Into the Fire

Laura Gallier's debut novel is a Young Adult supernatural suspense titled The Delusion which takes Owen Edmonds, a senior in high school, to the brink of insanity after ingesting a sample of some underground water in a valiant effort to protect a girlfriend from consuming it without knowing its contents.

Owen Edmonds attends a high school in Cypress, Texas, where fellow students are taking their own lives in a rash of suicides. Pious picketers outside the school insist there's real evil going on inside the school as if their demonstrations can accomplish a solution to the multiple deaths of these young people. When the story opens, Owen is dating an attractive girl named Jess whose major focus is set upon herself and prom night. One afternoon when they venture into a familiar spot in the woods, Jess hears the underground roar of rushing water. When Owen digs down to find it, Jess insists she wants to see it, and after getting some in a container she tells Owen she's going to drink it. When he objects, she goads him about his lack of spontaneity and adventure, but he insists it could be dangerous. In order to protect her from consuming it, he drinks it.

Immediately his stomach aches, his head pulses, and the pains are so intense, he quickly takes them both home. The sensations Owen experiences make him wonder if he's going to survive his foolish venture. His stomach feels like he swallowed dry ice and the freezing feeling in his gut won't dissipate although the migraine pain finally ebbs. What he learns is this is just the preliminary experience to the shocking supernatural visions he now sees of the people around him. Most all of the students and his alcoholic mom wear shackles, chains, and cords in various numbers protruding from their bodies. Words and names appear on cuffs of the frost-feeling chains when he can sneak a look at them, and later putrid smelling wicked looking figures Owen calls "Creepers" follow people around influencing their actions and emotions. He is terrified of being insane, schizoid, and all things crazy since he knows no one else sees the hideous images he's experiencing.

Some minor relief infiltrates his life when he notices there are a few students who actually have a golden glow accompanying them, shining around their feet. No chains or heinous images. He gets the nerve to approach one of the girls who "glows", wanting to know if there's a way to find out the secret to that freedom. Desperately hoping for an answer to his "condition", he wonders if he can tell her what's happened to him.

Since I don't read a lot of YA fiction, I can only review this novel from my perspective as an adult. I see real value in The Delusion because Owen epitomizes the typical young man who really hasn't given a lot of serious thought to his existence. He's been raised by a single alcoholic mom who's told him his dad didn't want anything to do with them. Somehow she's been able to provide a decent life for Owen, but his focus is typically narrow and unspiritual. He has a chip on his shoulder and a brazen resentment of anything "religious" while refusing to admit what he's being exposed to by these water-induced visions is supernatural revelation.

The use of biblical symbolism will not be lost on Christian youth but will no doubt go right over the heads of unbelievers. This is perfectly acceptable because this story capitalizes on both positions from the lost and found perspectives, giving Owen a certain credence in his total lack of faith while documenting his journey toward change with his only ally, a Christian girl who initially seems to struggle slightly with her own ability to verbalize her beliefs but who gains strength in her convictions as the story progresses. As the final scenes take place, much of the important symbolism becomes clear. 

There are some harrowing and tragic events which occur throughout the story after most of Owen's friends disown him, a good twist in Owen's family life, and a climactic conclusion at a graduation night party which brings about true resolution in Owen's life.

The construction of the novel only held one weakness for me. The story begins with the emphasis on the tragic suicides at Owen's high school. The abrupt shift to his "delusions" after consuming the water takes the story down a different road and left me waiting for the reconnect to the suicides. Of course the reader soon realizes the reasons for the suicides but the suicides themselves aren't the primary focus of the story. This created a slight misfire for me.

Technically speaking, I would've preferred the internal dialogue be put in italics, although I know some authors/editors have a distaste for them. At times it was difficult to tell what was being said or merely thought. Minor, but it's a preference for me. Also I believe the repeated use of "chunking" was supposed to be "chucking" and it stopped me from reading every time it was used.

The Delusion tackles some genuine hard topics, including the surface portrayal of spiritual warfare, for young adults and exposes them from both perspectives. I appreciate the way Owen's journey takes him from a typical self-absorbed young man to a guy who finally sees himself for who he is after exhausting all the excuses available to humanity. It's an honest depiction of a kid who finds that relying on himself to solve his and others' problems only leaves him with more unsolvable problems. One incident in particular demonstrates his lack of sensitivity when his former girlfriend Jess hints at what her dad did, but it blows right by Owen without acknowledgment. There's a large collection of teenage angst and drama, but it all works in The Delusion.

The back cover copy is enticing and well-written, and I think Laura Gallier's debut novel will have the YA audience asking for more from this author. 

Father, it's clear how deeply Laura's heart is focused on you, and I pray you would continue to bless her efforts to bring you glory and to honor you in all she does. Keep her safe and watch over her. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Professional football is taking some critical hits. No, not helmet-to-helmet. On a "defenseless" receiver. Or brushing against the facemask of a quarterback. They're coming directly from the political arena, and of course it's the leftwing branch of government who wants to continue to make the sport "safer" and provide more "guilt-free" viewing for the general masses. Since, of course, all of us who watch these professional athletes bash each other can't possibly be admiring the fortitude and athletiscism of these elite players who are the best of the best compete in a game they love to play without guilt. Of course not.

Number one, most of these athletes (and the majority of them have completed a four-year education at a recognized or acclaimed university), according to the left – and specifically the POTUS – are too stupid to realize that playing professional football could be harmful to their health. Therefore, the game must be toned down to accommodate less injuries and their foolishness, ignorance, and overall stupidity. That's the right thing to do since these young adults who enter the professional football arena just can't be trusted to take care of themselves in light of the fun and potential fame and fortune they could achieve while playing this sport.

With lawsuits from the Junior Seau family and retired players who suffer from physical symptoms often indicative of multiple concussions or head injuries, the NFL is now in a difficult position regarding the safety of its players. Recent studies have amplified the information about head injuries and promoted the latest requirements for players who indicate symptoms of concussion during a game. The adjustment to how hits may be administered on an opponent is in operation but still in the formative stages while producing legitimate and also unnecessary penalties on the field. Football fans have had to endure ridiculously bad calls in the name of "safety". Fines have been leveled for penalties and other penalties have been deemed "mistakes", the evidence of those being non-fines to the player who was penalized.

Interesting that the game of football is under such scrutiny for its violence when this administration has just given the green light to female combatants on the front lines. Hmm. 

Professional football is not a girly game. It's a man's game. Athletes who are gifted with the required skills to achieve positions in the NFL are capable of realizing the risks to their bodies (and brains). Like most of us when we're young, probably some of these men figure "it won't happen to me" until it does. The thing is they can't wait to get back to the game. To be cleared to play whether it's from a concussion or a leg/arm/muscle/tendon etc. injury which requires slight or extensive rehab is their foremost goal. Why? Because they love the game, the competition, the winning, the fighting for their position. It's a man thing. It's admirable. And while the latest knowledge and understanding is learned, developed, and employed for the players' safety, can we just keep the ridiculous metro-sexual pontificating of the president out of the game? It's been toned-down enough. Any more and it becomes a girly game. Sissified. Which might appeal to the president, but it won't appeal to the fans of football. Or the professional players who love the game.

Father, please protect us all from the control of man. Help us to rightly answer to you, to accept responsibility for ourselves, our wrongdoing, our individual choices. Lord, help us to serve you above all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

I can tell you from the volume of reading I do in hard or soft copy there are many more typos in recent years than there ever used to be in books of old. I've heard all the excuses for the mistakes. They range from claims of understaffing to the astonishment at them and/or justification for them in spite of all the "levels" of examination and scrutiny the manuscripts go through before they're made into books. Yet they appear in almost every novel I've read in the last several years.

Now I've yet to read an e-book on my Kindle without several typos and formatting errors which makes me wonder if the exact formatting for the e-readers is still in the developmental stages - instead of my blaming the publisher for its careless renditions of e-books. Converting Word manuscripts to the RTF makes for a painstaking examination of each paragraph to make sure there aren't too many spaces between them. Besides that, sometimes the margins fail to indent, quotations from different parties appear on the same line and without indentations, and some words disappear. Once they're corrected and saved, it still feels like they aren't truly "safe" in the corrected format.

If you have any comments or opinions on either of these situations, please feel free to voice them.

Father, life progresses. Mistakes are made in every field of endeavor on planet earth. We're an imperfect people no matter how talented. For those who strive to produce error-free material, help each one of us to be diligent in producing our wares and humble in our efforts. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Consider the blameless, observe the upright;

there is a future for the man of peace.

But all sinners will be destroyed;

the future of the wicked will be cut off.

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

Psalm 37:37-40 (NIV)

Okay, I'm all for parents stepping up to the challenge of regulating this sexually-charged environment in the world today. It's a tough go for conscientious parents trying to maintain their children's innocence for as long as possible. In fact, it's nearly impossible. Home-schooling, regulation of TV viewing, censoring portions of the internet, and a parent still can't avoid the explicit magazines at the grocery store, smutty billboards, and the kid down the block who views porn on his laptop.

However, television has sold its soul to the sexual evolution of advertising, and a parent's best weapon for child protection is easy and speedy access to the remote. The Super Bowl has disregarded the "family viewing" label for the likes of a wardrobe malfunction with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake a few years ago, Madonna's sexual strutting, Beyonce's sizzling exhibition, and now the hotter than Hades Kate Upton ad for Mercedes Benz which has caused parenting groups to protest yet another sexual sales pitch during a "family" game.

They won't win this battle. I admire their courage and their perseverance and for setting themselves up to be militantly mocked for their prudish and unappreciative attitudes. Because everyone knows the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model winner "should" be viewed with the utmost appreciation. A lie of course, but I will bet you her ad wins the "best" title when voting ensues.

Moms, I urge you to handle the remote for this one because, honestly, I don't know any male capable of changing the channel when this ad appears. It's just too much pleasure-inducing viewing for even the strongest Christian male. Turning away from her physical features requires extreme self-control, and men aren't exactly wired for this kind of discipline where stunning female bodies are concerned.

Just a heads up for you parents regarding this year's Super Bowl ads:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAwnhlGud6w

Father, forgive us for our lusts and indulgences. We're so human and even when our spirit's willing, our flesh is decidedly weak. I pray for those parents who earnestly desire to keep their children young, innocent, and respectful of the human body. I ask that you help them with holy insights and direct their efforts to give their kids the best of you in all things. Help them to raise the young ones up in the way they should go so they will not depart from it when they mature. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Some of you will recognize this green plant as cannabis, more commonly referred to as marijuana or pot or multiple other drug-ie nicknames. From Wikipedia we get this definition:

Cannabis (/ˈkænəbɪs/; Cán-na-bis) is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative varieties, Cannabis sativa,^[1] Cannabis indica,^[1] and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia.^[2] Cannabis has long been used for fibre (hemp), for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug. Industrial hemp products are made from Cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber. To satisfy the UN Narcotics Convention, some Cannabis strains have been bred to produce minimal levels of THC, the principal psychoactive constituent responsible for the "high" associated with marijuana. Marijuana consists of the dried flowers of Cannabis plants selectively bred to produce high levels of THC and other psychoactive cannabinoids. Various extracts including hashish and hash oil are also produced from the plant.^[3]

I live in Washington state where the left (how appropriate) side of the state recently voted to legalize this drug and by so doing has created all sorts of problems for everyone who buys, sells, and/or uses it. People who've never used the drug for any reason fluctuate between wondering why it's a big deal and why it should never be legalized. Others who've experienced the drug are caught between the same opinions. Will it be used at break time on the job? There can be no arguing it affects the mind.

Let me be straight with you. I've smoked the drug, and, yes, I did inhale. Back in the late sixties and early seventies, I gave in to the hip popularity of "smoking dope" amidst a few other indulgences. Suffice it to say, from personal experience I can tell you, regardless of the commonly heard contrary opinion, marijuana is addictive. I knew people who smoked it everyday and wouldn't consider not using it. No longer recreational in their lives, it was a necessary part of their existence. I can tell you that even though these individuals held down jobs and were basically productive young people, marijuana can rob a person of motivation and inspiration. That's what I noticed the most: motivation took a back seat to the "experience" of getting high, the after-effects, the appetite, the laughter, the breaking down and intensifying of music inside the brain. Often combined with alcohol, pot could create a relaxed euphoric journey usually concluding with sleep or passing out after the "enjoyment" of the various symptoms.

Depending on the quality of the injested drug, the trip could last for hours. Or more joints could be passed around to continue the wonder of allowing the mind to drift to various levels of entertainment. The last few times I got stoned, I wished I hadn't smoked the drug. I didn't want the experience anymore, and I regretted consenting to it. The feeling was no longer fun or new or attractive, and I couldn't wait for it to wear off. By this time the Lord was preparing my heart, and I lost all interest in drugs and alcohol, seeing the destruction of using both in friends and feeling the emptiness and meaninglessness of the experiences.   

Sometimes certain emotional reactions accompany getting high such as mild to moderate paranoia or fear. Some people don't drive well under the influence of the drug, reactions can be slowed, and others don't act as coherent as they normally would. It all depends on the individual and the severity of the pot.

Medical marijuana seems off the mark to me. Of all the created drugs, it seems whatever the ingredient is in the plant used for relieving eye pain, couldn't it be assimilated into a less mind-altering drug?

Our world is sliding into depravity, and the evidence is all around us. There are all kinds of addictions plaguing the human race. All kinds of sin being accepted and viewed as normal behaviors. The destruction of people escalates as individuals sink into immoral determinations and dismiss godly values as irrelevant and unnecessary.

There is no real value in marijuana, none that sustains a healthy mind. It's just another tool to distract people from their life awareness, their pain, their emptiness. The hole in the heart is never filled by a drug that induces a modicum of pleasure. No matter how much its harmlessness is proclaimed, it's really just another chain of destruction, another void inserted to take the place of a savior. Legalizing it is no solution to the aches or desires of the human heart. Legalizing it only brings the destruction that much closer.

Father, you're the answer. Jesus, you provide hope, forgiveness, peace, and saving grace. Holy Spirit, please help those who are lost and searching. Give them the answer they so desperately need. Just like you did for me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

I am not a reader of kids' books or of the "Young Adult" genres, but I respect those authors who desire to tell meaningful stories to young people. I recently read and reviewed the final contribution to The Solitary Tales by Travis Thrasher entitled Hurt. The writing caught the attitude and language of young adults, a challenging tale of spiritual warfare while taking a stand against all odds, rendering an entertaining and important story which I'm convinced would appeal to the adult reader who doesn't mind stepping back a ways in time to his or her youth.

Oddly enough I've begun yet another Young Adult story by author Laura Gallier titled The Delusion and will post a review when it's finished. She definitely has the voice for the young male protagonist and has established an eerie and threatening plot in just 40 pages of reading.

My guess is if you write specifically for this audience, as an adult, it seems critical not to condescend to the teenage and slightly older reader. Young people are too sophisticated these days, sadly with less innocence. They've seen and heard too much to be treated as even younger "children".

However, if writing with a Christian worldview, I assume it's just as tricky to include the faith elements without sermonizing as it is in adult novels. Travis Thrasher did an excellent job of it, and Laura has chosen to make the likable protagonist an atheist of sorts in the beginning of her story.

I don't have the time – or the desire, to be honest – to read many more young adult work. Not my thing, and somehow I've gotten way behind on commitment reading which makes me rush through books when I'd rather do the reading at my leisure. Not sure how that happened this time, but it did.

Are you a reader of the Young Adult genre?

Father, I ask that you give special anointing to those authors who write for youth. Truth is powerful and precious and can be demonstrated effectively in story. Help each one tell a meaningful story to point young people to see you, follow you, and experience the magnificence of who you truly are. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.   

            http://www.amazon.com/January-Justice-Malcolm-Memoirs-

January Justice by Athol Dickson presents a new page in the ever-changing writing endeavors by this novelist. Available in soft cover and for e-readers on Amazon.com, January Justice gives us the first book in The Malcom Cutter Memoirs. I loved this book. In fact, it replaces Winter Haven as my favorite in the Athol Dickson arsenal of novels. Athol was born to write this series. Without forfeiting the wordsmith label and by supplying a meaningful and desirable protagonist, January Justice excels in this crime fiction genre.

Malcolm Cutter, former Marine engaged in Special Forces, lost his mind and the love of his life, actress Haley Lane, during a break in the provided studio trailer while shooting a film. The beautiful Haley Lane plunged to her death as he broke his hand trying to put it through the trailer's wall under bizarre and terrifying circumstances which neither of them suspected or could control.

Malcolm Cutter recovers in the guest house on the expansive estate of Haley Lane after being released from a mental hospital. His thoughts often escape to surreal places accompanied by outlandish visions, and he is regularly having to talk himself out of believing what his mind conveys to his visual and sometimes his audio senses. His occupation is that of chauffeur and it used to include being "Miss" Lane's bodyguard until he failed to achieve that duty one freaky frightening evening which resulted in tragedy for both of them. Now he's still in the chauffeur business but has added private security/inquiry to his résumé.

Simon, the amazing, almost omniscient British butler, makes sure Malcolm has what he needs even when he knows Malcom doesn't intend to take care of himself. Teru, the pipe-smoking attorney-gardener, also insists on inserting himself into the well-being of Malcolm Cutter, all of them having one thing in common: their love and respect for the deceased Haley Lane. That one thing forges them into an odd but loyal camaraderie and friendship which proves beneficial to them all.

Two Guatemalan professionals hire Malcolm to debunk the evidence which stated  the old murder of an actress's husband, who was responsible for "the disappearing" of many Guatemalan's, was due to their political organization. When Malcolm takes the case, all kinds of chaos erupts, adding to the decision he must make as to whether or not life holds any value for him anymore now that Haley's dead and her case is cold.

With a variety of twists and turns leaving just enough loose ends untied for the next book in the series due out later this year, the complex plot lurches and dives into the old and new and eventually forces Malcolm Cutter to make those hard decisions about the fragile faith he barely clings to and why his life has been spared multiple times. 

I found the imagery of various locations in Los Angeles and Guatemala intriguing and well done, providing vivid pictures of all kinds of landscapes from the rich and famous to the dirt poor. The development of Malcolm Cutter provides us with an instant establishment of his pain and confusion but gradually adds the layers of his depth of integrity, devotion, and ingrained toughness even when he doesn't want to use it. Personal reflections flesh out the absentee character of Haley Lane and make it easier to experience his loss. Blaming himself for her death has robbed him of a vital part of his being, and we hope that in the next story he'll begin to reassess his value in the investigation of her death and that self-defining purpose he needs to survive.

I reiterate I loved this book. Highly recommend it to readers of crime fiction and thrillers. Kudos and high praise to Athol Dickson for excelling in a new thing with his writing.

Father, please continue to bless this new chapter for Athol. Supply the stories, the depth he always includes in his writing, and instruct him in all things he does for your glory. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

So not happy with the two teams headed to the Super Bowl. The two-brothers hype will be unbearable. Especially since only one of them is likable.

Tomorrow there will be a review of the new Athol Dickson e-book January Justice, a departure from his "magical realism" fare. January Justice is my new favorite of Athol's novels. A must read for lovers of suspense/crime fiction with a strong protagonist and a unique cast of characters.

The Chris Botti Concert was magnificent. Truly. If you're a fan of the trumpet, this man is a master of the instrument and puts on a fantastic show.

Father, you've given me so much, so many opportunities, taught me so much as I still learn. You are The Master. I love you, Lord, and I thank you from my heart. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Wait for the Lord

and keep his way.

He will exalt you to possess the land;

when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

I have seen a wicked and ruthless man

flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,

but he soon passed away and was no more;

though I looked for him, he could not be found.

Psalm 37:34-36 (NIV)