Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon by Larry Millett

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Hard Cover

Publisher: VIKING

Reviewer: The Jag

JAGS: 7

Holmes comes to America in this revamp classic of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved literary detective duo in; Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon by Larry Millett. An American, working for a Minnesota Railroad tycoon, arrives at 221 B Baker St, pleading for the infamous detective to follow him to the colonies and solve a case that could save thousands of lives.

Holmes is reluctant at first, citing numerous on going experiments, but quickly changes his mind as the American explains the puzzling case of a mad arsonist on the loose in the pine forests of Minnesota. Not only is the local commerce of the town of Hinckley at risk, but also all the unsuspecting citizens who inhabit the logging town. Little do they suspect, they are caught in the middle of a twisted plot of revenge that even the likes of Sherlock Holmes will have difficulty solving.

Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon is a fun read for all Holmes fans. Larry Millett is spot on in his Sherlockology as Dr. Watson, as he takes the detectives into the American wilderness of the Mid-West. Puzzling at times, no pun intended, the camaraderie between Holmes and Watson is lacking, and the subtle clinical approach of Dr. Watson that Conan Doyle used is absence. All in all, a great Sherlock Holmes read.

Preemptive Love - pursuing peace One Heart at a time by Jeremy Courtney

Genre: Memoir

Pages: Hard Cover

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: October 1^st, 2013

Reviewer: Virginia Armstrong

JAGS: 8

 

Preemptive Love is a memoir of Jeremy Courtney’s struggle to help thousands of children with heart conditions during the Iraqi war.  Believing in love first, ask questions later, he puts his life and his heart on the line as he goes against other’s fears, prejudices and political persuasions.  In his quest, he finds that most people, no matter their race or religion are good, loving people who only want what is best for their families.

Jeremy doesn’t run at the first sign of trouble, not even when a fatwa is issued for him.  Instead, he continues onward, fighting or the children’s lives, pleasantly satisfied when the results are in the child’s favor, heartbroken when they are not.

Jeremy tells not only his story of courage and sacrifice, but that of his wife, children and friends he meets along the way.

Preemptive Love is a story that enlightens the reader to the many similarities in people’s lives, reminding us that we are all built with the same emotions, living similar life’s but with different beliefs and practices.

Preemptive Love opens the reader’s eyes to the damage that war does not only physically, but emotionally as well. 

The story is well written, yet Jeremy seemed to distance himself from his writing as if reluctant to give his entire heart.  This prevents the reader from feeling what he felt during and fully understanding the depth and need of these small children.

Preemptive Love is a must read as a wake-up call to the tragedies of war and the impact it has on the lives it touches.

“We received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for our honest review. The opinions expressed here are our own.” –The Jag Review

 

 

 

 

 

Emotions – Confront the Lies, Conquer with Truth - by Dr. Charles F. Stanley

Genre: Religion/Christian Life/Inspirational

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: October 1^st, 2013

Reviewer: Jean Eastwood

Dr. Charles F. Stanley has been the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA since 1971. If you have cable television you can catch his sermon on Sunday mornings. He has written more than fifty books with sales of more than 9 million copies. In this book he shares his fear of flying with his readers with whom a lot of people can definitely relate.

I found this book to be very informative and an interesting read. Dr. Charles Stanley explains how you can break free from the feelings that have taken you captive and regain the purpose for which God gave you emotions in the first place. The five emotions that wound us are: fear, rejection, bitterness, guilt and despair. Dr. Stanley believes that when you admit how these emotions are destroying you, you can be healed by asking for God’s help. Genuine healing can occur if you believe it is possible and never give up. Make it your goal to improve your life.

 

The book teaches us that most of our negative emotions are ingrained in us as children and take a long time to develop. Therefore, we need to be patient when trying to identify the root causes of our fears and confront them. We need to ask God to help us overcome our fears, anxieties, rejections, and to thank God on a daily basis for his ongoing help from the Holy Spirit.

 

After reading Emotions, I have become inspired to put some of Dr. Stanley’s suggestions to use and try a “work in progress” attitude regarding some of these “wounded” emotions. Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

 

“We received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for our honest review. The opinions expressed here are our own.” –The Jag Review

True Believer by Nicholas Sparks

Genre: Romance/Fiction

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Reviewer: Courtney Van Dyke

JAGS: 7
 

Nicholas Sparks strikes gold yet again with True Believer. This wonderful work of fiction tells the story of a blossoming, unexpected love. Scientific Journalist, Jeremy Marsh, specializes in revealing the truth behind supernatural experiences. Following a story that could surge his career to the next level, Jeremy finds himself hunting down ghosts in Boone Creek, South Carolina.

Doris, a self-proclaimed “diviner” begs Jeremy to discover the real reason for the phenomenon before it ruins the small town she calls home. Lexie, the town librarian, assists Jeremy in finding information to debunk the ghost story. During their short time together Jeremy and Lexie find their relationship, albeit hard to describe, full of passion. Lexie, who loves her small town and doesn’t want to leave it behind, also doesn’t want Jeremy, a born and raised New Yorker, to leave behind the face paced lifestyle he loves. This leaves them trying to decide between everything they have ever known, and everything they want.

The first couple chapters of the book move slow and came close to losing my attention. However by chapter three I couldn’t put it down. This old fashioned love story is full of emotions; it draws the reader further in with every page. The characters and scenery are described in such detail that the reader is able to imagine exactly what the characters are experiencing. I personally enjoyed the way Boone Creek was depicted in this story. The stereotypical small town has all the antics you would expect from a small southern town; from the local diner with the flirty waitress, to the manipulative but good hearted mayor, to the jealousy fueled sheriff’s deputy.

This would be a wonderful read for the last few weeks of summer. True Believer will leave you feeling both excitement and joy for the characters.

Finding Pride by Jill Sanders

Genre: Romance

Pages: Paper

Publisher: CreateSpace

Reviewer: Courtney Van Dyke

JAGS: 3

Megan Kimble is fresh out of a mentally and physically abusive relationship with her ex-husband, Derek.  Add to that losing her brother, the only family she had since becoming an orphan as a young child. Megan travels to Pride, Oregon for her brother’s funeral. 

After much debating she decides to stay in town to find herself. Her new neighbors the Jordan’s befriend her immediately, helping her adjust to life in their small town, and mourning the loss of her brother. Megan finds herself lusting over Todd Jordan, but is not ready, yet, to commit to a relationship.

Todd Jordan is a man who once lost everything. His wife and unborn baby had died a few years ago. He is instantly smitten with Megan, but needs to be patient for her to let her guard down.  After vowing to protect her forever, Todd’s promise is put to the ultimate test.

Finding Pride is a good story with strong characters; the actual writing of the story however is anything but. Personally, I felt like I was reading a rough draft. There were multiple grammar and punctuation mistakes, making it hard to read. The author over used the same describing words, and often switched perspectives without any warning to the reader. I also feel like there are many parts missing from this book, leaving the reader questioning why and how things are happening. The book did not allow me to visualize the setting, or the characters as well as I would have liked, making it difficult to fully get into it. With some simple editing, and proper grammar, this book would have been a much better read. It was after all a great, just poorly wrote, story of personal growth, love, and family.

If this is a book you decide to purchase, I would highly recommend buying it used.


What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Genre: Fiction/Christian Romance

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Reviewer: Jean Eastwood

JAGS: 7

Ms. Christina Willems, following in her late father’s footsteps, is the woman in charge of the “Brambleville Asylum for the Poor” in Brambleville, Kansas. One winter evening a fire breaks out at the asylum and she is forced to find temporary shelter for her only “family.” 

 

Set in the late 1800’s, times were hard, and the folks in the town of Brambleville took everyone in but the 11-year-old blind boy Tommy. Ms. Willems asks Levi Jonnson, the mill-owner in town to please take him for a short while. Levi reluctantly agrees, not really knowing how to care for the blind boy. Levi is a busy man with his mill business to run, so he sets up ropes so Tommy can find his way from the house to the other buildings. Tommy learns to clothe himself and builds confidence in his ability to take care of himself. Tommy is also learning the art of caning.

The mission director decides that now is the time for Ms. Willems to pursue another career. He not only stops the funding for the “poor farm”, but admits two of her “charges” to the Kansas Asylum for The Poor in Topeka, Kansas. Ms. Willems finds out about this and sells her father’s valuable pocket watch for train fare money to go and get the children and bring them back.

The villain here is a young man by the name of Hamilton Dresden who had also stayed at the “Brambleville Asylum for the Poor” under Ms. Willem’s direction. He is responsible for starting the fire and has been threatening Tommy with keeping that secret.

Mr. and Mrs. Dunnigan, a rich couple who adopted the two children from the Kansas Asylum for the Poor in Topeka buy the property of the “poor farm” and rebuild it. Ms. Willems has her job, her self-worth, and her father’s watch back. Levi proposes marriage to Ms. Willems and finds he can’t live alone any longer now that he has loved and cared for people in his life.

What Once was lost was a very pleasant book to read.  It was not too big and not too small. I enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. I recommend purchasing this book. It was a great weekend read.

Founders by James Wesley Rawles

Founders by James Wesley Rawles

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Pocket Books

Reviewer: Virginia Armstrong

JAGS: 3

With America’s financial collapse, the entire infrastructure and the American way of life is fast becoming a distant memory. Founders is a fictional reality that threatens to be real in today’s day and age. No longer can anything be taken for granted, as store shelves lay bare and most businesses are closing their doors.  Forget doctors, forget petroleum, if you can find any luxury, will it cost you. Gasoline is now $25 dollars a gallon.

As the government disappears, a false government run by the U.N. takes over, out for power and control of the people.  No one is safe from there evil ways and deceptive practices as they try to take over one city at a time.

In come the Christian soldiers, scattered across America, ready and willing to fight for the life that they had known. Most have been preparing for this apocalyptic catastrophe for some time, others winging it with the knowledge and skills that they have.  Together, they are able to take down the bad guys with hopes of restoring America to its previous ways.

Founders is you typical Christian apocalyptic thriller, where only the faithful can overcome the obstacles faced in this type of situation.  The book skipped from different characters, locations and timelines that it made it truly difficult to keep the timing straight.  The men portrayed were kindly Christians who suddenly were able to pick up a gun and shoot to kill without batting an eye or an ounce of remorse.  The story lacked credibility due to the fact it never mentions the government nor politicians and the role that they play.  It appears as if they just vanish before the story even starts.  More than anything, the story reads as a how-to on how to prepare for an event of this type.  I would probably pass this one up. 

 

 

The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer

Genre: Fiction

 

Pages: Paper

 

Publisher: Vintage

 

Reviewer: Virginia Armstrong

 

JAGS: 6

 

Life is not what Carrie Bell had imagined.  At twenty-three she had yet to act on her life.  Graduating from college, she still continued to work at the University library where she had participated in the work study-program while in attendance.  Then there was Mike Mayer, her high school sweetheart.  They had been together for eight years.   The mystery was now gone from their relationship.  Everything was so predictable and boring.

Now, she seemed to be at a crossroad, uncertain of what path her life should take.  Should she stay or should she go?  She knew that Mike had become aware that something was wrong.  That perhaps there time together was coming to an end.  Still, they never discussed it.  Instead, Carrie trudged through her days, her thoughts elsewhere, as Mike worriedly hung on.

Before Carrie can decide how to remedy her dilemma, Mike has an accident which leaves him paralyzed.  Her entire circle of family and friends expect her to be there for him, yet she wants nothing more than to bolt out the door. Now, she faces even more difficulties.  If she decides to break it off, everyone will think it’s because of Mike’s injury.  That’s she’s weak-or worse, a coward.   

 

The Dive from Clausen’s Pier makes the reader ponder what they would do in a similar situation, yet the answers can only lie within the complexities of a real situation, with so much more knowledge of each of the characters. I thought the story was compelling, deep-seated with feeling yet a bit drawn-out and boring. The writing was done very well, the characters and places true to life, yet it moved along ever so slowly.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Pages: Paper

Published:  RandomHouse

JAGS: 10

 

Thomas wakes up in complete darkness, in what only can be an old metal elevator ascending up. He has no memories of anything other than his name. When the elevator stops, and the metal ceiling doors open, Thomas finds himself in the Glade-and he is not alone. The Glade has boys of all ages living day to day, and just like Thomas, they don’t remember anything either. Every month, for the last two years, one boy arrives to the Glade with no explanation, and no memories to speak of.

What is more puzzling is, large stone doors open up every morning to the maze, and close every evening like clockwork. The boys of the Glade know one thing for certain; you do not want to be caught in the maze when the door closes at night, because the Grievers will get you.

Everything changes when the following day a girl arrives on the metal lift with a startling revaluation, and Thomas recognizes who she is.

The Maze Runner is a must read. This book is highly entertaining with enough suspense to keep you glued to the pages. A guaranteed start to finish great book that is a must have. Buy new, buy used, but just buy, you will not be disappointed.

 

 



The Racketeer by John Grisham

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Dell

JAGS: 6

Malcolm Bannister, a former attorney, is convicted to spending 10 years in federal prison for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A federal judge and his young mistress are found dead with no evidence or apparent motive, and Malcolm Bannister knows who has done it. The only problem, Bannister is in jail, and the FBI has no leads.

Everything has a price, including the ace up Bannister’s sleeve as he plots with and against the FBI for an early release, and to catch a killer. You see, Malcolm would love to help out the FBI, but as the man who is known as the Racketeer, everything has a price, and sitting behind cell bars makes his information all the more valuable.

This is a typical Grisham novel about the redemption of a wayward lawyer who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, except that The Racketeer isn’t as nearly as predictable as Grisham’s previous Courtroom dramas. The Racketeer is a fast-paced read with more than its share of plot twists. Out of all of Grisham’s novels, this one by far is better than most, and has the potential of Hollywood movie magic. Quick weekend read.


The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr

Genre: Fiction

 

Pages: Paper

 

Publisher: Carroll & Graf

 

JAGS: 7

 

The services of Sherlock Holmes and his trusted friend Dr. John Watson are needed once again by the British Realm to solve a perplexing case of supernatural proportions. Enlisted by Holmes’s brother Mycroft under the Queens direct order, the detectives travel to Scotland after receiving a cryptic message from the elder Holmes. Almost immediately, the pair is thrust into what appears to be the brewing of international espionage as the train ride from London is attacked by spies.

Reaching the royal residence of Holyroodhouse, or as it is more simply known by British subjects as Palace of Holyrood, Holmes and Watson stumble on what could quiet possibly be the strangest case yet. The ghost of Rizzo is said to be haunting the West Tower and all of the Queens staff knows all too well the comings and goings of the specter of Holyrood.

Caleb Carr wows readers once again with his poetic styling of 18^th century England as he resurrects the famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in The Italian Secretary. Caleb Carr does not have the clinical syntax of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Dr. Watson, but executes beautifully the subtle nuisances of the relationship between the detectives. Carr’s interpretation honors the Holmes legacy and would make any Sherlock fan proud to read. A definite must read if you are a Holmes fanatic.