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The Jevlir Caravansary

Author: jevlir

  • Book: Day of the Dead

    This is an excellent suspense story by J. A. Jance. I generally rate Jance as a “4” on my 1-5 scale. This particular book is a bit better than that.

    It is not a mystery in any sense. I don’t normally read pure suspense, but a combination of mystery and suspense generally does interest me. I picked this up because I have really enjoyed Jance’s mysteries set in Arizona.

    The characters in this story are generally either very likeable, or a great pleasure to hate. In other words, they’re interesting and human, and you come to care how things work out. While you know who the bad guys are along the way, there is considerable suspense over just how things will play out and what the costs will be for each of the characters.

    The interweave of Native American beliefs and various brands of Christianity was interesting to me as a Bible teacher, as is the interplay of different cultures. All of that is part of building up one’s personal commitment to the characters and the story. It was also fun to encounter Dr. Fran Daly on her home ground (for those who have read some of the Joanna Brady mysteries.)

    Overall, though I haven’t put Jance on my “must read, 5 of 5” list, this book is excellent and well-worthwhile reading.

  • Old Mystery Still Fascinates

    Analysts try to put a face on Jack the Ripper proclaims a story on MSNBC. It’s interesting, though not surprising, to see how much attention this mystery gets 118 years after the murders took place.

    One wonders whether the ripper would have been quickly caught with modern crime fighting techniques, given the amount of information that is available even now. Nonetheless I doubt we’ll have a solution that everyone can agree on, so authors should have plenty of opportunity for fun for many more years to come.

  • Book: Chasing Faith by Mark Miller

    I don’t usually do this, but I want to mention a book I haven’t read. While displaying books at Pine Forest United Methodist Church craft show on November 11, I had a chat with author Mark Miller about his book Chasing Faith. It’s going to be some time before I’ll have time to read the book, but the author impressed me with his energy and enthusiasm for his topic as well as his coherent description of his purpose in writing this book.

    This book is only available through the publisher Trent’s Prints, and again I haven’t read it, but I wanted to call attention to the entry. Take a look at the catalog page and consider communicating with the author.

  • This Could be Important

    See this.

  • Christian Carnival CXLVII

    I participate each week in the Christian Blog Carnival, but I generally submit just one post from the Participatory Bible Study Blog. Nonetheless I like to link from all my blogs to the carnival post. I’ve been forgetting to post it here, however. So here goes . . .

    Rev-Ed has recovered from election day activities and posted the Christian Carnival CXLVII.

    Thanks to Rev-Ed for a nice carnival.

  • Three Movies over the Weekend

    Over the weekend my wife watched (or started to watch) three movies, and I thought I would comment on them.

    First was X-Men: The Last Stand. Just like it’s two predessors, this was a horrible movie, and I didn’t finish watching it. My wife managed to get to the end by skipping forward a lot. It didn’t get any better. I rate it a one. If you like pure special effects without a story, characterization, or any real consistency, perhaps you’ll be OK with it. Otherwise, pass. Since we got it from Netflix, we didn’t lose anything!

    Second, we watched Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. Jody got this one for me, because I love the Garfield cartoon. Well, I confess I loved the movie too. It sticks with the easy-going humor of the cartoon. The story isn’t complicated, but it doesn’t need to be. The two Garfields may be one (or two) too many, but that’s all the fun. This is good for relaxing, just like those time when you read the cartoon section of your local paper. I rate this a four.

    Third was Take the Lead, starring Antonio Banderas. This is a really great movie, in my view, one that challenges us to do more with what we are given. I truly enjoyed the story just as entertainment, but when entertainment can be combined with the challenge to make more of ourselves, I call that great. This is a must watch.

    Note that I got all of these from Netflix. See the add in the right hand sidebar. The links on each title are to purchase the items from Amazon.com.

  • Book: Old Soldiers

    Considering that Keith Laumer is one of my favorite authors, and that David Weber is on my “read everything he writes” list, it’s not surprising that I found this book fascinating. Laumer was happy to go off in different directions with the bolo series, but those who have taken it up since his death have been trying to build a more coherent history around it.

    One of David Weber’s major skills is in description of combat and of the feelings of those who participate in it. He has definitely brought that skill into this portrayal of a bolo in the time of the Melconian war. A bolo commander who survived the death of her bolo, and a bolo whose commander did not survive are combined in protecting a colony mission designed to plant a human presence outside of the area of the war where the Melconians might not find it.

    Old Soldiers is a wonderful new addition to the bolo literature.

  • Fiction at Charisma Book Expo

    Well, I’m back from the Charisma Book Expo, a conference/expo sponsored by Charisma Magazine to be both a spiritual experience and highlight books and resources for the charismatic Christian market. What’s of potential interest to readers of this blog is that two of the major speakers at the conference have turned to fiction writing for one reason or another.

    Tommy Tenney has written a book titled Hadassah: One Night with the King, which has now been made into a movie titled just One Night with the King. I haven’t seen the movie as it has not been released yet, and in fact, I haven’t read the book. I just heard Tommy Tenney discuss them at the conference.

    The final night speaker was John Bevere, and while I’ve read some of his non-fiction books, I have been enough out of touch that I did not realize he has written and is about to release a novel of suspense, Rescued. He has also produced an allegory in audio theater format titled Affabel: Window of Eternity.

    I’ve talked a good deal about the value of fiction, though one of my major points is that fiction is valuable as recreation. My tendency is to recommend less explicitly theological fiction. Tommy Tenney’s book is primarily intended as a good, enjoyable story, though it is based on a Bible story and certainly has spiritual implications. Both of John Bevere’s fiction offerings are definitely in the form of explicitly Christian literature.

    I’m planning to look at all of these. This is not a review, but merely my impression after listening to the authors talk about their work.

  • Out of Town – at Charisma Book Expo

    I’ll be out of town at the Charisma Book Expo from today (September 26) through Monday (October 2), so no new blog entries.

    Have fun all!

  • Book: The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood

    Somehow I didn’t catch this one when it came out in 2005, so I just got to reading it last week. I think I’ve already made it pretty clear that I like Andrew Greeley’s writing, though in most of his books one of the key reasons is theological. I think he produces the best representation of the gospel in fiction form of anyone I have ever read. I add that I find his stories entertaining as well, and I should note that he’s got to write the best sex scenes written by a celibate.

    The Bishop Blackie mysteries, on the other hand, are purest entertainment. In the background is Catholic church life, and the gospel is there, but it is not as much front and center. What we have is a set of excellent mysteries where the key detective happens to be a bishop.

    In this one, there is some serious mayhem in Cardinal Sean Cronin’s old neighborhood, involving a parish priest who is his classmate. With his typical “see to it, Blackie” he places the matter in Bishop John Blackwood Ryan’s capable hands, while he heads off to Rome to pick up a few markers. All the normal characters are there, the virtuous cops and the corrupt cops, the boorish and stupid feds, the stupid and somewhat venal as well as the dedicated priests.

    Since I tend to lose interest in long running series unless the authors are very good, the best recommendation I can give this book is that I enjoyed it as much as the first Father Blackie book that I read, and I’ll look for the next one with equal anticipation. (Honor Harrington, for example, has run long enough to lose my interest, but David Weber is just too good an author, but even though I adore Alan Dean Foster’s work, the latest Pip and Flynx novels seem to be getting weaker.)

    Look at the Energion.com page for The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood.