Welcome to the Jesus Movement 60's style. The theology is a little messed up in a place or two, but then so were those times.
Lord, you know us all from the inside out. We've always needed you above all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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(Decided to rerun this review for you. A must read if you haven't! Loved this book by Ronie Kendig. I'm on a short vacay!)
Ronie Kendig's Conspiracy of Silence, published by Bethany House, is a contemporary somewhat speculative thriller which introduces Cole "Tox" (aka "Toxic") Russell to those of us who love Mitch Rapp and Scot Harvath types of superheroes.
I'm going to pay Ronie Kendig the highest compliment I can muster. "Tox" Russell now ranks second only to Mitch Rapp on my list of character loves. She captured this warrior's soul, his damage, pain, angst, guilt, frustration, and determination while building his larger than life persona striving to conceal all of it.
Suffering the consequences of a tragic black-ops foul-up, Tox has been "dead", residing in Africa in a forged friendship with a faith-filled Nigerian man who the "resurrected" Tox describes as his conscience.
Unusual circumstances lead Tox back to the USA where he manages to secret himself away in the presidential suite to wait for his estranged brother Galen who happens to be the POTUS. He also happens to be the man who stole Tox's girlfriend and married her many years ago. Galen is now a widower and Tox feels responsible for his ex's death. Once Tox comes out of the shadows, he cold-cocks his brother and waits for the Secret Service to catch up to him.
Turns out there's a job to do. They need Tox's "skills". He is promised certain things if he will do this, but Tox knows their promises aren't trustworthy. He agrees to the mission if he can pick his team. The team doesn't know Tox is alive and they don't know what happened to make him disappear – and he can't tell them. They're not happy with their perspective, but to a man they show up at the final departure.
This story is a complex imaginative tale that begins at a dig site in the Saudi Arabian desert (come to think of it, where is there not desert in Saudi Arabia?). A flighty, faithless, but spunky Israeli woman and her elderly close associate and faith-filled Dr. Joseph Cathey lead the dig, she hoping to redeem her reputation, and she happens to be Tox's lead man "Ram's" sister with whom Tox once had a relationship of sorts.
Simultaneously, there is an aging grandfather in New York who floats in and out of the present and spends most of his time at his granddaughter's home returning to his memories of his deceased wife.
There are stories of flaming arrows killing people from the inside out, thefts of holy items, Tox's group traipsing to India, Syria, Israel, London, and Spain to piece together a terrible puzzle that has unleashed a new old plague. Tox is at the end of his rope patience-wise while having to solve all the deadly riddles with little real information.
Tack onto all of this he's discovered the beautiful and strangely familiar FBI agent "Kasey" (aka Haven), assigned to the overall team for her specialty in recognizing deception, is more than a familiar face from the past. Their history surfaces and morphs dramatically into the present. Tox struggles in wanting to keep her at a distance but knows he's got to protect her above all else. The difficulty and conflict in their association produces some distraction for him but ultimately proves to be what they both seek.
The story weaves back and forth with all of these parts which at times can be confusing before they begin to tie together, but just because that methodology is not my preference in story development doesn't detract from this well told thriller. Authentic action spurts from the pages as the warrior spirits of Tox's team allow their former loyalties to surround each other. The Nigerian keeps Tox focused and serves as a quiet and strong beacon of faith throughout.
The extended journey to discover the "conspiracy of silence" compels the reader to pay attention and yet the mystery persists. God does His part and the story concludes in hope.
Highly recommend this novel by Ronie Kendig who honors the military and elite forces with her stories and words. A very good thriller with an "in'Tox'icating" protagonist.
Father, please keep Ronie safe from all harm and continue to bless her writing, filling her with more stories to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.
Isaiah 6:9b (NIV)
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In a perfect world – and we all know this one isn't – what five places would you love to visit the most?
1. I would like to see the big island Hawaii.
2. I would like to see Australia, maybe New Zealand.
3. I would enjoy seeing northern Italy again.
4. I would enjoy seeing Aix en Provence again; maybe Portugal.
5. Probably New Orleans.
I got a lot of the traveling bug out of my system at the age of 20. Oddly enough for many of you, I'm happy to see my own state and our neighbor Idaho – all within driving distance: my favorite kind of trip.
Father, you've blessed me with so much before and after Jesus. There is no way I can say thank you enough. Your grace has held me together through all my sinful ways, your redemption rescued me, and I owe my life to you. Keep shaping me, Lord, please. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Review from June 6th, 2008
(Original Cover)
(Newer cover)The Christian Fiction Blog Alliance tour is on for Ted Dekker’s newest release, a thriller simply titled Adam. Aaahh, but following that simple title rages a chilling page turner with a twist or two to keep the reader on edge for most of the perilous ride.It’s interesting to me that having just finished The Pawn which I read outside of the tour, this novel arrived. I reviewed The Pawn for Monday, February 4th’s post, and, as you know, that story interwove the lives of a serial killer, an FBI agent, a Jonestown cult survivor, and a politician. Now with Adam, another serial killer and an FBI agent are pitted against each other under the backdrop of every new moon for the previous 15 months another young woman suffers a horrible death in different geographical locations but always in underground areas such as basements or caves.This killer named Eve, due to the red scrawling of that name near the corpses, has successfully eluded all efforts of the FBI, causing the protagonist Special Agent Daniel Clark, PhD and author of books on the criminal mind, to seek “going dark” to catch him. His boss won’t allow him to do so without working in tandem with the imported attractive Agent Lori Ames, doctor, pathologist, and like-minded hunter of the killer “Eve”.Immediately upon their introduction to each other they are thrown into a suspected Eve situation which takes them in a jet from their LA office to a location an hour outside of Denver, Colorado, and from there for a drive into a canyon around the base of Pike’s Peak. An empty abandoned van is found at the scene, and they proceed cautiously after finding it empty as expected to search for the particular opening into the underground where they hope to capture Eve and save another victim. They find his 16th victim in the throes of death and transport her to their vehicle, realizing the killer is somewhere out there possibly watching them. As they’re rushing on the winding road to meet an ambulance, a man appears in the headlights walking toward their vehicle. In the panic to avoid hitting him it dawns on Daniel that the man is Eve, and he is carrying a gun in one hand at his side. Daniel skids to a stop, toppling Lori and the victim in the back of the Suburban and disorienting the local Sheriff in the passenger seat. Daniel struggles to find his gun but is too late, and the man shoots him in the head, kills the Sheriff and nicks the arm of Lori as he wrenches the girl from her, tossing her over his shoulder and disappearing through the wooded darkness. In spite of all the agents, local law enforcement, roadblocks, and the ensuing manhunt, Eve is gone, and his victim is later found dead in the typical ritualistic manner of previous young women.***Potential Spoiler***Also dead is Special Agent Daniel Clark who is frantically worked on by doctor/Agent Lori Ames. Driven by another agent to meet up with the ambulance, it seems there is no hope for Daniel Clark, declared dead too long for the paramedics to assume he will come back to life in spite of Lori’s unwillingness to cease blasting him with the paddles and giving him fatal doses of epinephrine. Under incredible circumstances Daniel is revived and transported to a hospital where upon returning from the dead, he has no recollection of the specifics of the man in the road, the serial killer Eve.***End Potential Spoiler***The story that follows sends Daniel—the atheistic agent who believes that “religion” is make-believe and the supernatural is mind games — his attorney ex-wife who still loves him two years after their divorce, Lori Ames who is Daniel’s accomplice in illegally trying to reclaim his memory at the point of death, all searching for the keys to unlock who Eve is and bring his killing spree to an end. Mixed in with these individual obsessions is the history of Alex Price, aka Alex Trane, tortured escapee along with his younger sister Jessica from a demented captivity engineered by their kidnapping when they were young children.Since this is my first read from author Ted Dekker, I have nothing to compare it to with the exception of House which he co-authored with Frank Peretti. His fans rave about his books, and if they are as exciting as this one is, I can see why he has a boatload of readers.I like the unusual format which frames and interrupts the story with “articles” from a crime magazine recounting the history of the killer after certain plot points have been revealed. The other neat thing about this story is that the writing is standard issue—it doesn’t pull you out of the story to exalt itself. This is a thriller after all and we want to keep moving forward to the solution of these horrific circumstances. And this story is haunting, jolting, and terrifying—definitely not for those who prefer light mystery fare.The few shortcomings for me are minimal and acceptable in light of the tale. One of them is so incidental as to be silliness on my part, but it’s just that when a writer noticeably moves a character in a room and then the character is suddenly sitting within the same conversation, I wonder if the writer forgot the character was standing by the window. I get distracted by that and reread the insignificant scene a couple of times to see if I just missed it. Obsessive, I know. The second incident concerns the background credentials of Agent Ames since she worked for the FBI. I’ll say no more about that.***Potential Spoiler***The only other thing that bothers me in general and not specifically in this novel is that for some reason, “exorcisms” are nearly always depicted as being done by Catholic priests. In fact, all Christians are given the power in the Holy Spirit and the Authority in the Name of Jesus to cast out demons. It’s an undesirable prospect to most, but it was a necessity given to Christians through the Blood of Jesus Christ and His salvation to us as believers. So I find the whole idea that a priest must be involved to perform this basic provision in our faith as a certain kind of ritual in conflict with the biblical accounts given to us as followers of Jesus Christ. However, as per this particular story, it was handled quite well with some biblical “techniques”.***End Potential Spoiler***If you’re a fan of thrillers, this is a must read from Ted Dekker. If you’re a faithful fan of Ted Dekker’s, I can’t imagine this novel disappointing you. Find out what happens when Adam meets Eve . . .Father, you know the skills and imagination you’ve given Ted Dekker. You know the platform you’ve given him for your glory. I pray that he would never lose sight of your provision for his talent and that he would never fail to give you all the praise for it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. -
I've been at this blog for many years. There have been some good posts, some tremendous interviews with a variety of people, some interesting reviews good, bad, and in between. I've primarily kept focused on the byline at the top of my blog. As with most of us who do blogs for any length of time, we often repeat information, try different approaches, and do no doubt struggle to put up entertaining, thoughtful pieces most of the time. I can testify it has stretched my creativity to the max – and I didn't have a lot of it to stretch! Suffice it to say It's demanding.
So my question(s) to you (writers, readers, and miscellaneous blog visitors): What do you like to experience when you visit a blog? What keeps you coming back for more?
I find those hard questions to answer, but I'll give you my answers in a different form by telling you what I don't want to experience when I visit a blog. I don't want to receive a lecture, i.e. how to write, what to write, how much to write, when to write. If I read a review of a novel (and I only read them after I've read the book), I don't want to hear gushing without specifics as to why the story was so darn good. I can appreciate many approaches to blogging, but not a lot them will interest me. And I confess, voice is important for me when I'm reading articles.
So . . . what say you?
Father, you are my inspiration. Period. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Good question for the times. More of the powerful 60's music.
Lord, we were desperate for you then and we're just as desperate for you now. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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If you've read more than one of my novels and you had to choose one you'd like to see as a movie, which one would you pick?
Lord, only you give me the stories, fill me with inspiration, create in me. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
Isaiah 5:21 (NIV)
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Okay, here we go. Dead Men Tell No Tales is a grand scale pirate film filled with lots of sword fighting and killing, a cursed ghost ship plus a quick visit to The Flying Dutchman, a female astronomer who's accused of being a witch, a real witch, William Turner's son Henry, Captain Jack Sparrow as a younger man revealing how he got his name (the likeness to Johnny's Jack Sparrow is impressive; see picture below), chases on land and sea, an enormous gallery of special effects, an excessive amount of rum, and the human side of Captain Barbossa after seeing him at his usual worst.
Captain Jack Sparrow is a washed up drunk who can't maintain his dignity or his crew, still carrying around the Black Pearl trapped in the bottle where Blackbeard put her. When the young woman accused of being a witch reveals she's searching for Poseidon's Trident from her studies of a diagramed diary left to her when she was dropped off at an orphanage, Henry (Will Turner's son) finds her and the imprisoned Captain Jack Sparrow waiting to be executed. Henry believes in her ability to lead them to the Trident which will break the curse under which his father has lived on The Flying Dutchman along with all the mythical curses of the sea. Of course this is a search Captain Jack wants to undertake figuring there must be something in it for him. So after his old crew rescues them both from the executioner at the last minute, he takes his ragtag crew and his broke down excuse for a ship and sets out to sea.
Suffice it to say it's a busy movie with lots of moving parts – literally – and subplots. It's fun and it'll take more than one viewing to capture all the intents.
So here are the two things I didn't like about the production. Number one: Captain Jack Sparrow is a full blown sloppy drunk who's willing to trade a prized possession for a bottle of rum. It isn't funny anymore at that point as alcoholism never is. Fortunately he sobers up.
Two: you must remain seated through the extensive credits to see the surprise scene at the end. You might recall there was an "Easter egg" enclosed at the end of one of the other POTC films – I think it was the third one. This one is a touching scene, and, okay, yes, I felt the tears and had to discretely dab at my eyes. I'm a sap – can't help it. Those tears were quickly extinguished at the harsh reaction by Captain Jack and it ruined the moment. I've never liked it when the writers chose to make him a bad guy as they did in the second or third version.
Big surprise I didn't know about until the credits: Paul McCartney plays Jack's "Uncle Jack" in a cameo.
Other than the two unlikable occurrences, it was a rip-roaring pirate adventure and well worth the price of admission. I will be seeing it again.
Will there be more of these movies? Jerry Bruckheimer has said he'd love to do more if he can get Johnny on board and other cast members. One thing we've learned from past episodes: even when a semi-primary character is killed off, they can always come back. So there's that . . . but then Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Father, you know my heart, you've heard my endless prayers. Please save souls. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
