Into the Fire

Redaction is Book 12 of A Rachel Hatch Novel Series by L.T. Ryan and Brian Shea. 

And I don't know how I missed it! I read and reviewed Mirage (Book 13) here before I realized I'd missed Book 12.

Rachel Hatch is given what seems like an odd assignment by General Thorne who personally steps into a Talon conference to organize this special directive. (Talon is Hatch's workplace/a private security firm which holds a unique history for her.) Oddly enough it's to assist the already appointed security for a senator who's speaking in a smaller town meeting where there's been some serious property and water issues caused by a company who's been making threats to its citizens to acquire land and water rights. Once Hatch arrives and introduces herself to the cold shoulder of the head of the senator's security, she notes that the whole scene and venue seem off. When she makes a quick visit to see it for herself the night before his appearance, a strange individual not fitting the mode of everyone else currently present makes a quick exit after she spots him. When she walks outside to see where he went, she takes in the surroundings and finds the dangerous locations giving sightlines to an easy target for a sniper. 

The morning of the event Hatch mentions her concerns and is basically ignored. The crowd that gathers is a hostile audience, feeling the threats of their properties and water rights being commandeered by an outside company. When the senator doesn't give the reassurances they need, things get heated and the senator is rushed toward his vehicle. Hatch hears the unmistakable shot and the senior aide to the senator goes down. Hoping to save him, Hatch applies pressure to his wound but the shot was perfect. His last word is "Maggie." 

This sets the stage for the local Sheriff Tuck and Hatch to form an alliance and a private search for the sniper. Hatch's orders change and the intel she gets from two of her Talon associates collide with the narrative she was originally given. Since she trusts them more than she trusts Thorne, everything in the search changes. 

Intensity, struggles, surprises, and a great ending follow all the deceptions about who's who and what's really going on.

Highly Recommend the A Rachel Hatch Novel Series. 

(Some profanity.)  

Father, as I always say, you know hearts and minds and only you save us. Please bless L.T. and Brian and give them more stories you have just for them to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

     There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NIV) 

So where do we go from here? 

Have you ever asked yourself that question? If you're a Christian, you've found yourself waiting on the Lord. The only time waiting is even a little bit tolerable is when you really don't want to contemplate doing what you know you must. Anyone can be impatient. Christians are not immune even when we're instructed to be. 

Is there something new on the horizon, but you're not sure what it is? Are you restless? Are you waiting for an instruction, a specific direction? 

Where do you go from here? 

As an author, I tend to know where to go with each novel I've written. That's not to say I don't come up blank once in a while and must take a break. When I return, the story takes its usual pace and hastens to put words on "the page." Up to this point, it's worked every time. 

Right now, it's a different story to use a well-worn but appropriate cliché. So, where do I go from here? Guess I'll find out. Hope it's sooner, not later. Waiting is not my favorite thing. 

Father, I know one thing: I can count on you. Thank you for that. Please bless this current story, help me to finish it well. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Crazy natural curly hair days when you work seven days a week at the racetrack. Oh well. A very long time ago. 

Father, you watched me throughout my life and finally when I'd had enough of myself, you stepped in and said, "Have you had enough yet?" I was empty, and you saved me. Thank you, Jesus. The best thing I've ever done, the best decision I've ever made, and thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Mirage by L.T. Ryan and Brian Shea is Book 13 in A Rachel Hatch Novel Series. 

Rachel Hatch goes by "Hatch. Just Hatch." Former military, she's worked private security, and she's seen and faced all kinds of danger having the vicious scars on her left arm as a constant reminder. No longer officially working in private security, she's promised an old friend she'd deliver a covert message to his sister (Emily) in a tiny blip on the map town of Riverton, Texas. Emily is the single mother of a 10-year-old daughter "Cass." Just prior to Hatch's arrival, Emily had seen a newsfeed about her brother's death and is trying to hold herself together in order to tell her daughter.  

Hatch's assurance that her brother is alive is a welcome relief even if the circumstances can't be explained. 

Before the threesome can get to know each other, all the power goes out. Hatch's car won't start, Emily's generator won't work, zero phone service, and it seems particularly different than a normal outage. 

Hatch has already had one confrontation before even getting into town, and now another problem has presented itself. Something's off, but she has no idea what. When she, Emily, and Cass decide to walk into town, they learn the town is not functioning, the sheriff is missing, and people want answers. Cass spots her school science teacher and when she introduces him to Hatch and her mom, he and Hatch have an interesting conversation. Before long, in comes a powerful Humvee, the only operating vehicle, with a familiar survivalist family of three, Dad and two adult sons, one of whom lost the confrontation with Hatch before she arrived. 

The Dad (Rick) takes charge as the mayor willingly hands the bullhorn he'd been using to attempt to calm the crowd. Rick assures the crowd they'll get through it, and his family will help.

Hatch observes it all: the grateful, helpless mayor, the crowd wanting to hear what Rick has to say, and still nothing is sitting right. 

When Cass reminds her mom who's suffering from a migraine that they need to get her prescription, the three of them head for the pharmacy, hoping to find it available. Inside, looters are bagging drugs and threaten them. Hatch makes sure Emily and Cass get back out of the way before she does what she must. Rick and sons find their way there in order to collect all the drugs for safekeeping and realize what has just taken place.

Amidst all of this, it's learned that the electrician who made a visit to the power station before all of this happened is also missing. 

It's a town in chaos in desperate need of rescuing. Little do they know what this "just passing through" gal specializes in. 

Without communication available, she and the science teacher must pool their intellects to figure out who has made this happen and how to fix it. 

Rachel Hatch is a unique and near-perfect heroine for every story L.T. and Brian have created for her. Not as hard nor as brutal as Ham from Dustin Stevens, I think she's my favorite next to Raleigh Harmon created by Sibella Giorello. 

Mirage leaves us in a bit of a cliffhanger that demands a reckoning. 

This series is a very good one with a strong but sensitive heroine who does everything she can to stay disciplined in every factor of her life. Well-written, action-packed in appropriate places, with meaningful connections along the way. Highly Recommend but start from the beginning if you can. 

Father, only you know hearts and minds. Although it's hard for many to realize, apart from you we can do nothing. Please bless L.T. and Brian with more stories you have just for them to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

My all-time favorite Elton John song. Loved this one and still do. 

Father, only you know hearts and only you can mend them. Only you can save. Only You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Honor them. They gave it all. 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.  John 15:13 (NIV) 

. . . As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

     "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

     "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 

     The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything. 

Acts 9:3-6 (NIV)

I recently read a one-star review where an apparent grammar-aficionado one-star reviewer declared he or she would never read another one of a particular author's books because that author used so many incomplete sentences – apparently leaving the reader unable to follow/identify whatever was happening in the story. I think my jaw actually dropped. 

I actually like incomplete sentences and use them for random action/reaction/thoughts in my novels. 

Another one-star reviewer of a Christian novel (a bestselling mostly 5-star review receiving book) claimed that the author's theology was in serious disagreement with this reader's and questioned the author's Christianity. Another jaw-dropper for me because I clearly and wholeheartedly disagreed with the reader's theological assessment of the events in this novel and wanted to combat everything written in the rather indignant review. 

I share the author's views and depictions written in that novel and incorporate similar characterizations of spiritual events in my stories. 

I've repeatedly written and said, the one-star reviews say more about the reviewer than they do about the book being reviewed. Not every novel we read is going to be one of our favorites. Not every story we take the time to read will, in our opinion, deserve a good review. However, the old cliche "One man's junk is another man's treasure" certainly applies to reading novels. So, readers, drop your moral crusades and, if you must write a review, just say the book wasn't meant for you, not your style, didn't care for it, instead of all the pointed criticisms that make you sound arrogant, smug, or mean-spirited. 

And don't get me started on the ones who write that they just couldn't finish it. You don't finish a book? You shouldn't review it. Period. 

Father, thank you for stories, novelists, books. Thank you for words and characters that fill the pages. Apart from you, we can do nothing. Help me to always honor you in my writing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

(Posted on September 15, 2011)

Finding . . . The Opposite of Art 

One thing is for sure when you read an Athol Dickson novel: you won't be reading anything "ordinary". The Opposite of Art by Athol Dickson published by Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, is no exception. A master at the newer genre classification of "magical realism", as you might expect by the term, the story wanders on a unique journey taking the reader to places and scenarios that challenge the imagination to keep up. Stuffed with symbolism and metaphor, it's an exposé in creative writing with a suggestion of purpose rather than a demand. Reminding me of David Athey's Danny Gospel, it does at times give one the sense of flashback to a drug-induced state . . . if you know what I mean.

We're introduced to Sheridan Ridler in his twenties, the cocky artist known just as Ridler to the world of art and Danny to the one he loves but pushes away with his demands, and we see a brash self-absorbed painter of nudes without faces. He doesn't "do faces". With successful siblings who gained his father's approval, Ridler's art seemed never to impress his dad, and he carries the defiance of rejection into his core being. The world embraces his work and even at his young age, he is quickly deemed a brilliant artist. According to Ridler himself, he "can paint anything". His explanation of why he doesn't paint faces epitomizes where his focus resides in his youthful state of mind.

When the one who truly inspires him walks out of his life, he realizes for the first time that she holds his heart and he chases after her but loses her in her Harlem neighborhood. Frustrated that he can't recall her address, he sees something in his artist's eye that draws him. As he pursues the image, he experiences a shocking event which sets the stage for and transforms the rest of the novel. Up to this experience, the story plays like a normal interpersonal conflict with an egotist and his girl falling apart without a deeper bond than their attraction to one another to cement them together.

Suffice it to say this event causes a cataclysmic change in the young artist and takes him on a journey to recapture the focus of what he experienced, but without his ability to suppress himself in his travels across the world's landscape, he never manages to advance in his core-persona, but he does manage to eliminate the requirements of religion without understanding why he must. Encountering a canvas filled with characters who are both kind and crazed, he continues to paint what he cannot fully grasp.

It's decidedly amazing to me that Athol can base an entire story on somewhat undesirable characters and pull it off. Honestly, I understood the 20-something Ridler a whole lot better than the Ridler-pilgrim who basically refused to see the obvious even when much later in his life it couldn't have been more plain. "Esperanza", the beautiful old woman – or was she? – made so much evident to him many times with her pointed questions and conversation if he would only listen and see. However, her prodding and hinting served to demonstrate the power of the human heart's resistance until it's truly ready to receive Truth.

Transporting the reader between reality and surreality, I was never quite sure if Ridler's often dreamlike state of existence gave us fact or fiction. Inside his perspective we explored the fantastical along with the deplorable, the mundane, the inexplicable, and the everyday. Both taxing and refreshing, this novel is an experience rather than a story. Exploring and examining the flawed hearts of man and his religions, we grow impatient with the obvious obstructions to the Truth. We're grateful for the conclusion in so many ways. "Magical realism" is not my favorite genre, reminding me of a form of contemporary fantasy of which I'm no fan. However, this novel is well worth the time it takes to invest in the experience of it.

There's some terrific and imaginative writing going on this novel mixed with incredible research and authenticity. I'm sure I missed some of the clever and intricate symbolism which extends to the title, but I gathered enough of it to be impressed. For those readers who enjoy something different, something that takes not only the protagonist but the reader on a strange journey through a maze of eerie experiences and almost laughable jaunts with characters, The Opposite of Art is the novel for you. For those of you who want an exercise in literary writing: The Opposite of Art is it. For those of you who want not just artsy prose but earthy language when exposing what drives a man's soul: The Opposite of Art gives you both profound and almost profane.

As a final sidenote, I'd love to see Johnny Depp play Ridler. He could give the role of Ridler the depth this character deserves.

Father, you've given multiple giftings to Athol, and he has chosen to honor you with all of them. Please help him to continue to share his discoveries in the stories he writes. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.