The Scarlet Pen - A Review

The Scarlet Pen

by

Jennifer Uhlarik

A Review

The Scarlet Pen is a bit of history wrapped up into a gritty mystery.

Many have become familiar with serial killers through the television show “Criminal Minds”. Most will not realize that there is a long history of serial killers throughout history. This book follows the story of one who killed at least nine in the mid-1870s in Iowa and Nebraska. Stephen Lee Richards had become known as the Nebraska Butcher or Nebraska Fiend. The author wraps her story around this man using a fictional fiance and a Secret Service Agent who is tracking the counterfeit money that Richards is also passing as he travels from Ohio to Iowa to Nebraska.

The story is gripping and attention grabbing as Clay Timmons seeks to protect Richards’ fiance, Emma Draycott, and apprehend the “special kind of tetched” criminal himself. Having lived in the area described in the book, it was difficult to imagine the evil this man left along the Platte River and in Western Iowa

What is amazing is that the author and the murderer himself are able to communicate God’s grace to our broken world. History tells us that both in a final testimony and in written correspondence, Richards confessed faith in Christ prior to his being hanged. The fictional Clay Timmons summed up an appropriate response when asked, “Did he really believe?’

Part of me hopes he was tellin’ the truth, that God has welcomed him home -- because if God can forgive and receive the likes of him, there’s incredible hope for all of us.

With the mixture of history and grace, I give the book 5-stars,

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

 

The Big Idea Companion For Preaching And Teaching - A Review

 

The  Big Idea Companion

For Preaching

And Teaching

Edited By

Matthew D. Kim

Scott M. Gibson

A Review

In 1953 Dr. Henrietta Mears published her well-known handbook, What the Bible is All About. Over the yesrs the book has been republished and edited using different translations. This book follows in that tradition, but rather than being aimed at laymen and Sunday School teachers, this book is aimed toward Sunday School teachers and Preachers. That being said, the book goes a bit deeper and stresses teaching and preaching points rather than skimming each book of the Bible. Rather than choosing to cover the entire Bible in 52 weeks, it suggests teaching and preaching outlines based on the text. For example, rather than devoting one week to Mark’s gospel, this book suggests dividing the Mark into “nearly fifty preaching and teaching passages”.

Each Biblical book’s review is assigned to a single author - though some authors have been assigned multiple books. With a single exception, all the individual authors have earned PhDs from reputable schools. The single exception is a PhD graduate student at Wheaton Graduate School. Having said that, none of the authors were previously known to this reviewer. They do, however, currently hold positions at well-known institutions (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, etc.).

Each book includes a brief introduction and then a paragraph or two on each preaching passage. Each preaching passage includes a sentence describing the passage’s “subject”, “complement”, “exegetical idea”, and “homiletical idea”. Each book’s entry concludes with three or four suggested resources that the reader may wish to consult for further study. I was disappointed that the entries did not include any suggested application points for each passage.

Though, for most preachers and teachers, the books are divided into too many teaching portions, the book will be one that many will want to keep handy for ideas and general planning. I give the book 4-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Right Cross - A Review

 

Right Cross

by

Andrew Huff

A Review

Though it started slow, the book evolved into a nicely done faith-based thriller. Starting with a startling arrest in England, the setting moves quickly to Washington DC and its suburbs and on to Cheyenne Mountain, the former home, and now, of the alternate command center, of NORAD.

This is the third book in which John Cross finds himself fighting the terrorist organization going by the name of Forge. It was never clear what purpose and motivation drove Forge’s activity - but whatever it may be, they were set on destroying much of the US and its nuclear arsenal. John Cross and his team of allies (including a journalist, members of MI6 and the CIA, and members of the US Air Force) would need to fight hard to defend America as we know it.

At times the faith was a bit more of a distraction than I have found in many of the faith-based thrillers. The plot is riveting and full of the grit that many will expect in today’s suspense and thrillers titles. I give Right Cross 3-½ stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

The Keepers - A Review

 

The Keepers 

by

Jeffrey R. Burton

A Review

Cadaver dogs are trained to find bodies - those buried alive, those who have died in the most tragic accidents, and those who have decomposed from having sat too long. But some had other talents as well. Vira was that kind of dog. Vira could pick up the scents at crime scenes and hours or days later respond to that smell if it crossed her path again. The dogs were also defensive and wildly jealous when anyone wished to harm Mason Reid, owner of these amazing dogs. If you messed with Mason, the dogs would mess with you.

Jeffrey Burton has created an intense, well-written, story that continued to hold this reader’s attention from beginning to end. We get a glimpse of the dirty underbelly of Chicago’s politics and the few who are willing to protect the city from “the keepers” who did not want it to change for the better.

For the reader looking for a fast paced thriller, The Keepers might just fill the bill - it did for me. I give the book five-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

PowerPoint for MS 365 Cheat Sheet

 

PowerPoint for Microsoft 365

Reference and Cheat Sheet

by

i30 Media Corp.

A Review

This is the third item in this series that I have been privileged to review. Like others in the series it assumes some familiarity with PowerPoint - either from a prior version or from training in MS 365 Powerpoint. It contains four pages of useful hints based on the various menus provided by the program. It also includes a page of keyboard shortcuts for both the PC and the Mac. It does not explicitly cover versions of Powerpoint for MS 365 available for tablets or on-line.

These strengths also echo this tool’s weaknesses. Given that much of the four pages echo the main menu, it does not offer much detail about other features that lie below the main menus. Similarly, since it covers both PCs and Macs, many users will consider the unneeded OS as wasted space that could have included more useful details.

I am less familiar with Powerpoint compared to Word and Excel, so I found this reference sheet personally more useful than earlier ones in the series. I give it 4-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Imagination Station: Refugees On The Run - A Review

 

Imagination Station

Refugees On The Run

by

Chris Brack
and
Shiela Seifert

A Review

I have been a fan of Adventures In Odyssey and the Imagination Station since these series of adventures began airing in the late 1980’s. This is the first book I have read starring John Avery Whitaker and the residents of Odyssey. This book is the final of a trilogy requiring the young friends to assist in repairing the Imagination Station.

We find John’s friends in Lithuania near the beginning of WWII. This fictionalized story centers on a relatively unknown series of true events when a Japanese diplomat saved thousands of Polish and Lithuanian Jews trying to flee the horrors of Hitler’s holocaust.

Though this story is fictionalized, enough facts are dropped along the way to allow the reader to dig for the rest of the story. Written for 4th through 6th grade readers, this senior adult found the story interesting and inviting to the end. Like most material coming from Focus On The Family, it also includes a clear statement of the gospel as part of the story. I give the book four stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Reserved For Murder - A Review

 

Reserved For Murder

by

Victoria Gilbert

A Review

What happens when you combine a Bed and Breakfast with retired spies, a well-known author, and murder - you get “Reserved For Murder”.

I enjoyed Victoria Gilbert’s latest cozy mystery. Set in Beaufort NC, the Chapters Bed and Breakfast is hosting Amanda Nobel, noted romance writer, and a few of her fans for a weeklong getaway. It should be a lovely week - at least until the body of Lisette Bradford is discovered on the pier, at which time almost everyone, resident or visitor, becomes a suspect. Charlotte Reed, owner of Chapters, and her neighbor, Ellen Montgomery, a retired spy, will find themselves assisting the town’s law enforcement in tracking down the suspect.

The book held my attention and had me wanting to know more and more about the suspects and the crime as I read. The B and B, the quaint community, and the characters, easily make for a five-star book.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.