"Faces in the Fire" by T. L. Hines

So, I'm taking back some of the bad things I thought about T. L. Hines after reading "The Unseen." If you are going to read his books, don't read "The Unseen" first, because it will bore you compared to this one and "Waking Lazarus."
This book is a masterpiece - a MASTERPIECE - of creative writing. The book is structured around the lives of four people who have (seemingly) no connection to each other. But at some point, their paths cross each other. Each person has an experience with a traumatic fire, and a catfish, and a long number. (I know it sounds weird....and in reality, the book IS pretty weird). The way the author weaves these four tales together is a work of genius, plain and simple.
Back to what I just said: the book is weird. The whole reason I quite reading it the first time I tried is because the first part of the story involves a guy who can hear ghosts talking through dead people's clothes. When I picked the book back up and pressed on, I found a lot more weirdness. The book is not a work of Christian fiction, in my opinion, so I haven't labeled it as such. But there is a LOT of the supernatural in it. Just not the Christian kind. In fact, if you can't handle books that deal frankly with murder, drug abuse, and other such harsh realities, don't read it.
Still, the book was fantastic. It was not tremendously thrilling - in fact it had a fairly leisurely pace. But the characters were so HUMAN. I felt as if they were real people (with made-up experiences, of course). A nice touch in the structure of the book was the fact that each chapter started with a number, but the numbers weren't progressive. They followed the chronology of the story. So when a character is in the present in chapter 25 and then she starts thinking about her past, the "flash-back" chapter will be chapter 18, not chapter 26.
The ending was very somber to me. It was a great ending, and it really brought the whole work together splendidly. But the subject matter just put me in a reflective mode.
If it weren't for the "weirdness," this book would definitely surpass "Waking Lazarus" as my favorite by this author. Still, the book is marvelous, and deserves a solid 5 out of 5 stars.

"Curiosities of the Civil War" by Webb Garrison

This is the first book on the Civil War that I have ever read, and I must say that I was quite astounded by its scope. There are facts and topics covered that I would never have even begun to think about concerning this war - things like hostages and pirates, improvements in weaponry with inventions such as land mines and grenades, how (and if) soldiers got paid, spies and deserters, US Supreme Court cases involving the conflict, and the list goes on and on.
This is not a read-through volume. It is more of a topical reference or casual trivia book (like a bathroom reader). Each factoid is explained in a few sentences or a few short paragraphs; very few nuggets of information took up even one printed page. This is a positive aspect, in my opinion, because I was not forced to read an entire chapter about a certain time period or battle or person - just snippets grouped loosely under broad categories.
There were a few negatives to me. For one, towards the end of the book there were a few typographical errors. In the most extreme case, "n" was all that survived of the intended preposition "in." Considering this is a reprint, a new edition, typos like these are inexcusable. Did no one proofread the reprint?
Other than that, the biggest negative was repetition. Due to the size and scope of the work, it unfortunately delivers many re-tellings of the same battles and situations, although from different perspectives concerning different subjects. So, reading the book straight through (as I did in a few days) is not recommended. Read it in spurts, a chapter or so at a time over a long period. You will appreciate it more that way.
In all, it is an excellent book that was very insightful for me!
I received this book from the publisher as part of the BookSneeze bloggers' review program. I was not required to give a positive review, and the opinions stated are my own.

"Waking Lazarus" by T.L. Hines

I am really astounded.....   My first experience with T. L. Hines was "The Unseen," and I pretty much had to sludge through it, forcing myself to turn page after page. My second experience was "Faces in the Fire," which fell outside my tastes, so I stopped reading after about 50 pages. This book was a complete shocker! The characters were believable (some frighteningly so), the pacing was masterful, the storyline was just sensational enough to be enthralling and not ridiculous, and the ending was emotional.  OK, I didn't actually cry, but it was definitely heart-warming. And this is Hines' first novel???????  Sorry if I sound incredulous. Maybe I should re-try "Faces in the Fire" and see if I'm missing something.... Hines writes in "Waking Lazarus"  with the elegance of a master craftsman. He uses words and phrases like a magician uses handkerchiefs and cards. (Not to mention, one of my old slang phrases, "No big whoop," made an appearance!)

There are some minor criticisms. The author used one choice word that I felt was unnecessary, especially for a book marketed to a Christian audience. We expect swearing in non-Christian reading, but in a Christian book? It could have been easily removed, but he chose to put it in for some reason. The second criticism relates to the lack of Biblical redemption. There is definitely redemption of relationship and purpose of the main character, but no redemption of the soul-saving kind. On the positive note, there WAS plenty of talk about God, although mostly in a bitter way from the main character's point of view.

Some of you will be skeptical, but I knew fairly early on who the bad guy would be, and I also figured out Kristina almost immediately. But it was still a breath-taking read! I would definitely give the book a 5 out of 5 rating.

"Elisha's Bones" by Don Hoesel

I really must say that this book by Don Hoesel was IMMENSELY more enjoyable than "Hunter's Moon," which surprises me because this book was written first.
In this story, we have a professor of archaeology who is hired by a billionaire to find the bones of the prophet Elisha. These bones, in Scripture, apparently brought a dead man back to life. (It really is in the Bible, so it is definitely a true story...and one that I had never really payed much attention to: see 2 Kings 13:21)
Unfortunately for our professor, there are others who have an interest in the bones....and they are willing to kill for them.
The story is very engaging, so that's all I'm going to give away.
Pros: The characters are realistic and comfortable, the exotic locations are described impeccably, the pace is well-balanced, the humor is good but not excessive, the ending is unexpected, and the story is extremely original.
Cons: Just me being picky... The author had this habit of starting sentences like this: "Too, blah blah blah." Now, I'm no scholar of English and Grammar, but it was just annoying. I don't talk like that, and I've never read any other book that utilized this sentence structure. I can see someone beginning a sentence with "also", but "too"?
The Christian elements in the story were not abundant, really. The main character is a skeptic, and the supporting female character is a supposed Christian who really doesn't seem to be one. There is a slight attempt at converting the main character at the end, when he finally cries out to God; but it was not definitive enough for me.
Some elements may be a little far-fetched, but it IS a work of fiction.
In all I'd give the book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

"The Rook" by Steven James

In the second release of the Patrick Bowers series, Steven James takes all of the plot devices that made "The Pawn" excellent and turns them up a notch. There are innumerable plot twists in this story, and each page just begs you to keep on reading without stopping (which is what I pretty much did ever since I started reading it two days ago...).
The author has INCREDIBLE skills when it comes to giving the reader just what they need to know, when they need to know it - and no more than that. All of the law enforcement and FBI procedures became part of the excitement instead of the dull "this-is-what-cops-do-whenever-_______________-happens". I absolutely love the way that Steven James weaves the story seamlessy between the first-person narrative of Patrick Bowers, and the third-person scenes with the other characters.
I'm not even going to try to explain the complicated plot of the book...you'll just have to read it. Now, for some level-headed pros/cons.

Pros:  In this book, Steven James introduced a clearer (but still thinly-veiled) Christian element into his writing. Tessa and Lien-hua express some conflicting spiritual ideas in one conversation, surrounding the idea of mankind being able to rise above the tendency to be evil. This concept is further explored with one character discussing the murder of Abel by Cain, and how God told Cain that sin desired to master him.
One character ponders "what if someone can lift us up?" By the end of the book, Another character decides that God (though unnamed) may be able to lift us up beyond our evil nature. Tessa also thinks back to her mother's strong Christian faith and to some conversations they had about spiritual things.
Secondly, I thought that the death scenes were a little less gruesome than the first book. Fewer people died in this book, I believe. Although I think that there is a boundary to what is appropriate when it comes to describing death and killing, in my opinion it is mostly a matter of taste. And Steven James stays well within my tastes in his writing.

Cons: Patrick does a poor job of parenting his step-daughter... She dances a fine line between rebellion and submission, but more often than not she would rather have her freedom. This topic is very broad in the book (since it was introduced in book 1), so I believe that it is just part of the ongoing story between Patrick and Tessa.
Patrick and Lien-hua share an intimate moment that I was afraid would become a little TOO intimate. But it didn't. Again, I think this relationship will be developed more as the series goes on, so we'll see....
On that note, Tessa almost gets sexually assaulted, but she gets away. The scene was not graphic, but it was intense.
I may have found one typo......the word was "files" when I am pretty sure it should have been "fires".....but maybe I'm wrong. (I'm usually not this picky....but I have to really stretch to find many cons in this book).

My conclusion is that "The Rook" was even better than "The Pawn," and I hope I will be able to say the same thing after I read "The Knight."
5 out of 5 stars!