enjoys people, but also understands the criminal mind.

Our criminal is an intriguing character. She is a mother of two and a Colombian contract killer. She sometimes does her business in New York City. She is in town for a couple of contracts—and one of them is on Bennett. We read about how careful she is and that most people do not associate her various hits with the same person since she varies her technique.

The story indeed begins with an ambush. A relatively new homicide detective gets a tip about a suspect at a certain apartment. It is a setup organized by the contract killer. Not only were there bullets, but there was a hand grenade. Bennett escapes with some injuries, but the other detective is killed. Meanwhile, Alexandra, our hired gun, is down the street in a different building conducting a fashion photo shoot at the same time. We begin to see that no one suspects that an attractive Latina photographer is really a hired assassin.

While the plot is focused and Alex is clever, there are some clues that Bennett deciphers. His oldest son is attacked while serving in prison. Bennett understands that someone is sending him a message. Alex, who owns a stable in Colombia, goes on a couple of dates with a city mounted policeman. She likes the guy, but also learns a few things about the police department and Bennett from him.

The plot develops step by step leading to an ending that is tense and intense. The last fifty pages or so just fly by. It is not a mystery to the reader since we know who the killer is from the beginning, but it is a mystery to Bennett. How he discovers her and how he deals with her make for some real excitement.

Manhunt is shorter. Some might call it a novella. Bennett, his fiancée, and his nine children (Brian, the tenth, is still in prison) go to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. A truck with a bomb plows into the crowd near them. The bomb explodes and the driver runs away shouting something about Allah. Bennett chases him but the man gets away, but not before Bennett gets a look at his face.

Because he is NYPD and a witness, he is called in to help with the FBI because this is viewed as a terrorist attack. He partners with a Russian because a fingerprint from the truck points to a Russian from Kazakhstan.

This is more of a procedural story since the two of them question a number of people and contacts to see what they can find. The FBI agent in charge will actually dismiss Bennett from the investigation because he did not heed to their instructions, although he learned some valuable information. At one point the agent in charge even tells Bennett that he was thinking of joining the NYPD, but he chose the FBI because he “wanted to make a difference.” That is not how to win friends and influence people…

This plot has a few surprises. We learn some things about Russian immigrants to the United States and about Russian criminals. Even Bennett’s Russian partner works for the Russian embassy, but we wonder where her loyalties lie—or is the Russian government itself involved in organized crime?

Yes, the manhunt ultimately is successful in spite of FBI bluster and mistakes by everyone involved including Bennett.

Patterson and Born do have some interesting views expressed in a few places.

When Alexandra is talking to the drug lord who hired her, she admits she may have made a mistake in hiring some Dominican thugs to do some of her dirty work. “Besides,” she tells him, “they are expendable.” Her cartel handler says, “That’s the way I feel about you.” Hmm (99).

A member of the vice squad once noted about how some countries deal with crime:

“The Dutch had a problem with prostitution, so they legalized it. Then they had a problem with drugs, so they legalized them. Let’s hope they never have a problem with homicide.” (114)

And then there is a profound discussion in Manhunt among some of Bennett’s family after the terrorist attack on the parade.

Fiona looked at her great-grandfather [the priest] and said, “Why didn’t God stop the truck driver in the first place?” It was a simple question asked by an innocent girl, no trap or guile in it.

My grandfather turned and put his hand on Fiona’s cheek. “Because, dear girl, God gave man free will. It is not something he can turn on and off.”

Fiona said, “I learned about free will at CCD. Does it basically mean we are responsible for the things we do?”

Seamus said, “Exactly”….

Trent said, “C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.’” (323)

Gee, maybe Carlo Rovelli should read Manhunt. He might learn something.

Aurelius Augustinius [St. Augustine]. The City of God. A.D. 410; Translation 1887; Edited by Philip Schaff, Translated by Marcus Dods, Monergism Books, 2021.

For a shorter review go to the following:
The City of God by Augustine of Hippo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Glad I read this! This is a wide-ranging discussion of religion and philosophy. The first third discusses the Greek and Roman religions of his day. Readers who are unfamiliar with the Greco-Roman mythology may not get much out of this discussion; however, he treats such beliefs with seriousness and respect, even though he points out how they fall short of being true.

The main theme is that that there are two spiritual kingdoms (or “cities”) in this world: the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World. Since the Fall, when Adam gave the authority he had been given to the devil, the devil has been in charge of the world. Jesus came to redeem the world from the devil’s authority. Now the two kingdoms clash.

There are detailed discussions of various philosophies (Augustine believes that Plato came closer than any other nonbeliever). He especially deals with the idea of reincarnation and the gnostic idea that the flesh is irredeemable. We learn about angels and demons, and we get a concise overview of Biblical history. What he says about miracles and end times would challenge a lot of what is being taught on these subject today. Augustine wants his readers to think–and, hopefully, to follow Jesus.

View all my reviews

Sooner or later I had to read The City of God. Augustine is considered one of the greatest and certainly most influential Christian writers in history. This is often considered his magnum opus. Protestants and Catholics, Arminians, Calvinists, and Lutherans all claim him. Let us see what he has to offer.

One note about this translation: The editor and translator both spell his name as Augustin. I have told my students that when they get to college, the serious academics pronounce his name as uh-GUST-in with the accent on the second syllable. In English this distinguishes him from Augustine (AH-gus-teen), the first missionary to the English. This edition takes the obvious next step to spell his name closer to the way English speaking scholars pronounce it. Since his name in Latin in Augustinius, it makes little difference.

The overall theme of this long work is simply that among the people of the earth there are two spiritual kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World (e.g. Revelation 11:15). One is ruled by God, the Creator and Father of the Lord Jesus, the other by the devil, who took authority when Adam sinned.

Augustine notes the legality in the story of the Fall. Adam was given authority over the world (Genesis 1:27-28). When Adam yielded to the devil in the Garden, he yielded his authority or dominion to the devil. The earth has been a spiritual battleground ever since.

Augustine spends a lot of time analyzing the significance of the Fall, the nature of angels and demons, and the false religions and philosophies that many people believe in.

Typical of ancient works, The City of God is divided into books, and then each book is divided into chapters. Traditional reference notation includes three numbers representing book.chapter.paragraph.

The first ten of the twenty-two books deal with the polytheistic and philosophical schools of Augustine’s day. Anyone familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, especially as told by Vergil and Ovid, would have no problem understanding his writings on the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian polytheism of his day. He also deals with the writings of various philosophers, especially Varro, Porphyry, and Plato.

He challenges the consistency and contradictions in the polytheistic stories, and demonstrates logical problems in them. He takes an interesting and respectful approach. He treats the mythology as serious history and quotes frequently from them. Since many people still took the myths seriously at the time he was writing, this worked effectively. As I read this, I began saying to myself, Augustine really is a genius.

Modern readers who were unfamiliar with the ancient mythology might find this drawn out too much. However, millions, if not billions, today still subscribe to polytheistic religions, especially in south and east Asia. If someone were to do what Augustine did and apply his reasoning to Hinduism and Buddhism and their offshoots, it could be powerful. (I understand that the late Ravi Zacharias did this some in his Jesus Among Other Gods, but I have not read that book.)

Throughout the book, Augustine also notes various philosophical schools. He shows why of the schools, the Platonic school makes the most sense. It is also very close to Christianity or Judaism since it shows the necessity for a “prime mover” or Creator who also is a lawgiver. I had heard from several sources that the first chapter of the Gospel of John was written for Platonists (“In the beginning was the Word…All things were created by Him”). Augustine shows a connection, but also explains why Plato falls short in some of his beliefs. Parts reminded me of the comment repeated in Lewis’s The Last Battle: “It’s all in Plato. What are they teaching in schools these days?”

Augustine also notes various ancient writers, including ones from India, that believe in reincarnation of some kind or another (even Vergil). He demonstrates problems with this system as well. His basic premise, which is orthodox Jewish and Christian teaching, is simple, “The gods of the nations are idols” (cf. Psalm 96:5) and “Idols are demons” (cf. I Corinthians 10:20). Some translations, apparently including the Septuagint, which Augustine refers to, Psalm 96:5 says “The idols of the nations are demons” period. This represents the two kingdoms directly again.

The next ten books are a survey of Biblical history beginning with the rebellion of Satan. There are some interesting discussions of free will and the consequences of sin and rebellion against God. He attempts to answer many questions, especially those posed by philosophers who question Christianity. He then focuses on the history of redemption as recorded in the Bible, noting Adam, Noah, Abraham, and various judges, kings, and prophets.

He includes a detailed discussion on the origin of death, and what the Bible says and implies about what happens when we die. That, of course, involves the two kingdoms—whose kingdom do we acknowledge and follow? In doing so, Augustine takes us through the Book of Revelation and the nature of eternal punishment and eternal salvation. Augustine seems neutral on Purgatory: He notes a few verses that might suggest some sins can be purged after death, but how that happens is unclear. Like anyone writing about redemption, he does spend time quoting not only from Revelation, but from the Epistle to the Hebrews.

I can see why both Calvinists and Arminians claim him. He does discuss redemption in the light of predestination, which appeals to the Calvinists. However, he also warns about falling away, something more in line with Catholic, Arminian, and Lutheran teaching.

With all these discussions, Augustine’s approach is philosophical. For example, he discusses at some length the question of the salvation of the soul and the resurrection of the body. Some Gnostics and Platonists consider the resurrection of the body anathema since they see the body as what causes people to sin and is, therefore, not salvageable. He shows how Christ’s redemption includes the body since Jesus came in the flesh and redeemed us through the death of his body on the cross.

He also spends some time enumerating different miracles happening in the name of the Lord in his day. This would seem to challenge modern Cessationists and appeal to both traditional Catholics and modern Pentecostals and Charismatics.

Above all, Augustine wants his readers to think. And not only think, but think about what is true and what their eternal destiny might be. Fascinating and wide-ranging.

Whose kingdom do you belong to?

Frank Spotnitz et al. The Man in the High Castle. Produced by Christian Baute et al, Amazon Prime Video, 2015-2019.

From my experience, a television or film series that follows a book closely—in other words, it is not rewritten for a one to three hour box office film—usually lasts six to ten hours. I seem to recall a BBC version of A Tale of Two Cities which copied most of the book’s dialogue and followed the story chapter by chapter had, I believe, eight episodes of 30 to 40 minutes each. (Correct me, if I am wrong. It was nearly forty years ago.) When I saw that The Man in the High Castle was ten episodes, I figured that they were following the novel line by line. After all, Dick’s novel is shorter than Dickens’.

When I got to episode ten, I discovered that this was just season one! This would take four seasons and a total of 38 episodes. I was already invested in the show, so I watched the whole thing over a period of about two months. It was worth it, I think.

The Amazon Prime show is very loosely based on the novel. At first, it seemed like there were a few modifications to make it more effective for an audience watching the show rather than reading the story. For example, instead of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy being a novel, it is a film—and instead of a single film, we learn that there are a whole series of films.

The basic foundation of the story is the same: The Axis won World War II; Japan rules the Western United States, Germany rules the Eastern States, and part of the Rocky Mountains is a semi-independent neutral zone (in the novel, it is run by Japan). One of the characters is a San Francisco antiques dealer. Another is a New York Jew who managed to escape to the Western States before the Nazis took over the East Coast. In the book, he is the same person.

Then there is the so-called Man in the High Castle who seems to believe in an alternate history where the Allies won the war, and, yes, his name is Abendsen. Yes, there is a German assassination plot as it seems Germany believes they can drive Japan out of North America. But then the current fuehrer dies—in the book he is Bormann, in the film Hitler still lives at the beginning (1961). There is also a Japanese official who consults the I Ching in both stories.

The Amazon version is an original work in its own right, though. Older viewers may get a kick out of the early sixties settings, especially those in Abendsen’s world. They include a lot of popular music from all genres, headlines concerning the Cuban missile crisis and the Beatles, and hints of incipient military action in Vietnam. In other words, the Amazon version takes the novel as a foundation and builds on it.

Because it has so many episodes, it is structured more like an epic than a novel. Because it was produced in 2015, it has sex, something missing from the 1962 novel. It does have a lot of action and many characters and subplots. Nearly every episode has a different director and different scriptwriter. Still, it hangs together pretty well. As it builds on the novel’s foundation, the Amazon series borrows from the film Inception and the television series Lost.

I am trying to avoid spoilers, but there are a few things I feel I must note so viewers do not miss them. There is a terrific juxtaposition of two scenes at one point in the third season. A group of Jewish survivors in the neutral zone are celebrating a bar mitzvah. Meanwhile in German-occupied New York, the government is starting a new calendar with the current year being year one. Tradition vs. Utopia. Which one will really last in the long run? We are told the bar mitzvah is 5,000 years old (well, really closer to 4,000, but we get the message). How long will the Socialist New World Order last? Or any other man-made scheme or empire?

As with the novel, there is an interesting juxtaposition of fate and free will. The oriental tradition as typified in the I Ching is fatalistic. The Nazis speak of the will to power. In one version a boy is killed by the Nazis because of a birth defect. In the “Allies win” version, the boy volunteers for Vietnam where it is implied he will be killed. The house always wins…and you can’t get out of the game.

Anyway, the miniseries of The Man in the High Castle flows out differently from the novel. Still, it is quite entertaining with some flashes of brilliance. As implied earlier, fans of Lost or Inception should get a kick out of it. Because of its scope there is something or someone in it for everyone.

Liskow, Steve. Who Wrote the Book of Death? Mainly Murder Press, 2010.

Who Wrote the Book of Death? follows its own advice. Two of its three main characters are writers. At various times they discuss or ponder the things that make for good stories. Author Liskow has created a thriller that is a lot fun to read.

The third chief character, private detective Greg Nines, is called in as security for the beautiful romance writer Taliesyn Holroyd. Ms. Holroyd has had two near misses with death as the book begins. Much of the tension in the story comes from the continued threats and attempts on her life.

What complicates the story and the mystery is that Taliesyn Holroyd is the pen name of two writers who collaborate in an unusual way—not unlike Ellery Queen. Neither writer has any enemies as far as they know, and no one is even sure which of the two writers the stalker is after—or if the person thinks one of them is the “real” Ms. Holroyd.

There are some suspects: one writer’s ex-husband, a U. S. senator whose life is being fictionalized in the latest Holroyd novel, and the family of a boy who some think is the senator’s illegitimate son. Everyone seems to have an alibi, and nothing makes sense except that someone wants someone else dead.

Nines works on the security in the house where one writer lives and the other is staying. It is clear the suspect has closely observed the house and its inhabitants’ comings and goings. Attempts on their lives become more frequent—and Nines has to protect his charges but has no idea whodunit or why.

Can Nines success in thwarting the stalker before either writer is killed? Further complicating things is that while Nines has taken all kinds of precautions to set alarms and thwart unwanted entry into the house, it becomes clear that the stalker (or someone hired by the stalker) knows electrical systems and alarms very well.

The mystery stalker is reminiscent of similar thrillers like Mary Higgins Clark’s Daddy’s Little Girl or Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark (which is alluded to in the story). It borrows some of the mystery from the Sherlock Holmes story “The Red-Headed League.”

But something else besides the tense plot keeps the story going—the characters. Both writers and the detective are puzzled by who would want to kill one or both of them, but at the same time all three have their secrets. As the story reveals the truth about who they really are, we begin to care more about them. I suspect that many readers will want to read more about Greg Nines and “Taliesyn Holroyd.”

The author has some fun since he is writing about authors. What motivates people to write? Is it to entertain? Is it therapy? Or is it to create a world that somehow magnifies the one we live in? From time to time we get to read some of the writers’ work. It is not as good as Liskow’s own voice, but in all fairness, they are mostly rough drafts. The author has a little fun with an occasional metaphor or simile that echoes Philip Marlowe like “she wears jeans that hug her curves like a lover.” If the writer is having fun, so should the reader.

James L. Swanson. The Deerfield Massacre. Scribner, 2024.

For a shorter review, see the following:
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America by James L. Swanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I was young, my parents owned The Story of America in Pictures. That book had photos or engravings on every page—the pictures all from around the time that the event occurred. I recall a page titled “The Deerfield Massacre” with a picture of a native American with a tomahawk about to scalp a captive woman. That picture made an impression on my young mind. It was not an exaggeration.

Swanson’s The Deerfield Massacre attempts to separate history from legend and gives about as much as we know of that famous Indian attack on Deerfield, Massachusetts, on February 19, 1704. Deerfield was about as far to the northwest as the English had settled in New England, and while a stockade fort had been built, it was vulnerable to attack.

We sometimes think of the French and Indian War as the war fought between England and France in the New World between 1754 and 1763, called the Seven Years’ War in Europe, and the Conquest in Quebec. (I recently returned from a visit to Montreal. Any historical reference about the war there always called it the Conquest.) However, that was the fourth war in North America between the two colonial powers with their native allies. England and France did not start fighting in Europe until 1756, hence its European name.

Before that there was King William’s War (1688-1697), Queen Anne’s War (a.k.a. the War of Spanish Succession 1702-1713), and King George’s War (a.k.a. the War of Austrian Succession, 1744-1748). Deerfield had been attacked by Indians in 1675 during King Philip’s War (called the Battle of Bloody Brook), and was subjected to raids during King William’s War. The town was destroyed in 1675 and again in 1704. Many inhabitants were killed, and many of the rest were taken captive.

Much of what we know about the 1704 attack on Deerfield comes from the testimonies of three captives who were later released, especially that of Rev. John Williams, the pastor of the church there. He and the other captives were all taken to Canada where some were handed over to the French and others would be taken by various native tribes.

As I write, Israeli hostages taken by Palestinians last October continue to be in the news. The negotiations for them is complicated. It was no less complicated in 1704. The French, the Indians, and the English all had different ideas about the captives/hostages. All the English captives were civilians. The British had some military captives including one privateer whom the French really wanted released, but whom the English were unwilling to give up. They would have considered him a terrorist in today’s terms. Different Indian tribes had different ideas about their captives as well. Some took them as slaves. Others saw them as replacing tribe or family members who had died.

When the Indians attacked Deerfield they killed nearly all the babies and young children because they saw them as a burden trying to escort them through the winter snow to Quebec. A few captive children would remain with the Indians including one daughter of Rev. Williams. Seven when she was captured, she would change her name, marry a native, and convert to Catholicism. Indeed, the French tried to persuade all the captives, even the pastor, to become Catholic.

About two thirds of The Deerfield Massacre tells of the aftermath and legacy up to the present. Rev. Williams published his testimony of captivity that went through several editions. His wife was killed in the attack. That picture I recall from my childhood may have been a picture of her murder. His children, except for the one daughter, would eventually return and be reunited. After his death, his daughter would visit her siblings two or three times but remained with the Indians who adopted her. She would live to be 89. In the nineteenth century, her descendants would make several visits to Deerfield as a kind of good will mission.

Swanson does his best to present all sides. There is some documentation in French and English. Most of what he reports from the Indian perspective is from oral tradition reported in the nineteenth century.

We learn that the first time the term “massacre” was used was 100 years after the event. Before that it was usually referred to as the raid or attack. We learn that the one building, a house, that survived the attack became a kind of historic shrine, but it was eventually torn down in the 1840s, though not till after a couple of daguerreotypes had been made of it. Its door was saved and can be seen today. It contains some hatchet marks and bullet holes from the battle.

We learn about local historians who did a lot to preserve the memory and even put on three theatrical pageants over the course of nine years. We learn about the financier who tried, somewhat successfully, to preserve the colonial atmosphere of the main street. He could not compete with the Rockefellers who financed the reconstruction of Williamsburg, Virginia, but Swanson assures us that The Street (its main street), the museum, and certain memorials are worth a visit.

This is a thorough presentation. If I have one quibble, it is that to my understanding the word savage has taken on a more negative connotation than it had in the eighteenth century. Rousseau spoke of the noble savage. Crusoe loved Friday, his “savage friend.” Savage simply meant “uncivilized or tribal.” Swanson probably could have saved himself some apologies by recognizing that when quoting some of the older accounts. That is minor. This is a fascinating tale, and Swanson has done all that he can to tell the story from what facts we have and how those facts were interpreted and presented over the last three centuries.

Andrew Murray. The Power of the Blood of Jesus. 1935?; Sanage Publishing, 2021.

For a shorter review, click on the following:
The Power of the Blood of Jesus: The Vital Role of Blood for Redemption, Sanctification, and Life by Andrew Murray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Power of the Blood of Jesus is a translation originally made around 1935 at the instigation of Andrew Murray’s son. It is actually an organized collection of sermons of his with each chapter based on one sermon. Because it is a translation, it goes by various titles. This edition includes ten chapters. Some editions include seven more.

Having said that to hopefully alleviate some confusion, this is a great book. I heartily recommend it to any Jesus follower. While focused on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Revelation, it presents many of the promises of the Bible to those who have faith in Jesus and what His blood sacrifice and blood covenant provides.

I have mentioned before a friend who used yellow highlighter. When he read some articles or books, he would say that they should simply be dunked in a pail of yellow ink. The Power of the Blood of Jesus is one such work. The first chapter gives a helpful background of the concept of the blood covenant. Many people in the Western world have lost a sense of what this means.

After that, each chapter is dedicated to a different promise from the Bible about what the blood of Jesus can provide or accomplish in the life of the believer. We are redeemed. We are reconciled to God. We are cleansed. We are sanctified. We serve the Lord. We dwell in the holy place. We have life. We have victory. We have heavenly joy.

To this reader perhaps the most relevant chapter was on cleansing. The Bible tells us that our consciences are cleansed or purged (Hebrews 9:14). Murray goes into some detail about this and the related sanctification. This demonstrates how powerful the blood of Christ can be.

God created our consciences to work in our lives to help us make right choices. When we sin, however, our consciences remind us that we have messed up. Even people who reject the Bible or its commandments have a sense of right and wrong. Once we have been made aware that we have done something wrong, what can we do about it? What is done is done, and we cannot undo it.

Jesus came to save sinners. Yes, that means forgiveness, but it means more. It means that He came to cleanse or purify our consciences. Once we are aware of God having done that through Jesus, we can approach God with confidence.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23)

Do you lack confidence? Read this book. The Son of the Almighty God made a way for us! Hallelujah!

N.B.: While I highly recommend this book, I do not recommend the edition that I read. It was clearly made from a computer scan and not edited carefully. Some combinations of letters and symbols are readable—for example, the context clearly meant “clone” should read “done”—but some are indecipherable. My Goodreads review said “Five-star book, two-star editing.” Still, if this were the only edition, it would be worth reading.

Thomas Goodwin. The Heart of Christ in Heaven Towards Sinners on Earth. 1645; Edited by Johnny Wilson, Monergism.org, 2023.

I heard about this book recently and thought I should look into it. I found it available at the above link, and, believe me, it was worth it.

There are two difficult questions that people who wonder about God or Jesus will sometimes ask. This book attempts to take a look at both questions in depth.

The first is how do I know God loves me? We are aware of sin in our world and in our own lives. We wonder if God can love anyone, including me or us. God has high standards. Can we meet them? Or is God strict or angry? With all the evil in the world, sometimes He may seem indifferent to it all.

The author uses the Bible in great detail to try to convince the reader of God’s love. Yes, many people, even skeptics, have heard the verse that tells us:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

That is pretty intense, but why are we not more aware of His love in this rotten world? The Bible says Jesus is coming soon, but that was nearly two thousand years ago when those words were written, that does not sound very soon! Goodwin notes that the context in which those words are written have to do with the future. Jesus will come immediately when His Father gives Him the word.

Goodwin suggests that in the meantime we read John chapters 14 though 16, and then add 17. John 14-16 is the longest single discourse or sermon by Jesus recorded in the New Testament. There He shares with his disciples and their followers His plans, especially His promise of the Holy Spirit and His promise that “where I am you may be also” (John 14:3)

Then His prayer in John 17 “is a summary of his intercession for us in heaven” (227). God cares. Jesus is pleading our case.

This leads into the second question, and the main theme of this book, what is Jesus doing in heaven?

You see, when Jesus died on the cross, not only was He a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, but He “relinquished all earthly weakness and limitations of the flesh” (246). He rose eternal, victorious over death, and with all authority in heaven and earth (see Matthew 28:18).

Goodwin notes a parallel between Joseph revealing himself to his brothers after many years with Jesus revealing Himself after his resurrection to His followers. Joseph’s brothers knew they had not treated him well and were afraid he might try to get revenge on them, especially after their father Jacob died. So the angels at the tomb tell Jesus’ disciples to wait for Him. Peter, the one who denied Him, is mentioned specifically (Mark 16:7). Joseph would help to save his brothers and their families from the famine. Jesus would save His followers from sin and the power of death.

Much of The Heart of Christ in Heaven Towards Sinners on Earth focuses on Jesus’ dealing with His followers after His resurrection. That made all the difference. The things He says and does during that time show His great affection more than anything else. He does not accuse anyone. He does not complain. Any rebukes are very mild.

No other sin troubled him other than unbelief, which reveals how his heart is inclined towards desiring that men believe in him even now that he is glorified. (297)

He wants to be sure that His “lambs” and “sheep” are fed. That the disciples take care of the “flock” He has given them.

Goodwin makes a case that the word most frequently used by Christ Himself in heaven to people on earth is come. That is His plan, and it is a plan of love, that we come to Him and share in His love.

He reminds us, as does the Bible, especially in the Book of Hebrews, that Jesus was and is a man, a human being now. He knows what it is like to be human. He understands the temptations. He certainly has experienced some of the evil in the world. He can provide comfort even more and on a greater scale than Joseph could comfort his brothers.

God has placed in Him such a στοργή [storgé], such a unique love, as parents have for their own children, surpassing their love for other people’s children, even if those children are more beautiful and intelligent than their own. (489)

There is more, of course, much more. This book lets us know how Christ can see us through afflictions because of both His love and His compassion. He knows what it is like. He has been there Himself. And like a good brother and obedient son, He takes care of God’s family. He calls believers brothers, sisters, spouse, and bride. This is family.

If you are doubtful about your status in God’s family, if you wonder about what Jesus is doing now or whether God really loves people, read this book. It reveals God’s love in a way that few other works have. It is short enough that I may read it again. Do it. There is more to this book and to God’s love than what is explained in this brief review.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. (I John 3:1)

N.B.: Parenthetical references are Kindle locations, not page numbers. I used a modern language version of the text. Both the original and Wilson’s modernization are available in various e-formats from the above link.