The great Lord God made them all.
Father, may each woman know that you made her, that you endowed her with unique gifts, that she was born to worship you in spirit and in truth, and that when each one comes to you in full submission, you will lead the way and satisfy the desires of each heart as she delights in you. Thank you, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The great Lord God made them all.
Father, may each man know that you made him, that you endowed him with unique gifts, that he was born to worship you in spirit and in truth, and that when each one comes to you in full submission, you will lead the way and satisfy the desires of each heart as he delights in you. Thank you, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
She's beautiful with a voice to match and the perfect timbre for Smooth Jazz. Enjoy. The great Sade.
Father, all the talent, beauty, and no respecter of persons come from you. To you, we're your creation. You see the beauty beyond the skin. All made to honor and worship you in spirit and in truth. May each one know from where their talents and gifts originate. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The Devil's Hand by Jack Carr is Book 4 in the James Reece Thriller Series.
A private meeting between the POTUS and James Reece sets the course for Reece's next assignment. When the dirty work is somehow done for him, an explanation is not easily found until after an emergency outbreak of a deadly pathogen is underway. Thanks to Reece's girlfriend Katie, investigative reporter and best friends with infectious disease doctor Haley Garrett, CIA Vic accommodates Reece and Haley to go on an immediate search for what begins as an intelligent "conspiracy theory" by Dr. Garrett – the deadline to prove her theory is imminent. When she has to involve her husband who has the highest bio-lab classification, things get dicey.
Haley has an immediate chip on her shoulder toward Reese, having heard and read all the reports previously in play about him, until she sees and understands he sees himself as the only way to save lives in a desperate measure situation. Instead of resenting him, she grudgingly comes to respect him for who he is, and they form a strong alliance working under extreme pressure.
There are two distinct flaws in this novel neither of which make the story any less exciting.
One: Why in the world would a Top Tier operator fail to discover (by not even looking for) a tracking device on his Land Cruiser after the ambush in the previous novel and just in principle?!
Two: The political implications of the two parties mentioned and depicted in this story are exactly the opposite of reality. It just seems odd for a formidable former Navy SEAL (Carr) to have this take on the situation. If he'd chosen not to name the specific parties of the two characters he chose for their roles and worked around identifying them, nine out of ten readers would've easily placed them differently.
Nevertheless, The Devil's Hand is a terrifying story because of its potential reality. Carr does a very good job of portraying the levels of betrayal working around the clock in DC and in the world. Getting information is critical – no matter how you have to procure it. For the "innocent", fighting the horrific spins on circumstances based on contrived lies through a compliant and complicit media definitely illustrates the USA today.
Slight – and inevitable – cliffhanger with a diabolic twist.
Profanity present.
Father, you are the Author of Life. You give us our number of days. You make the gospel available for all. We're desperate for you whether we know it or not. Please continue to bless Jack and his writing. Thank you for his many gifts. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
out of the fowler's snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 124:6-8 (NIV)
Years ago, "blogs" were "it". Remember "MySpace"? Now extinct. Facebook, Twitter, Vlogs, YouTube Channels, Podcasts. You know them all. I certainly don't. There are lots and lots of political pages, book review pages, author pages, reader pages, you-name-it pages, to engage on the Internet. Not to mention the odious Dark Web.
Blogs were said to be an author's best way to promote their work. Establish a consistent blog with entertaining information and/or material. Throw in a giveaway. Or start a newsletter, develop/design another webpage. Every present-day author knows the drill.
Well, blogs are now considered to be "passé". Attention spans in today's world don't last long. It's difficult to be compelling for a long time. At some point, people/viewers want something "new", vibrant, and "trendy". Most of the time if they get to that point in their web surfing, they abandon what has become stale to them.
This blog has probably passed its prime, but I continue it anyway. I examine/inventory my reasons for that frequently, but the one thing I conclude is that I keep doing it because I want to. Period. Since it's obvious that many readers have moved on from this blog, it's somewhat curious why I want to keep it going. Believe it or not, it's not easy coming up with interesting material to post, but then if you've followed this blog, you know that some days are miserable failures at being "interesting", but, nevertheless, other days' postings at least interest me.
So, if you've hung in there with this outdated blog, I thank you from my heart. I love sharing "Nicole" with you. I try to minimally promote my work, but it's a given that it will be and is presented here on occasion. Initially, that was part of the purpose. Now it's a factor I work in when I introduce a new novel or want to remind those who come here, that, yes, I've written several novels: one mystery and several love stories. You can find them here. And often I include an excerpt from one of them just in case a stranger to them might be intrigued.
So. It's Friday. And I take Saturdays off from posting here, but, yes, I'll be back with "Sunday's Offerings" and another book review on Monday. Hope to "see" my loyal friends then. Love you guys.
Father, thank you for getting this blog together. It's amazing to still be doing it. You are the inspiration for anything valuable and worthwhile. Please help me to always honor you in the process. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
As you can see, this picture of my old friend Rick Davis and me goofing around has been "through it" over the many years since it was taken. Rick passed away a few years ago, but just before he did, I got to visit with him after having not seen him for well over 20 years. Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me that privilege to reconnect with my old friend. And thank you that he allowed me to pray for him before I left his house knowing it would be the last time I would see him.
Father, no question you arranged that visit, and I thank you from my heart. I'm still hoping I'll see him in heaven. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
There's a certain satisfaction and relief and joy that comes with finishing a novel – one that I've written. But there's also a terrible melancholy that sinks in within a very short time. At least for me. And especially after completing Then . . . you.
To say I loved this hero/protagonist is an understatement. This particular character was a total risk to write. He's not "ordinary".
In this story, there are several intentionally vague parts of the hero's life. In retrospect I suppose some readers will find this annoying, maybe a bit "fantastical", or maybe they'll overlook whatever specific lack of information or understanding where I chose not to elaborate.
One of the reasons for being vague is because of the unique circumstance of this love story. The descriptor "He's a recluse. She's seeking refuge." ushers the reader into an immediate change of life for these two total strangers. Although the vague parts of the hero's overall character are important to the storyline, those that are revealed are the critical crux to this love story. Because above all else: it's a love story.
These are the aftermath thoughts of this author suffering from a lapse of melancholy having said farewell to these much-loved (by me) characters . . .
Father, I keep thanking you for the words, the stories, the characters, and I keep saying, "Apart from you, I can do nothing" because it's true, and I truly can't say/express it enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
This is an absolutely beautiful cover of Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You". It's a fabulous cover and a great song. Wow.
Father, you've given us such amazing musicians. May they all one day realize the One who's given them their talents and gifts. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
In Savage Son, Book 3 in the James Reece Thrillers, Jack Carr brings out the down and dirty characters, one of them the traitor who plans to kill James Reece.
Oliver Grey has gotten away with being a traitor to the USA and, although James Reece has seen to it that he is no longer employed by the Russian who used Grey's skills to assassinate the Russian president, Grey knows he'd better kill Reece before Reece finds him. His life is filled with the paranoia of being hunted, knowing what Reece is capable of, but Grey's just arrogant enough to think he can outwit former SEAL James Reece. Bad mistake.
The leader of the Russian mafia (Ivan Zharkov) decides to employ Grey because of his knowledge of key US figures and practices and because of his cyber skills. And when Grey presents his case to eliminate James Reece after finally finding him at Kumba Ranch in Montana which is owned by Reese's best friend's (former SEAL Raife Hastings) family, Ivan suggests both should be eliminated.
A team of Russian mafia operatives who've trained some of their gang members for this mission is deployed to Montana to hunt Reese and Raife, but when Ivan's perverse son Aleksandr, who has a position in the Russian government, discovers through one of his assets what's on his father's agenda, he alerts his USA contacts to the ambush and deploys his own team to facilitate his craving for hunting humans.
Following the disturbing Prologue, because of the complexity of Carr's plot plus the multitude of characters who comprise these novels, this story is a bit slow in developing. Having said that, the last quarter of the book is fast, breathtaking, bizarre, and partially conclusive with some sorrow and a slight cliffhanger mixed in.
Reading this series will give you an education into the amazing knowledge the best of the best military men must have to do the jobs they do all over the world to keep this country of ours safe. They are incredible individuals given impossible situations to overcome. When it gets personal for the characters in these stories, they use every part of their training and their innate giftings from the God who many of them have yet to know to perform outlandish measures to accomplish their purposes and to protect those they love.
If you love weapons, you'll love the insider knowledge described in these novels.
Profanity present.
Father, you are so gracious to us, all of us whether we know you or not. You hand out all kinds of talents and gifts and then leave it up to us how we use them, even though we're designed to use them at your direction. May you bless those who've yet to meet your Son and help them find your salvation. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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