The Battle for One Elect by Dr. Simon Hezekiah Kohein

Simon Kohein can not escape sorrow, but neither can he escape joy. His life is filled with ups and downs and every other direction. But lets face it, some of those downs are downs. Is this due to simply bad luck, or might it have something to do with the curse on their family his grandmother always spoke of? What is going on in the spiritual world, parallel to ours? Simon shares his life and all his thoughts in a final letter to his long deceased wife.

I was very surprised to find that, despite the cover, the first half of the book isn't really about spiritual warfare. It has spiritual references, sure, but it's not about spiritual warfare per se. However, as the book continues it becomes evident that the book is in fact about spiritual warfare, but it is also an autobiography. I found the story incredibly interesting, and filled with a message of hope and perseverance. The books was smoothly written, and I could tell that both the characters and emotions are genuine. Great book, recommended to those going through trials.
    

The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker

Renee Gilmore is a helpless victim sucked into a trap of drugs, hopelessness and fear. When she is rescued, she feels forever free and relieved. However, when an unimaginable string of events occurs, Renee is forced to take action and her life is suddenly intertwined with a strange priest.

Danny Hansen would be that strange priest. Once being a helpless victim himself, he is sick of being a witness of cruelty to human innocents as they slip through the law's hands. Thus, he decides to take the law into his own hands (only when the law fails) all in the name of justice. In this corrupt system there are many in the priest's graveyard.

Judge not, or you too may be judged.

To start off, 3D rating! This book completely lives up to the Dekker standard. Very readable book. The perspective in this book is an interesting one. It is in the first person point of view from a woman, but it quite often switches to the third person point of view of a man. That makes for an interesting style that allows you to crawl inside one character's head, and glance inside another's. The feel of the book is moderately dark, but in my opinion in no way a thriller, despite other claims. I think it is more in the suspense category, though not like "The killer is about to get you!" For a nice change there are no serial killers. Both the twist and message of this book grew in my mind like a natural inception so that I felt completely in sync with the characters. Great work Ted, unexpected and amazing!

Below is the trailer.


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Intervention by Terri Blackstock

Emily Covington is a full out addict. Only 18 and she is throwing out her life, health and future. She is, basically, a walking dead. But her Christian mother can not watch from the sidelines, she decides to take action... again. She hires an interventionist and everything seems to go perfectly for a while. But as her daughter arrives in Georgia, Emily won't answer the phone on the way to the retreat, and then- disaster strikes. Barbra, Lance, and Emily Covington's as well as Detective Kent Harlan's lives are turned upside-down. It all started with the intervention... or did it?

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but the average time that I read a book is 3 days-1.5 weeks. The books I read in 3 days are the best; books I can't put down. Past 3 day books would include Immanuel's Veins, Rick Riordan's mythology books, The Promises She Keeps, and The Gift. This book, is the latest addition to my 3 day book collection. In the future, for the purpose of sounding awesome, books I read in 3 days will say "3D rating".

Now, for my opinions of the book. Well, it was amazing! It was one of those books where I made instant connection with the characters. I wanted them to succeed, I dreaded what was about to happen to them. Yes, this is a character based novel. One of the characters, Lance Covington, was a 14 year old guy with an older sister. I too fit that description so I was glad to have a character I could closely relate to. Not really any complaints. Amazing book, Terri! I'm very excited for Vicious Cycle!

Here is the trailer. The characters don't appear much as I picture them, but I'll leave the decision to you.

In the Shadow of Evil by Robin Caroll

It all starts with a a dead body in a burning house. Well, thus starts the catastrophe anyways. Not terribly uncommon, but the house is for the unfortunate and the source of an award; and the body is that of the inspector. Contractor Layla Taylor is thrust along with Detective Maddox Bishop into a chaotic reality where trust is deceitful, hope is weakness, and peace is mockery. Layla can hardly doubt that she is living in the shadow of evil.

When I first started this book, I kept wondering, how is this the shadow of evil? But soon it became evident; this book gets intense! Smoothly written with a fluent story line, it was a great read that was hard to put down. Construction and Louisiana were two foreign subjects to me, so that was an interesting background in my eyes. I was a little disappointing though that there wasn't much culture. I also must note that there are two over used phrases that I assume were meant to add character but came across otherwise. As the book progresses, they do become more scarce. All in all, excellent book and I can't wait to read it's two siblings. Great job, Robin.