The Judgment Stone by Robert Liparulo - Book Review

What if praying became a curse instead of a blessing?
Former Army Ranger Jagger Baird thought he had his hands full with The Tribe—the band of immortal vigilantes fighting to regain God’s grace by killing those opposed to Him. But that was before he encountered the ruthless group of immortals known as The Clan. The Clan is after a prize that would give them unimaginable power—a piece of the Ten Commandments known as the Judgment Stone.
Those who touch the Stone can see into the spiritual world: angelic warriors, treacherous demons, and the blue threads of light that signal the presence of believers in communion with God.
By following the blue beam radiating from those closest to God, the Clan plans to locate His most passionate followers and destroy them.
Jagger quickly realizes his high-tech gadgetry and training are no match for these merciless immortals. But how can he defeat an enemy who hunts believers through their prayers . . . and won’t stop until they’ve annihilated all those close to Him? 
In this high-action thriller, best-selling author Robert Liparulo examines the raging battle between good and evil on earth . . . and beyond.

The Judgment Stone, by Robert Liparulo, is the 2nd book in the Immortal Files series, after The 13th Tribe (my review is here). It manages to take the thrills, ideas, questions, and energy of the first book and take it up a notch. 

Jagger Baird is coming to terms with the fact that he is an immortal.  As he and his wife, Beth, and son, Tyler, are beginning to get past the Tribe's attack on them, it all begins to happen again.  This time it begins when an archaeologist at the monastery/sacred site where they live discovers a piece of the original 10 Commandments, the ones Moses broke.  Touching the Stone lets a person see into the spiritual realm, with angels and demons all around us, and prayers in the form of beams of light showing a person's connection to God.  A wonderful discovery and treasure, it is quickly taken by yet another group of immortals, known as the Clan. 

Unlike the Tribe, the Clan has no wish to please God, end their lives, and get to Heaven.  They want to hurt and grieve God, and the Stone will allow their leader, Bale, a clear view of where he can do the most damage.  As the carnage begins, Jagger and Owen try to track the Clan and take back the Judgment (God) Stone.

Interspersed with this story thread is the story of Neveah and the rest of the Tribe as they try to kidnap Beth (again) in order to discover the secret to reconciling with God.  They begin an attack on the monastery, causing Beth, Tyler, and the monks to play a deadly game of hide and seek.

The characterization is great, particularly the contrast between Owen and Jagger.  Beth and Tyler form a solid spiritual backbone for Jagger to lean on.  Bale and the rest of the Clan are vividly described, and radiate pure evil.  The yearning for God and not-to-subtle spiritual message is drawn throughout the book.

The plot moves forward rapidly due to the non-stop action and Liparulo's writing style.  There are no long, boring paragraphs, and short chapters and jumps in viewpoint keep the reader constantly wanting more.

Liparulo brings the varying stories together in an explosive and exciting finish, with quite a few surprises and revelations along the way. Reminiscent of the classic novel This Present Darkness,  The Judgment Stone is well worth reading, and proves even more that Robert Liparulo not only writes great Christian thrillers, but great thrillers in general.  I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I received a review copy of this book through Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.

A Discourse in Steel by Paul S. Kemp - Book Review

From the publisher: Egil and Nix have retired, as they always said they would. No, really – they have! No more sword and hammer-play for them!
But when two recent acquaintances come calling for help, our hapless heroes find themselves up against the might of the entire Thieves Guild.
And when kidnapping the leader of the most powerful guild in the land seems like the best course of action, you know you’re in over your head…

A Discourse in Steel is the 2^nd book in Paul S. Kemp’s Egil and Nix series.  It is a fun sword and sorcery fantasy in the tradition of Fritz Leiber and others.  It is also a nice change from the large, world-changing fantasy series, as it focuses on a smaller group without the threat of an army/bad guy looking to enslave everyone.

 

Egil and Nix are adventurers, tomb robbers (in the vein of Indiana Jones), and part owners of a bar/brothel.  They don’t go looking for trouble, but are fiercely loyal to their friends.  The story is a traditional sword and sorcery tale, wherein Egil and Nix investigate Blackalley, a mysterious entity that lures unwary citizens into it, causing them to disappear.  Shortly after this, Egil and Nix become mixed up with the local Thieves Guild, due to an unfortunate circumstance involving two friends of theirs, a pair of sisters that are near to their hearts.  Magic, mayhem, and deaths occur in short order, as the various threads of the story begin to come together.  The resolution is satisfying, but also a little melancholy.

 

While the plot of A Discourse in Steel is entertaining, it wasn’t anything particularly new.  It is in the characters, particularly Egil and Nix, that Kemp shines and draws the reader in.  The comparisons to Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are obvious, and are a nice homage to the classics of the genre.  However, I also was reminded of the Hawk and Fisher series by Simon R. Green.  Egil is the power of the duo, a large kind-hearted priest (the only one of the god he follows), who is constantly dealing with the loss of his wife and daughter.  Nix is the smaller of the two, the brains and the one who leans towards using magic (he was a student at the Conclave, a magic school of sorts, for a time).  The interplay between the two is well-done, and their friendship is the bedrock of the story.  As I continued to read, a nagging feeling that I knew these characters already kept popping up.  They had an easy interaction, often insulting each other as only two good friends can.  Additionally, the roadblocks they encountered grew worse and worse, if there are varying degrees of life-threatening circumstances.  What struck me was that none of what they were doing was for their benefit; they were simply helping out friends who needed it.  Also, Egil and Nix have a very strong moral compass.  They are not “good” people, but they are willing to take on and do hard things to prevent others from having to do them.  In short, Egil and Nix are Spenser and Hawk, the heroes of Robert B. Parker’s fantastic Spenser series.  And that is good company to be in.

 

The city of Dur Follin is an interesting setting.  It reminds me a little of Leiber's Lankhmar or Green's Haven.  It feels like there is a lot there to explore in future tales of Egil and Nix.  There is also some sense of the greater world outside Dur Follin, as Egil and Nix leave the city for a portion of the book.  The setting is ripe for many further adventures, and bears exploring.

I would highly recommend this book for any fans of sword and sorcery.  It is well worth your time.

I received a copy of this book from Angry Robot Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Kindergarten Graduation

On Sunday afternoon, Cami and Griffin had their official graduation from kindergarten at church.  It was a nice time and the kids were proud.  Also, Cami is now wearing headgear to help move her teeth forward.  She has 6 months or so of wearing it.

Softball Update

Cami's game was a rain out today, but by the time Lexi's double-header rolled around, the ground (and sky) were dry and the field was playable.  The highlights include Lexi fielding a ball while playing 2nd base, Lexi driving in a run (although she was out at 1st, she hit the ball hard), and my entire head turning red because apparently the sun only comes out when I forget my hat and sunscreen.

I Call Shotgun by Tommy Newberry and Curt Beavers - Book Review

From the back of the book (a selection):

For fathers who long to make a positive, lasting difference in their sons’ lives, passing down a legacy of values and ideals that will help them mature into men—into true men, leaders, voices of strength and wisdom for the next generation and beyond—the challenge has become more daunting than ever. I Call Shotgun is a practical playbook designed to equip dads for this vital task, increasing our influence and deepening our father-son relationships.
Written as letters from the authors to their own sons, the book’s sixty-three bite-size chapters cover a wide range of territory, from courage and compassion to finance and faith, from peer pressure and purity to hard work and humility. The life lessons within these pages teach sons how to cultivate integrity, follow True North, avoid victimitis, hang with the wise, laugh at political correctness, train for adversity, seek God first, make no excuses, build productive habits, and much more.

When I had the opportunity to review I Call Shotgun, by Tommy Newberry and Curt Beavers, I seized the chance.  Being a father to a young son, I'm always looking for helpful advice in raising him to be a man of God. This book seemed to be right up my alley, especially since it contains many short chapters tackling a single subject.

The chapters, or letters, contain many varied topics.  Some of the topics addressed are as follows: Do
Courageous Things, Celebrate Other People's Success, Treasure America's Personality, Seek God First...Every Day, Learn How to Read the Bible, Revere Our Founding Principles, Think Before You Speak, and Memorize Bible Verses, among many others.  In total, 64 topics are covered. I feel like reading these different topics was a mixed bag.  Some were vary pertinent to me, while others were a good idea but didn't really connect. This may be a function of where I am as a father and my son's age.

While the letter format makes it easy to pick up the book for a few short moments, I also found it a little distracting.  The authors used different fonts to represent their letters.  They also addressed the letters to their sons.  My issue was that I kept trying to figure out who was writing to who.  It's a minor quibble, I know, but one that interfered with my immersion in the topics.

As a whole, I feel that this book is average.  It probably hits right in the middle of the father/son books I've read.  The content was average, with some topics more relevant or covered better than others.  I would recommend this to fathers looking for a quick-hitting guide with varied topics, with sons in the tween to teen age.

I received a review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.

Softball

Cami and Lexi have both had multiple softball games over the past several days.  Cami has continued to hit, although she is getting a little jumpy at the plate and is hitting off the tee again.  She is starting to swing with power now, though.  Also, on Monday she played 1st base and put two girls out, including one of her church friends.  She thought that was pretty cool. Lexi had her best game on Saturday, getting two hits, stealing bases, scoring once, and getting two RBIs.  Last night she played third base, and was ready to field anything hit to her.  It's a lot of fun watching my girls play ball.

Playing Tyler by T L Costa - Book Review

From the publisher: When is a game not a game?
Tyler MacCandless can’t focus, even when he takes his medication. He can’t focus on school, on his future, on a book, on much of anything other than taking care of his older brother, Brandon, who’s in rehab for heroin abuse… again.
Tyler’s dad is dead and his mom has mentally checked out. The only person he can really count on is his Civilian Air Patrol Mentor, Rick. The one thing in life it seems he doesn’t suck at is playing video games, and, well, that’s probably not going to get him into college.
Just when it seems like his future is on a collision course with a life sentence at McDonald's, Rick asks him to test a video game.  If his score's high enough, it could earn him a place in flight school and win him the future he was certain that he could never have.  And when he falls in love with the game’s designer, the legendary gamer Ani, Tyler thinks his life might finally be turning around.
That is, until Brandon goes MIA from rehab and Tyler and Ani discover that the game is more than it seems. Now Tyler will have to figure out what’s really going on in time to save his brother--and prevent his own future from going down in flames.

Playing Tyler by T L Costa is a great new entry into Young Adult (YA) fiction.  It’s a captivating story about Tyler MacCandless and Ani Bagdorian.  Tyler is a teen with ADHD, a heroin-addicted brother (Brandon), a disconnected mother, a dead father, a jones for flying, and tremendous gaming skills.  Into his life steps Rick, a former military man who is mentoring Tyler and teaching him to fly.  Tyler is beta-testing a new flight simulator, a game in which a pilot controls multiple drones and provides air support for missions in the Middle East.  Ani is a Yale freshman, an early high school graduate who both programmed an award winning game and also won the world gaming championship.  She is currently the designer of the sim Tyler is playing, and she is the girl of Tyler’s dreams.  As their relationship begins to blossom, Brandon disappears from rehab, and Tyler begins to have questions about his missions in the game.

 

Costa’s writing is very easy to read, pulling the reader along with barely any time to breathe.  Alternating perspectives between Ani and Tyler really help to develop characterization and provide insight into actions and motivations.  Both characters are well-drawn representations of teenagers looking for their place in the world and struggling with the newness of a relationship.  I also really like how Tyler’s ADHD is written, often using run-on sentences to show the hyper-activity.  The supporting characters, including Rick, Tyler’s mom, Brandon, and Christy (Ani’s roommate) are all fleshed out enough to help propel the story forward, but never enough to distract from Tyler and Ani.

 

As a middle/high school English teacher, I’m always on the lookout for something to recommend to my students, and Playing Tyler fits the bill perfectly.  It’s as if John Green channeled Cory Doctorow and wrote Ender’s Game.  This book has it all: action, romance, teen angst, and a struggle with moral integrity against corporate/government/military recklessness.  I highly recommend it.

 

I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley and Angry Robot Books in exchange for an honest review.