"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.

"Bright Empires Book 1: The Skin Map" by Stephen Lawhead

The writing of Stephen Lawhead has always impressed me. He is a true master of the craft. He has the rare gift of being able to approach familiar subjects (like time travel and parallel dimensions) and to introduce them in new and engaging ways. And, I must say, that this story is very engaging.
The summary of the plot doesn't quite do it justice: two modern-day people are magically transported to a different world, where they must race against the evil men to get the ultimate prize. That is the gist of the story, but there is SO much more to it!
Mister Lawhead is able to lead you along, following several different characters - and only give you enough information to know their stories are crucially connected, but never enough information to have you guess the outcome. That is the mark of a great writer. His version of time travel possibility is one of the more complete (and clearly stated) that I've ever read, which gives the story a certain credibility. And the idea of the map being made of human skin is certainly realistic (as it has been done by real people), but wonderfully creative nonetheless.
There were a few times where the story focused on one person for so long that, when the next chapter re-visited another character, it took me a moment to remember what was going on the last time I read about them - but this is not a criticism of the writing as much as it is a criticism of my memory! Other than that, I can think of no negative comments to make of this book. The characters are believable, the emotions are tangible, and the mystery is tantalizing. In short, I can hardly wait to read the second story in the series!
I received a free copy of this book from the publishers as part of the Booksneeze bloggers' program. I was not required to write a positive review.