Into the Fire

Today I’m featuring two book reviews. Bill Myers’ novel The Voice was released in 2008 and the sequel Angel of Wrath will be released in April of this year.

Finding . . . The Voice

For those of you who are into the sciences, string theory, quantum physics, and all things cerebral, you might want to grab a copy of Bill Myers’ novel The Voice. A miserable ex-Special Forces guy who owns a music store, his capricious deaf 13 year old niece, an attractive FBI agent who thinks she’s investigating him for a specific crime, a priest in Switzerland, and a bunch of terrorists and Mossad agents get all mixed, shaken, and beaten together in an international pursuit of what is known as “The Program”.

Charlie Madison who left the Special Forces to go into the ministry, only to have his wife and daughter brutally murdered by some of the enemies he acquired, deserted his thoughts of ministry, God, and anything beyond survival with their deaths. His mundane existence explodes one afternoon when his deaf niece shows up in a panic at his shop followed by fake FBI agents as the attractive undercover FBI agent pretends to flirt with Charlie discussing the guitar she just bought from him. Since he’s never met his sister’s and her husband’s daughter, he has no idea who the young girl is or why she’s being chased, but he also has no choice when shots are fired but to attempt escaping with her.

The escape involves listening to a sardonic 13 year old who reads lips and is smarter than the average genius explain that her parents are missing because of The Program which they created to hear The Voice of God. Stealing vehicles, obtaining false identities and passports, rushing to every destination and meeting resistance soon after arriving, gives Charlie a sense of the power this “program” has generated by the various groups which are chasing them.

This is one of those novels where concepts mixed with the sciences present an interesting “What if?” kind of story with lots of dashing through ancient cities in taxis, donkey carts, and Hummers in the desert with Special Ops tricks of the trade, horrible beatings, weapons blazing, and deaths and resurrections upon experiencing The Voice. It’s quick and fascinating, amusing and sorrowful all at the same time. For you action lovers, there’s plenty here mixed with the fantastical, supernatural, and good characterization throughout.

The eyes have it in Angel of Wrath.

The sequel to The Voice brings back Charlie Madison, his deaf niece “Jaz”, and the woman he intends to wait for, the now ex-FBI agent Lisa Harmon. When Lisa’s brother who is a pastor summons her to Washington state to help with an investigation concerning stylized murdered members of his feel good mega-church, she realizes Charlie’s special skills are needed, so she calls him to join her.

Lisa’s sordid past, which involves her father who has Alzheimer’s and resides at a nursing home, presents obstacles in her relationship with her brother Thomas and keeps the underlying current of a family feud simmering as they gather facts about the suspect in these strange and intricately designed murders.

Charlie’s understanding of Special Ops is needed to find, investigate, and hopefully pin the murders on “Kristof” who is the absentee leader of a local Satanic cult which holds their meetings—where else?—in a wooded area using—who else?—a local high school Goth kid. Add to this group a creature who appears as a human moth or a bat with a human center and screeches with hair-raising and soul piercing screams and hypnotic red eyes. Not only that but if you make the mistake of looking into those red eyes, every sin you’ve ever committed, not to mention every sin committed against you, will be brought to your mind paralyzing your ability to escape the ensuing rage, resentment, and hatred which will follow.

Pastor Thomas’s sulky teenage son is seized by this form during an ill-advised trip into the woods with Goth boy and Goth girl and Jaz in tow. This disappearance coupled with the death of congregational members and an additional threat to Lisa’s life ushers in favors from Charlie’s former Special Ops associates. They all quickly learn Kristof is a formidable foe.

Mixed together with the search for Kristof and the weird manifestation of the creature is the power of true worship and real faith, both absent in large quantities from Pastor Thomas’s contemporary, don’t-offend-anyone church. Jaz’s extra sensitivity to certain elements of faith since her experience with the Voice in the previous novel makes her a champion of the spiritual warfare involved to combat these foes while being dissed by the pastor and most of his worship team members.

It is said that cats have nine lives. Well . . . Charlie Madison must have at least seven. The man is beaten, shot, drugged, and probably injured in ways I’ve forgotten, but his perils defy imagination. The action is diffused with cutbacks to Jaz’s POV and activities, and toward the end of the novel when the intensity of the conflicts escalates, I found these start/stops a little tedious. I understand the desire to sustain tension and keep the reader turning the page, but the division of these conflicts can be tricky, and in Angel of Wrath I found them to be too numerous without any resolution, so it felt gimmicky.

Bill Myers writes entertaining stories which contain action, spiritual insights and warfare, supernatural elements, and a keen awareness of faith, God’s power, human weaknesses, and the beauty of redemption. His characterizations deliver on all levels, and the dialogue is consistent and unique to each one.

Father, you’ve given Bill a fantastic imagination, knowledge, and a love for you: a great combination for writing supernatural thrillers. Please continue to bless him with stories to tell of your love in all circumstances. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.