Book Trailer: "Fearless" by Eric Blehm (story of Navy Seal Team SIX member Adam Brown)

This book is the story of Adam Brown, of Navy Seal Team SIX. It was brought to my attention by one of the publishers that I review books for. Adam Brown's story is remarkable, and I am including this on my blog because I feel that this story should be told. This man was a true hero, and a follower of Christ by his own testimony and the testimonies of others.
There is a chance I may receive some copies of this book to give to military personnel. If you are a follower of my blog and active duty military, you will get first priority for these free copies.

More info to come. You can also check out these websites about Adam Brown:
1. Read the first chapter here.
2. The book's official website is http://fearlessnavyseal.com/
3. Watch this two-part feature about Adam Brown produced by the National Rifle Association here. (***WARNING: Videos contain at least one swear word and a few images of injuries that may not be suitable for all ages. Parents, please preview these videos before you allow your children to watch them.)

Also, I cannot guarantee that the content of these websites that I have linked to are not offensive to some readers. I have done my best to screen these links, but they may change over time.

"Dreamhouse Kings Book 4: Timescape" by Robert Liparulo

Robert Liparulo is very good at building tension in his books. And all of these books are filled with lots of suspense, action, narrow escapes, and brushes with death. While these books are aimed at younger readers (not TOO young), I don't mind telling you how much I enjoy them! (If you haven't already read my reviews of the first three books in the series, please click on the "Robert Liparulo" label at the bottom of this post).
This book, strangely enough, had more talk about God and more violence and gore than the first three. The King boys have a conversation where David gives God the credit for the new friend that they've made who seems to be exactly the kind of person they need to help them. (Xander is not so sure that God did it, however).
The boys also offer up a few vague prayers... Not directly spoken to God, but assumed to be prayers.
There is a little more blood in this book, as a character is injured fairly badly. (Can't tell you who). There is also a fascinating scene - and extremely coincidental - where David, Xander, and their father wind up on the deck of the Titanic as it is about to sink. Oddly enough, yesterday - April 15th - marked the 100th year of the Titanic disaster where over 1,500 people lost their lives. This scene and the scene of the Viking attack were particularly spectacular and brilliantly written.
Books this intense are not for all readers, but in my opinion these stories are just too good to pass up. It would not be a stretch for me to say that I enjoy this series better than I did any of Mr. Liparulo's stand-alone novels. (By the way, Robert Liparulo just released a new novel, "The 13th Tribe" - check it out and read a sample chapter at his website here. You can also read samples of all the Dreamhouse Kings books at http://www.dreamhousekings.com/)

"Culture Shift" by Albert Mohler

This is the first book I've ever read by Al Mohler, and I immediately liked his style of writing. I'm sure Dr. Mohler is a very intelligent and educated man (no one gets to be the president of a large seminary like the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary by being dull), but his tone is very conversational and down-to-earth.
This book addresses several urgent contemporary issues - ranging from homosexual marriage, to reproductive technology, to natural disasters, to terrorist attacks, and many others. Each chapter is short and to the point. The book is intended to give thoughtful Christians some information to help frame their Christian worldview around some of the more difficult challenges of the world we live in.

Believers today are not short on convictions - but they ARE short on Biblical foundations for them. Mohler encourages us to understand that the Bible DOES speak to the issues of the day, and the Christian is not left defenseless against the increasingly hostile secular society.

There were several chapters that were simply outstanding, but all of them were good. My only criticism is a minor one: The book started and ended fairly abruptly, and there was very little cohesion between the chapters. Basically, it felt as though Dr. Mohler hand-picked a few dozen topics he wished to write about and typed out a few pages on each. Then, he put them together and made a book. Don't get me wrong - this doesn't diminish the power of his writing. Each statement in the book was thoughtfully and carefully articulated. (To read the first chapter, please click here.)

I'm glad that Dr. Mohler tackled these issues. Christians, let's not be afraid to speak our convictions - the world desperately needs to hear the unchanging truth of God's Word.

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

"Illusion" by Frank Peretti

There is no author of Christian fiction that I admire more than Frank Peretti. His book "The Visitation" is my all-time favorite Christian fiction novel (I've read it over a dozen times - I lost count). So many of his books are so good, I'm totally convinced that he is incapable of writing a bad book. He first captured my attention when I was a kid - I read the Cooper Kids series over and over and over again. I then determined to buy every single book that he would ever write. And I've never been disappointed. He writes stories that have wonderful spiritual significance.

Peretti takes a surprising turn with this novel - it is a love story and a time-travel story. As I mentioned in my review of "The Skin Map", time-travel books are very difficult. Some authors try too hard to explain the scientific concepts behind the traveling through time and, in the process, lose the power of the story itself. Peretti not only presents a fascinating description of the process of traveling through time, he ensures that the story itself is what keeps the pages turning. And what a superb story it is! Veteran magician Dane Collins loses his wife in an accident, but then he finds a young girl who is EXACTLY like his wife was - 40 years ago. Could it really be Mandy? It is, and she has somehow figured out a way to manipulate time and space. (By the way, every time I saw the phrase "Dane and Mandy" in the book, I couldn't help but think of my old Greek grammar textbook from Greek II in Bible college, which my professor referred to as "Dana and Mantey", after the authors of the grammar book!)
The love story is really tangible. It is refreshing to see an author write a love story that presents the mystery of true lasting love - no sexuality or youthful lusts necessary. Just love. Sacrificial, committed, never-ending, overcoming love. (Like God's love for us...) This gives me an idea of the character of the man who wrote the novel and what kind of husband he might be.
The ending was everything you could hope for a Peretti novel. There were some fantastic surprises that just blew my mind, and I'm still trying to figure out some of them. The last 100 pages of the book flew by so fast...
What great lessons Frank Peretti is trying to teach us! As Christians, we are living in 2 worlds simultaneously. But, we will never be at rest until we are united with the One we love more than anything!
If you have never read any of Peretti's books, I recommend you start with some of his earlier novels and read this one later. You can tell in this book that he is a veteran author who is very comfortable writing - but you have to read an early book to see how much he has grown as an author.
In short, I give this book an easy 5 out of 5 stars! Bravo, Mr. Peretti!
By the way, you can hear Frank Peretti read the first chapter and watch a video of him talking about recording the audiobook here.

"Fyodor Dostoevsky", A Christian Encounters book by Peter Leithart

I must say that I knew very little about Dostoevsky the man - and after reading this biography, maybe that was a good thing. His books are powerful, acclaimed as classics (and rightly so). His influence on Russian culture and literature is undeniable. His life, however, was less admirable than his work.
Dostoevsky was a Christian, at least in one sense. He affirmed that Christ should be the center of life for all men, but I am not sure how Biblical his Christology actually was - and the book doesn't really address that. It does state that Dostoevsky was apparently a part of the Orthodox church, so we can make a few deductions based on that information.
Plagued with bad health for much of his life, Dostoevsky had some vices which were suprising to me for some reason: gambling, drinking, anger, and women. He had at least one very obvious mistress while his first wife was dying. But if there were one, there could also be others not so obvious. He wasted much of the little money he had on gambling. And he was quick to have fits of anger and shouting when conversing.
My review, however, is not about Dostoevsky's life - but about this book. And I must say that the book had some vices as well. To begin with, there were at least four curse words used in the book. This was totally unnecessary. And, I might add, it was offensive to the (supposed) target audience of Christian readers. There was also a scene that was far too sensual in nature - and it, also, was unnecessary. That scene added absolutely nothing to my understanding of Dostoevsky's life. The last negative point I will make about the book was the lack of continuity. The book darts back and forth between different times in Dostoevsky's life, and it was not easy to remember which time frame fit where.
Now for the positive notes. I really appreciated the book being written as an almost fictionalization of Dostoevsky's life. It made it much more interesting than the mere recitation of facts and dates. It also must have been very difficult to write an accurate biography in this way, so my respect goes to Mr. Leithart for his effort. He accomplished this task by basing many of the conversations in the book on actual writings of the people involved in the dialogue, and he footnotes them well.
Because of the "fictionalized" nature of the book, it was difficult to know which parts were absolutely true and which were made up. However, the book did spark my interest in the life of Dostoevsky, and I will read his writings with a new appreciation for the man behind them.
In all, I will give this book  3 out of 5 stars.
I received this book free from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.