The Judgment Stone by Robert Liparulo

This book picks up almost right where The 13^th Tribe leaves off.  Jagger, an immortal, is working to keep his family safe from The Tribe, a group of immortals that feel they can win God’s favor by killing sinners across the world.  The Tribe wants information that his wife, Beth gave to one of their former member, setting him free of his immortality.  In steps The Clan.  They have no interest in earning God’s favor, and want to inflict as much damage to the world as possible, and they’ve found a tool to target the most fervent believers.  Jagger and Owen may be the only ones able to stop them, but will his family ultimately suffer at the hands of the Tribe because of it?

From my review of The 13^th Tribe, I said that I thought the series would be well served to add some more background details for the characters and we got some of that in this book.  There was some background to Nevaeh and her past, which was brief, but helped.  I thought this book contained more action, where the last one was a lot of buildup to it.  I appreciated the 2 separate story lines and the messages that the book brought out.  This book again deals with faith in the unseen and continual communication with God.  I thought the use of the Judgment Stone was interesting and I thought the inclusion of the spiritual world added to the story.  I think this was a great next step in the series and I eagerly anticipate the next installment.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Asylum: The Circeae Tales by Ashley Hodges Bazer

This is a space adventure story focusing around the capture of Captain Chase Leighton’s wife by the Legacy for her involvement with the Ghosts.  It follows Chase and the Ghost’s attempts to rescue her resulting in Chase’s capture and placement on a ship for those with mental problems.  There he encounters his wife who has undergone brain therapy and doesn’t recognize him.  Ultimately it’s a battle to escape the Legacy and get his wife’s memory back.

The story is an intriguing one, but it could have been much better had there been more background.  There is a lot that the reader has to guess at.  Chase is Logia and a Ghost.  The Ghost portion was explained, but all the reader knows about the Logia is that they have special powers.  It is not explained how they get those powers or what the different powers are.  Also, it is unclear why this group is in opposition to the Legacy.  There is reference to the Crown and the Legacy’s opposition to the Crown, but why?  This would have led to a more fully fleshed out story and would have made it more interesting. 

This book would be good for those who enjoy a good sci-fi story, but don’t need a lot of back-story to go with it.  Hopefully if there are more Circeae Tales, some of the gaps will be filled in.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Crater (A Helium-3 Novel) by Homer Hickam

Crater is about a boy by that name that lives in a colony on the moon. Obviously it is about much more than that. He's an orphan raised by his best friend's mom, who happily works mining on the moon. Conveniently, Crater is just the kind of person the General is looking for to complete a vitally important mission. The mission takes him across the moon, where he comes into his own while meeting interesting characters on his adventures.

The idea for the book was intriguing to me and I think that Mr. Hickam pulled it off. I was interested in the book to the very end. The treasure was a bit of a let down, but the ramifications of it keep the story going. I enjoyed the different characters that Crater meets and thought that they complimented the story well. There were some predictable plot points, but they didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. It will be interesting to see what comes in future books, with the foundation that was laid in this book. I look forward to more installments in the series to see what Crater and his friends will get themselves into next time.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Exploring the Unexplained: A Practical Guide to the Peculiar People, Places, and Things in the Bible by Trent Butler

I wanted to get this book because I had some questions that I was hoping this book would explain as the preview indicated.  “Exploring the Unexplained: A Practical Guide to the Peculiar People, Places, and Things in the Bible answers all your questions about unusual, hard-to-explain, and difficult-to-understand stories in the Bible.”  When I got the book, I was disappointed because it had an A-Z listing of things in the Bible, a brief description and then a Bible verse to go along with it.  I had already read the Bible verses relating to the topic I was interested in, so this was no help.  I think this book is a limited Concordance at best.  It does list a lot of obscure people and places in the Bible and shows you where to find them, but I was hoping for something that dug a little deeper and pulled in research from elsewhere to explain what the Bible says on certain topics.

Although I was disappointed with it for my purposes, I think the book would be good for Bible trivia games as outlined in the intro to the book.  It just wasn’t what it was marketed to be, a book to explain peculiar things in the Bible.  It just gave a brief description and showed you where to find it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

All Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to be a Hero to Your Kids by Mark Merrill

Following some of the pattern of the website’s daily emails, it provides guidance and tips for fathers followed by a “Huddle Up” with questions that you can ask your children.  It focuses on the 7 “M’s” to execute the fundamentals of Love and Leadership.  The chapters go over each of the seven: Makeup, Mind-set, Motive, Method, Model, Message, and Master. 

I think that this book goes over some of the basic ideas of most parenting books.  To be an effective parent, you need to focus on your relationship with God first and then your relationship with your family, and putting those before yourself.  I like the way that each chapter focuses on a different idea.  It seemed to flow well and kept the book moving to the end.  He mixed in his own experiences with the advice of some famous fathers, which most of those fit in well.  I thought the book got better as it went and I enjoyed the last few chapters the most.  One of the most important reminders, I think, is that our children are always watching us, so while what we tell them can be important, being an example worthy of following is more important.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Behemoth by Jonathan C. Leicht

Behemoth is about two groups that are searching for what they believe to be current day dinosaur, battling with groups who don’t believe in their quest and want to keep it under wraps if they are successful.  It follows the two groups through the jungles of Africa, hot on the tail of the secretive creatures.  Many legends are told of the creatures by the natives, but are not taken seriously by the Western world, until these two groups go out hunting.

The book has a good story and some of the action is exciting.  It does go into “lecture mode” at several points in the book, which seemed like forced dialogue.  The problem seemed to be that the characters were never fully fleshed out.  One of the adventurers talks about his mentor who was a staunch evolutionist that changed to become a creationist.  It is not explained how this happened, and that mentor was one of the main explorers in the other group.  I felt like there might be some interesting stories to be told about them, but was left in the dark.  I felt like they told more of a back story about the missionary, which was great, but she wasn’t a main character.  I think I knew the most about her.  I think that the book had a good story line, but could have had more character development and it would have made the story more enjoyable.  I think this book would be good for middle school or high schoolers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Redemption - by Bryan Clay with Joel Kirkpatrick

The decathlon is one of the most demanding events in track and field, and Bryan Clay is the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist.  This book is the story of his journey from a troubled youth in Hawaii, to dominating the Olympic Games in Beijing.  There were a lot of bumps along the way, but with his faith in God and surrounding himself with his family and trusted mentors, he succeeded in attaining gold.

Not knowing much about the decathlon, other than the Dan and Dave commercials, this book was an education in what all goes into the sport, and to professional track and field.  It takes a lot of determination and skill in multiple events.  He showed how by doing his best and putting his faith in God, he can accomplish things that he never thought were possible.  It would be interesting to learn more about his foundation and what he is doing with that, as it was only touched on in the epilogue.  Maybe he’ll write a follow up after London 2012.  It will be interesting to see if he can become the first decathlete to medal in three Olympic Games.  I would recommend this book to anyone, but think it might be best for those that have an interest in track and field.  It does focus a great deal on what he went through during training and events.  I found it interesting, but those that don’t care for track and field may not.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”