The 13th Demon by Bruce Hennigan (The Chronicles of Jonathan Steel)

Brace yourself!!!

This book is not for the faint of heart! A rare thing it is for me to pick up a book that I do not put down till it is read from cover to cover, but this is one of them. I read The 13th Demon Alter of the Spiral Eye in three hours. I would have gone to bed, since I started it so late at night, but this book has enough of the Spirit Realm in it that I knew better than to sleep with out having read the ending.

The introduction soon leaves off into the main stories and it just never lets up. The action in the physical and spiritual realms never lets up, nor the plot, nor the draw that is felt to the main characters. I can tell you that Bruce Hennigan has a great grip on demons, and humans. I thought it was very witty to tie the Aztex and Incas into the story, and then how it all ties up in that one artifact that was quite evil. I frankly remember my reaction to such "art" when I studied it in college, along with my being as equally repelled by human sacrifice as were the Christians in this book.

I hope to not offend Mr. Hennigan should he ever read my review, but I found the movie like write up reminiscent of Silent Hill. That is  movie I wound up watching by "accident" and one that has no Christian content other than Hell and being lost eternally in a lot of horrors, but the wild and sometimes unpredictable demonic manifestations are just as dramatic. In that aspect I am sure this would scare the dear "blue haired Grandmothers" of certain denominations to bits! However, for those of us who have seen "too much", we know we fight demons just as livid, just as real as they are in The 13th Demon on a regular basis. Some people just never see them with their physical eyes, and others of us do.

Carol


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  The 13th Demon  Realms (October 4, 2011)  by  Bruce Hennigan 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bruce Hennigan was born and raised in the isolated countryside of Shreveport, La., a place full of possibilities for the active mind of a young boy. The fertile imagination he cultivated while playing deep in the Louisiana woods would lead to a lifelong love of creative writing.

In 2006, Hennigan pursued the Certified Apologetic Instructor Certificate from the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has become a frequent speaker at regional and state events on apologetics and his strong point is in making these sometimes hard to understand issues easily approachable for the average Christian. Hennigan’s experience in apologetics inspired him to write his new novel, The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye, a supernatural Christian thriller that combines science and faith. Now, combining his love for apologetics and his love for the art of writing, Hennigan is pursuing a career as the “Michael Crichton” of Christian fiction building powerful, fast paced stories around the truths of Christian apologetics.

Hennigan currently resides in Shreveport with his wife and daughter. He continues to write and to practice radiology at the Willis Knighton Health Care System. He has secured Jeff Jernigan of Hidden Value Group (www.hiddenvaluegroup.com) as his literary agent and has signed a five book deal with the Realms imprint of Charisma Media for “The Chronicles of Jonathan Steel”.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Jonathan Steel wakes up on a beach in a raging thunderstorm, naked, beaten, and bleeding, he has no idea who he is or how he got there. But just as he starts to make progress in his slow journey to recovery, tragedy strikes again, taking everything in his new life that he has come to love and rely on.

Filled with rage and a thirst for revenge, he searches the countryside for the entity responsible—an entity called only the Thirteenth Demon. His quest brings him to Lakeside, Louisiana, and a small country church where evil is in control and strange writing on the walls, blood-soaked floors, and red-eyed spiders have appeared in the sanctuary.


As he faces the final confrontation with an evil presence that has pursued him all of his life, he must choose between helping the people he loves or destroying the thirteenth demon.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The 13th Demon, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1616382805 

The Bone House by Stephen Lawhead (The Bright Empire Series)

Opps, You heard my yelp of excitement did you? Well, that is probably a good thing. 


I have said it before, and here I say it again - Stephen Lawhead is one of my very favorite writers. This book review is about The Bone House, the second book in The Bright Empire Series. Here again we can pick up where we left off with Kit Livingston, an unwitting traveler to the ley lines.  Ley Lines, oh I am glad you asked! You should read the first book, and then you will enjoy this all the more, and you will be sure not to be lost- unless you get on the wrong ley line and then that is another problem altogether. 


The Bone House picks up with great escape Kit and some of his friends have made, while at the great loss of some lives, and a very important map. A map of ley lines, tattooed onto one mans' skin. That man, no longer with us of course, left this map separated into four parts. 
Whoever finds them all, finds a great treasure, and so the hunt is on for many various reasons. And that dear readers only scratches the surface of this book or The Skin Map. 


In this book we learn a great deal more about how the ley lines work, and how to navigate them. We get to check and see  how our favorite characters are doing, and what has made some of the villains the way they are. Their lives are written in great depth and by the time you reach the last place Kit went in this book, you will feel as though you went on these trips, and sat with Kit as he works to sort out the where-s and why-s of it all.  In that last place, the place of bones, the way they communicated, and the way Mr. Lawhead explained it took my breath away. Exceedingly well written! 


I have plenty  more to say, but I am going to try to post again tomorrow. If I don't mange, then I might have gone to a ley line of my own. 


Carol 

About the Book:

One piece of the skin map has been found. Now the race to unravel the future of the future turns deadly.

An avenue of Egyptian sphinxes, an Etruscan tufa tomb, a Bohemian coffee shop, and a Stone Age landscape where universes collide …

Kit Livingstone met his great grandfather Cosimo in a rainy alley in London where he discovered the reality of alternate realities.

Now he's on the run - and on a quest, trying to understand the impossible mission he inherited from Cosimo: to restore a map that charts the hidden dimensions of the multiverse while staying one step ahead of the savage Burley Men.

The key is the Skin Map - but where it leads and what it means, Kit has no idea. The pieces have been scattered throughout this universe and beyond.

Mina, from her outpost in seventeenth-century Prague, is quickly gaining both the experience and the means to succeed in the quest. Yet so are those with evil intent, who from the shadows are manipulating great minds of history for their own malign purposes.

Across time and space, through manifest and hidden worlds, those who know how to use ley lines to travel through astral planes have left their own world behind in this, the second quest: to unlock the mystery of The Bone House.

Watch the author trailer:

About the Author: 

Stephen Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. He was born in 1950, in Nebraska in the USA. His early life was lived in America where he earned a university degree in Fine Arts and attended theological seminary for two years.

His first professional writing was done at Campus Life magazine in Chicago, where he was an editor and staff writer. During his five years at Campus Life he wrote hundreds of articles and several non-fiction books.

After a brief and unsuccessful foray into the music business—as president of his own record company—he launched his free-lance career in 1981. In the Hall of the Dragon King was his first novel.

In 1986 the Lawhead family moved to Britain so that Stephen could conduct research for the PENDRAGON CYCLE books. They settled there permanently in 1990, with some years spent living in Austria and a sabbatical in the United States.

In addition to his twenty-four novels, he has written nine children's books, many of them originally offered to his two sons, Drake and Ross. He is married to Alice Slaikeu Lawhead, with whom he has collaborated on books and articles. They make their home in Oxford, England.

Stephen's non-fiction, fiction and children's titles have variously been published in twenty-four foreign languages. He has won numerous industry awards, and in 2003 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Nebraska.

His middle name is ‘Ray’.

 In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. 


Book link - http://www.amazon.com/dp/159554805X/
Author’s Web site - http://www.stephenlawhead.com/

Participants’ links:
Noah Arsenault
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse
CSFF Blog Tour
Jeff Chapman
Carol Bruce Collett
Karri Compton
D. G. D. Davidson
Theresa Dunlap
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Janeen Ippolito
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Marzabeth
Katie McCurdy
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant

Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

Hello Everyone,

Here is the world of Alice, aka Allie. A Pastors daughter who has her nose in a book almost 24 / 7. Her family can't hardly get her out in the real word, her boyfriend has left her because of it, and she still has no idea what life is at the age of 22. The Great Depression has caused her to loose her job at the library. With out much else to do, she invites herself to go with her Aunt and Uncle on a trip. Allie, the little fair skinned curly haired blond from Blue Island, Illinois finds herself stranded in Acorn, Kentucky! All she planned to do was help the library for a few weeks, but Leslie is a man name Mack and soon Alice finds herself in an extended stay next to Wonderland Creek. Before she knows it she is having to learn to ride a horse, and cook, and clean and care for a 100 year old former slave named Lilly. Soon she finds out she has to be a packhorse librarian, and help Lilly deal with a most unique funeral, and the list just keeps going.

Wonderland Creek is the kind of book you don't want to put down, and the kind that makes you just a wee bit worried that maybe I read too much too! So I took that into consideration, and then into consideration all the people I work with and talk to daily, and decided I am o.k. I just love to read, and this story was great!
I REALLY love how Lilly prays, and how much of God's real word was worked into Wonderland Creek. I loved how the clannish ways, and mines, and feuds all were portrayed and handled, especially how it effected people's lives and how it changed their relationships with God.

Carol

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Wonderland Creek Bethany House (October 1, 2011) by Lynn Austin
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

For many years, Lynn Austin nurtured a desire to write but frequent travels and the demands of her growing family postponed her career. When her husband's work took Lynn to Bogota, Colombia, for two years, she used the B.A. she'd earned at Southern Connecticut State University to become a teacher. After returning to the U.S., the Austins moved to Anderson, Indiana, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It was during the long Canadian winters at home with her children that Lynn made progress on her dream to write, carving out a few hours of writing time each day while her children napped. Lynn credits her early experience of learning to write amid the chaos of family life for her ability to be a productive writer while making sure her family remains her top priority.

Extended family is also very important to Austin, and it was a lively discussion between Lynn, her mother, grandmother (age 98), and daughter concerning the change in women's roles through the generations that sparked the inspiration for her novel Eve's Daughters.

Along with reading, two of Lynn's lifelong passions are history and archaeology. While researching her Biblical fiction series, Chronicles of the Kings, these two interests led her to pursue graduate studies in Biblical Backgrounds and Archaeology through Southwestern Theological Seminary. She and her son traveled to Israel during the summer of 1989 to take part in an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Timnah. This experience contributed to the inspiration for her novel Wings of Refuge.

Lynn resigned from teaching to write full-time in 1992. Since then she has published twelve novels. Five of her historical novels have won Christy Awards in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2009 for excellence in Christian Fiction. And two of her inspirational fiction books were chosen by Library Journal for their top picks in 2003, and 2005. One of Lynn's novels has been made into a movie for the Hallmark Channel, starring actress Shirley Jones. Ms Jones received a 2006 Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Aunt Batty in the film.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Alice Grace Ripley lives in a dream world, her nose stuck in a book. But happily-ever-after life she's planned on suddenly falls apart when her boyfriend, Gordon, breaks up with her, accusing her of living in a world of fiction instead of the real world. Then to top it off, Alice loses her beloved job at the library because of cutbacks due to the Great Depression.

Fleeing small-town gossip, Alice heads to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to deliver five boxes of donated books to the library in the tiny coal-mining village of Acorn. Dropped off by her relatives, Alice volunteers to stay for two weeks to help the librarian, Leslie McDougal.

But the librarian turns out to be far different than she anticipated--not to mention the four lady librarians who travel to the remote homes to deliver the much-desired books. While Alice is trapped in Acorn against her will, she soon finds that real-life adventure and myster--and especially romance--are far better than her humble dreams could have imagined.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Wonderland Creek, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076420498X

A Necessary Deception by Laurie Alice Eakes (The Daughters of Bainbridge House)

Delightful! 

I so very much enjoyed this book! A Necessary Deception is extremely well written, full of intrigue, suspense, drama, history and fun! Widowed Lady Gayle is leaving the country side to be with her family for the Season in London. On the way, she stops and bails a Frenchman out of prison as an act of kindness to the man who was with her husband when he died. But no sooner has she arrived with her cat in tow to London then she begins to be concerned that she has made a horrible mistake. She is being blackmailed and her heart and life are doing daily roller-coaster rides of events. Lydia soon finds herself quite attracted to, but also scared of Christian Christophe Arnaud de Meuse and some of the people surrounding him. Only who is really the blackmailer, and who is a traitor to the crown? Who can she trust and will she be able to get her middle sister wed, and her younger sister from wrecking her life and reputation at such a young age?

A delightful story written so nicely in the time frame, complete with beautiful dresses, spies, traitors, love, lost love, God, real life decisions, heart-ache, joy, and at least one adorable feline.

Carol 

About the Book:

When young widow Lydia Gale helps a French prisoner obtain parole, she never dreams she will see him again. But just as the London Season gets under way, the man presents himself in her parlor. While she should be focused on getting her headstrong younger sister prepared for her entrée into Society, Lady Gale finds herself preoccupied with the mysterious Frenchman. Is he a spy or a suitor? Can she trust him? Or is she putting herself and her family in danger?

Discover a world of elegance and intrigue, balls and masquerades as Laurie Alice Eakes whisks you into the drawing rooms of London Society on this exciting quest to let the past stay in the past--and let love guide the future.

About the Author:

Laurie Alice Eakes is the author of Lady in the Mist, A Necessary Deception, and several other novels. She won a National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency in 2007 for Family Guardian. Laurie Alice writes full-time from her home in Texas, where she lives with her husband and sundry dogs and cats.

Her web site is: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com/

Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Deception-Novel-Daughters-Bainbridge/dp/0800734661

Endorsements

"With her clean, sleek prose, Laurie Alice Eakes is one of the best storytellers the world has today. A Necessary Deception is one of her best, deftly weaving an intriguing spy chase with the elegant life of the ton in a beautiful love story that kidnaps unwitting readers and holds them hostage to the very last page."--Delle Jacobs, award-winning author of His Majesty, the Prince of Toads

"In A Necessary Deception, Laurie Alice Eakes weaves the fine silk threads of historical richness, dangerous intrigue, and forbidden romance into a flawless literary tapestry. This is Georgette Heyer meets Terri Blackstock in 1812 Regency London, an adventure that will leave readers breathless."--Louise M. Gouge, award-winning author of At the Captain's Command

"Laurie Alice Eakes writes a page-turning story with an in-depth knowledge of the period, an eye for detail, and an escalating mystery that will keep readers guessing till the end."--Ruth Axtell Morren, author of Wild Rose and The Rogue's Redemption

"Intriguing, suspenseful, masterful, and romantic--all the things you want in a great book! Add to that enchanting characters with real problems and real flaws who grow throughout the story, and a twist-and-turn plot, and I guarantee that once you dive into this book, you'll be happily lost in Regency London for the duration."--MaryLu Tyndall, Christy Award nominee and author of the Surrender to Destiny series

"Laurie Alice Eakes's novel is a captivating combination of romance and suspense set in the glittering Regency period."--Jane Myers Perrine, author of Second Chance Bride

"A Necessary Deception will lure you into a fascinating Regency full of danger, surprises, and a romance to quicken your pulse."--Jillian Kent, author of Secrets of the Heart

"A time of romance and intrigue with characters who grip one's heart and won't let go--this is the kind of book I look forward to reading when I want to be uplifted and carried away."--Jennifer Hudson Taylor, author of Highland Blessings and Highland Sanctuary

Available October 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

The Measure of Katie Calloway by Serena Miller

Hello Brave Readers,

The Measure of Katie Calloway is an indepth tale of the shanty boys and crews who harvested much of the timber that our country was built with. Katie escapes a plantation in ruins from Sherman's troups, only to have her husband continue to be horribly abusive. Realizing that he may well kill her, she takes her little brother, Ned, and fleas to the North. Finding respectiable work appears that it will be a challenge, but God opens the right doors and soon she and Ned are working for Robert Foster. He is the manager of a large logging camp. Hiring on as the cook is more than full time job, and Katie wasn't anticipating falling in love with Robert or anyone else ever again. Before long Katie is struggling to see if she can measure up to the work, while event after event just keeps piling in on her and the camp.

Many years ago my Mother took me to several 1800's villages. This book is set before then, but what I learned in those places all went hand in hand with this well researched book. A very nice read with lots of history and couragious charactors.

Carol

About the book:

Her heart seeks sanctuary in the deep woods. But will trouble find her even here?

The Civil War has ended, but in Katie Calloway's Georgia home, conflict still rages. To protect herself and her young brother from her violent and unstable husband, she flees north, finding anonymity and sanctuary as the cook in a north woods lumber camp. The camp owner, Robert Foster, wonders if the lovely woman he's hired has the grit to survive the never-ending work and harsh conditions of a remote pine forest in winter. Katie wonders if she can keep her past a secret from a man she is slowly growing to love.

With grace and skill, Serena Miller brings to life a bygone era. From the ethereal, snowy forest and the warm cookstove, the rowdy shanty boys and the jagged edges of the saw, every detail is perfectly rendered, transporting the reader back to the time when pine was king, men were made of iron, and rivers were choked with logs on the way to the sawmills and danger and romance abounded. Readers will have a hard time leaving the Northwoods when they turn the last page.

"With fascinating historical detail and heartfelt characters, The Measure of Katie Calloway captivated me from the very first line. Great storytelling, coupled with a unique north woods setting, will carry your heart from one vivid scene to the next. Miller writes the kind of rich historical fiction I love--with a plethora of romantic twists and turns to keep you reading far into the night. Not to be missed!"--Laura Frantz, author of The Colonel's Lady
"Serena Miller's charming characters leap off the pages and straight into your heart, and her setting feels so real you'll wonder why you don't hear trees falling in the forest and bacon sizzling on the woodstove."--Emilie Richards, author of Sunset Bridge
"Fascinating history. Fabulous characters. The Measure of Katie Calloway is a fast-paced story with a generous measure of romance that will have readers cheering on Katie Calloway as she conquers one trial after another. If you like stepping back in time and sharing an adventure with great characters, this is the book for you."--Ann H. Gabhart, author of Angel Sister

About the Author:

Serena Miller is the author of Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio, as well as numerous articles for periodicals such as Woman's World, Guideposts, Reader's Digest, Focus on the Family, Christian Woman, and more. She lives on a farm in southern Ohio.

Her web site is: http://serenabmiller.com

Available October 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a divison of Baker Publishging Group.

House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson

Hello All,

This is the third book I have read by Tracie Peterson, though there are plenty of good books by her out there to read. This book was simply poignant. Few writers that I have read have tackled this topic, this way, in Christian Fiction.

House of Secrets is about three sisters, and the crime they witnessed their Dad commit. Or did he? They were young, but they have spent 15 year or more not talking about "it" or speaking the truth, nor getting anything cleared up or dealt with.

The oldest sister Bailee has been jammed into the position of feeling responsible for her sisters no matter what, and her nightmares just don't stop. Not even with a therapist. Geena, the middle daughter, just tries to survive and work, and takes most things in stride. Her getting her law degree is helping, but in her spirit things are as calm as she would like them to be. Piper, the youngest, isn't in good health mentally or emanational, and the physical isn't far behind.

Now after all this time their Dad wants them all together to share news. The girls decide it is time to sort out the disaster that has become their lives. It is time for the silence and secrets to end, and the truth, no matter how bad, to come out. Thus begins an incredible week with wave after wave of revelations, pain, and cold hard facts for the girls and their Dad to work through. And then there is confusion among certain people about what God's role in all this is, or if He even has one. Mark is there for Bailee, but she isn't sure she wants him to be in a "relationship" of any kind with her because of how much emotional pain she is in.

All that alone would be a good book, an easy read, and just fine. But this book has a dimension that people shy and run away from. A term called Paranoid Schizophrenia. At the back of the book Tracie asked a question. Given that a mental illness can effect 1 out of 5 people, has anyone in your life been effected. As recent as 10 years ago I would have been able to say no, but not anymore. Now there is someone I know, someone I have been close to, and one of their children who may well be effected as well. I have to say that in House of Secrets Tracie Peterson did a wonderful job of explaining so very many things about Schizophrenia and mental issues. And should she get to read this review, I really wish to tell you that there are some major things that made me stop and cry, and should I get a chance to e-mail her in person I would share with her about the page that has helped and moved me so much.

A recommend read to anyone dealing with people with mental illnesses, or even just super odd personality disorders that could be leading up to mental issues.

Carol

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing House of Secrets Bethany House (October 1, 2011) by Tracie Peterson


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 85 novels.

She received her first book contract in November, 1992 and saw A Place To Belong published in February 1993 with Barbour Publishings' Heartsong Presents. She wrote exclusively with Heartsong for the next two years, receiving their readership's vote for Favorite Author of the Year for three years in a row.

In December, 1995 she signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers to co-write a series with author Judith Pella. Tracie now writes exclusively for Bethany House Publishers.

She teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research.

Tracie was awarded the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for 2007 Inspirational Fiction and her books have won numerous awards for favorite books in a variety of contests.

Making her home in Montana, this Kansas native enjoys spending time with family--especially her three grandchildren--Rainy, Fox and Max. She's active in her church as the Director of Women's Ministries, coordinates a yearly writer's retreat for published authors, and travels, as time permits, to research her books.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When her father orchestrates a surprise trip to the summer house of her childhood, Bailee Cooper is unprepared for what follows. What is intended to be a happy reunion for Bailee and her sisters, Geena and Piper, quickly becomes shrouded by memories from the past.

Together again, the three sisters sift through their recollections of fifteen years ago...of an ill mother, and of their father making a desperate choice. They vowed, as children, to be silent--but one sister believes the truth must now be revealed. Yet can they trust their memories?

Mark Delahunt arrives in the wake of this emotional turmoil. Determined to win Bailee's affection, Mark becomes the strong fortress for her in this time of confusion, and what was once a tentative promise begins to take root and grow. Caught between the past and an uncertain future, can Bailee let God guide her to heal the past and ultimately to embrace love?

If you would like to read the first chapter of House of Secrets, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206184