Book Review: Intended for Harm by CS Lakin

"The highway to holiness is a toll road."  —CS Lakin

Book:  Intended for Harm
Author:  CS Lakin
Pages:  441
Format:  Kindle/ebook
Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Book Source:  Author
Category:  Contemporary fiction
Style:  Strong religious themes, tragic elements, includes scenes with drug and alcohol abuse, and some graphic violence

Synopsis from GoodReads:

1971: Jake Abrams is desperate to leave his oppressive home in Colorado and begina new life in college in LA, but his dreams are waylaid when he meets Leah, an antiwar protester who pushes him into marriage and family. Through four decades Jake struggles to raise a family, facing tragedy and heartbreak, searching for meaning and faith and challenging a silent God as he wanders through his life.

     . . . . Intended for Harm explores the depth of a heart that doubts, and how it finds its way home to a God who has never been absent. It delves into the theme of harm—how those suffering loss and unmet needs intend harm toward others, but can find redemption through grace and humility. . . . read more

My Take:

I curled up in bed last night, propped in pillows, reading the last chapters of this book while Dallas laid next to me watching a video, more asleep then awake.  All of the sudden, he peered at me and said, "Are you alright?  Is everything okay?"  I sniffled and blinked back my tears, feeling somewhat foolish and assured him I was.  I do get rather misty experiencing a story from time to time, but rarely to the point that my husband actually notices.

Intended for Harm is that kind of book.  You can read the prologue here.

     Pain precedes the healing.  This truth has taken a lifetime to learn.
     The Great Physician cannot heal until the incision is made and what is putrid and pustulant collides with air and water until thoroughly cleansed.  There is a wash of relief that follows such ablution, and the soul thus rid of a lifetime's burden of contamination becomes keenly aware of a glorious sense of freedom.
—CS Lakin, Intended for Harm

Like her book Conundrum, Intended for Harm is not an easy read.  It requires thought.  It requires pondering at times.  It demands an emotional investment and delivers stellar returns.  It took me about a week to read because, quite frankly, its intensity requires a rest of sensibilities and some of it can only be taken bits at a time.  But, as I said, the pay-off is more than worth the effort.

Book Review: The Great Promise by Rick Coxen

Book: The Great Promise
Author: Frederick L. Coxen and Frederick G. Coxen
Pages: 154
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Create Space
Release Date: August, 2012 (approximately)
Book Source: Provided by author in manuscript form
Category: History, Memoirs
Style: Powerful commentary, disturbing violence

Royal Field Artillery testing new phones 1909
Source:  Rick Coxen http://bit.ly/MDLT9o

Synopsis from GoodReads:

Frederick L. Coxen’s debut is a fascinating, visceral journey into the hell of war, the hearts of the men engaging in battle, and the search for closure for those left in its wake. Nearly one hundred years after the BEF’s initial engagement, Captain Coxen’s grandson was given his grandfather’s journal—and a letter he wrote in 1945 detailing the promise that was made but never kept. With these two items in hand, his grandson begins a quest: to find the families of the fallen men and make good on the promise left so long unfinished. Interspersing sections of the grandfather’s journal with key historical background the author transcends the reader beyond the historical depiction of the War, transporting them into the trenches through the experiences of one man who survived while millions of men perished. The Author goes on to describe the grandson's journey as he attempts to track down the families of the deceased in order to close the circle so long left open. The book delivers a surprise conclusion fitting for such a remarkable journey. . . . more

Background:

Have I mentioned I'm a history buff?  When Rick Coxen posted the comment "Isn't anyone interested in World War I history?" on a Book Blog forum, I had to respond.  How could I ignore such a plea?  I cannot say how glad I did.

Rick asked me to read his soon-to-be-published book about his grandfather's experience nearly one hundred years ago as an artilleryman and an officer in the Royal Artillery of the United Kingdom.

Rick based his book on a journal Frederick G. Coxen kept and which eventually made its way into Rick's hands.  When he discovered his grandfather had made a pact with three other soldiers to contact their families if they should never return, and when he read his grandfather express his anguish that he had never done so (all three died in the war), Rick knew that he not only had a mission to accomplish, but a story to tell.  Thus, "The Great Promise" was conceived.

In the course of Rick's research and the writing of this book, he was featured on "The Story", a radio feature often aired on National Public Radio and American Public Media.  This podcast is available here and deeply moving.

The Book:

I opened this manuscript expecting a novel constructed around the framework of Captain (then artilleryman) Coxen.  However, I found the actual journal entries, and they are more powerful than any novelist could fictionalize.

In addition to the transcription of his grandfather's journals, Rick Coxen provides us with commentary about the battles, the war, some of the weapons Captain Coxen refers to, and his own experiences researching both the war and his grandfather's mates.  Because of this, and the fact that he had to clarify or guess at some of the entries, he originally thought to present it as historical fiction.  However, this is truly a memoir and a powerful one, not only of his grandfather's experiences but his own in uncovering a lost and forgotten past.

     I gently lifted the journal from the box and held it in my hands.  For a brief time I just started at it, reveling in the moment.  I'll never forget the emotional sequence that followed.  At first I was overcome by an exhilaration comparable to one might expect when uncovering a treasure chest or embarking upon an  adventurous journey.  This elation became intermingled with awe for the piece of history I was holding.  However, these sentiments were soon overshadowed by the riveting realization that I was holding my GRANDFATHER'S journal; a journal written astutely in his own fluent, cursive hand, almost one-hundred years ago. . . . By unraveling the poignantly historical thread of my grandfather's war years through the examination of his personal relics, I was able to sculpt together a more complete replica of the remarkabley complex man he was.     I could not have anticipated that further excavation into the box contents would have such a dramatic effect on the next few years of my life.

Book Review: Conundrum by CS Lakin

Book: Conundrum
Author: CS Lakin
Pages: 283
Format: Kindle/ebook
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Book Source: Provided by Author
Category: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery
Style: Intense, intelligent and compelling mystery

Synopsis from Amazon:

     A happily married man with three small children decides one day he no longer wants to live. He gives himself leukemia and nine months later is dead.
     This is the conundrum Lisa Sitteroff is determined to solve regarding her dead father—the tale her mother, Ruth, told Lisa and her two brothers, Rafferty and Neal, throughout their childhood. But Lisa, now thirty and watching Raff suffer from the ravages of bipolar illness, believes if she can solve this puzzle, she might somehow save her brother. For Raff’s pain is intrinsically tied up with feelings of parental abandonment. . . .
     Conundrum explores the rocky landscape of betrayal and truth, asking whether a search for truth is worth the price, and showing how separating from toxic family members might sometimes be the only recourse for survival. Lisa pays a high price for truth, but in the end finds it worthwhile.  read more . . . 

My Take:

I first read Ms. Lakin's writing in a guest blog post on the subject of Christian Fiction:  Is It Effective?  I wandered over to her author page, and finally to Live, Write, Thrive, her blog for writers and editors.  By then, I was hooked and simply had to get my hands on her work.  In addition to her bang-up writing advice, her proposition that "Christian fiction" can and should reflect a wide world view and reach a broad range of audiences resonated with me.  To quote:

I feel a pressing calling from God to reach out to the lost in the world, to those who have no hope and do not know a plan of salvation has been executed on their behalf and is being offered to them. I look at my writing as 100% ministry, and my efforts and prayers are all directed toward those ends. I take the views of authors like Flannery O’Conner and Madeline L’Engle who felt strongly that their writing should honestly and even painfully reflect the true state of the human condition, of sin, and all its ugliness without censoring. from Nikole Hahn's Journal, Christian Fiction: Is It Effective

Ms. Lakin does exactly that with Conundrum, a story about the dysfunctional Sitterhoff family with an unhappy past:  Lisa, the daughter and care-taker, all things to all people; Jeremy, her long-suffering husband; Rafferty, the eldest son with way too much baggage and debilitating, life-threatening bipolar disorder; Neal, the irresponsible baby of the family; and Ruth, the matriarch incapable of tenderness who uses wealth and a finely honed talent for inflicting guilt to manipulate her grown children.

Book Review: Trail of Storms by Marsha Ward

Book: Trail of Storms
Author: Marsha Ward
Pages: 264
Format: Paperback/Kindle
Publisher: iUniverse (March 2009)
Book Source: Provided by Author
Category: Western
Style: Compelling, some violence, rare profanity

Synopsis from GoodReads:

After her sister suffers a brutal attack, Jessie Bingham and her family flee post-Civil War Virginia and endure a perilous trek to New Mexico Territory. When she hears her former sweetheart, James Owen, has taken a wife, Jessie accepts Ned Heizer's marriage proposal on the condition they wait until journey's end to wed. But then Jessie encounters James again . . . read more . . .

Spoiler Disclaimer: Unlike Ride to Raton in relation to The Man From Shenandoah, it is very difficult to review Trail of Storms without risking the revelation of key plot developments of Road to Raton. I shall do my utmost, but I can't guarantee anything. If you have not read Road to Raton, be forewarned.

My Take:

Trail of Storms is Book 3 of The Owen Family Saga.  Six years elapsed between the publishing of volumes 2 and 3, but Ms. Ward picks right up from where she left off in the powerful ending of Ride to Raton.  However, she leaves the James Owen, et al, in Colorado territory and whisks us back to the Shenandoah Valley  where the left-behind Bingham family is suffering their own misfortunes.  The Yankee occupiers continue to oppress the little town of Mount Jackson, rapscallions and scallywags carry on an unchecked reign of terror.

Book Review: Ride to Raton by Marsha Ward

Book:  Ride to Raton
Author: Marsha Ward
Pages: 222
Format: Paperback, Kindle/ebook
Publisher: iUniverse (November 2003)
Book Source: Provided by Author
Category: Historical Fiction, Western
Style: Character-driven, action, some violence

Synopsis from GoodReads:

After losing the heart of his fiancee to his brother, James Owen leaves home to make a new life for himself. The turbulent world of post-Civil War Colorado Territory is fraught with danger and prejudice that increase his bitter loneliness as personal setbacks threaten to break him. Then James's journey brings him into contact with another wayfarer, beautiful young Amparo Garces, who has come from Santa Fe to Colorado to marry a stranger. read more . . . 

My Take:

The second installment of The Owen Family Saga, Ride to Raton picks up where The Man From Shenandoah left off. It follows jilted James Owen as he storms away from the wedding of his brother and Ellen, the women to whom he had been betrothed, albeit an arrangement between parents. Not quite out of his teens, hostile and belligerent James shakes the dust from his feet as he leaves his family behind him.

His professed intent the gold fields north of Denver, James narrowly escapes not only death and marriage in Pueblo, scarcely a day's ride from his home. He then heads south in search of work and is again waylaid by a corpse and a promise. He finds one put upon young Latina patiently awaiting the opportunity to sacrifice herself to an arranged marriage, standing in the way of fulfillment of that vow.

Book Review: The Man from Shenandoah by Marsha Ward

Book: The Man From Shenandoah
Author: Marsha Ward
Pages: 246
Format: Paperback, Kindle/ebook
Publisher: iUniverse (January 2003)
Book Source: Provided by Author
Category: Historical Fiction, Western
Style: Character-driven

Synopsis from Amazon:

Carl Owen returns from the Civil War to find the family farm destroyed, his favorite brother dead, food scarce, and his father determined to leave the Shenandoah Valley to build a cattle empire in Colorado Territory. Crossing the continent, Carl falls in love with his brother's fianceé while set to wed another girl, but he might lose everything if the murderous outlaw Berto Acosta has his way. Carl battles a band of outlaws, a prairie fire, blizzards, a trackless waterless desert, and his own brother—all for the hand of feisty Ellen Bates.

My Take:

The Owen family is large, with five living sons and two daughters, having put two sons in the ground during the Civil War. With the final return of the four soldiers of the family (Rulon, Carl, James, and father Rod), the family decides to leave their farm in the Shenandoah Valley, destroyed by the Union Army, and set off to Colorado territory to raise beef cattle.

Rod sets about gathering up families (including Rulon and his wife) to make up a wagon train, two of whom conveniently have daughters for Carl and James. Without letting on to the boys, he arranges for the marriages to take place the evening before they hit the trail. However, his plans are foiled when the preacher is called away to a dying woman's side. The two couple are forced to make the journey unhitched. Conflicts ensue.

Book Review: Bridge of Deaths by M. C. V. Egan

Book: Bridge of Deaths

Author:  M. C. V. Egan

Pages:   374

Format:  Kindle/ebook

Publisher:  Author House (June 2011)

Book Source:   Provided by Author

Category:   Historical Fiction

Style:   Character-driven

The date: August 15, 1939. The place:   Storstrombroen in Denmark. The people: a pilot, a copilot, two oil-company executives, a German corporate lawyer and a British member of Parliament.  A fiery crash, suspicious circumstances, conflicting reports, five deaths, and one survivor.  A world on the brink of war.  All true facts, all meticulously documented.

Add in Zionists, Palestinians, an arms race, the military industrial complex on three continents, psychics, nightmares, hypnotists, past life regression, a Peruvian shaman and espionage.  Garnish with a famous bridge and landmark notorious for Nazis gun placements, a watery grave for scores of Allied aircraft and a popular suicide destination.  Stir well and you have a really great action/suspense thriller.  All the elements are there.

Tom Clancy would have spun a tale of spy vs. spy, arms dealers, intercontinental assassins and Nazi infiltrators.  John Grisham could have produced a novel rife with Big Oil, political intrigue, corporate posturing, dirty dealings, and sabotage.  Dan Brown would have lead the reader down a maze of cold, hard facts and totalitarianism vs. deep conviction and heroic sacrifice, all against a backdrop of spiritual intensity and intricate relationships with consequences on a global scale spanning more than seven decades.

Cut-away of the
Lockhead Electra

Unfortunately, Ms. Egan doesn't do any of these things.  Lost and floundering in a sea of conflicting loyalties (conventional scholarly research vs. journeys of faith), she cannot decide which approach to take, dabbles with each and ultimately accomplishes none.

In an attempt to better understand her grandfather and explain the reasons for his death, she poured her heart and soul into this book.  She sacrificed decades of her life and a significant amount of money to the effort.  She retraced her grandfather's footsteps and researched as carefully as any historian working on their doctorate dissertation.  However, her personal journey into the spiritual or supernatural arena left her doubting her own veracity (or at least growing fretful of what "true" historians would make of her work) and decided to make her research into fiction.

Book Review: Deconstructing Infatuation by Mercé Cardus

Book: Deconstructing Infatuation
Author:  Mercé Cardus

Pages:   148

Format:  Paperback, Kindle/ebook
Publisher:  CreateSpace (June 1, 2012)
Book Source:   Provided by Author

Category:   Contemporary Romance

Style:   Character-driven, some sexual situations, occasional profanity

Synopsis from GoodReads:

Sometimes, whether you're single or with a significant one, somebody appears in your life unexpectedly. We feel the need to know who this person is, the need to know exactly who this person is.

A story may offer different interpretations, even with several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings. As in Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta's story in Dante's Divine Comedy, this story is not about unfaithfulness either. This story is about infatuation: what burns inside of oneself when we let ourselves fall madly for someone.

My Take:

Central to the plot of Deconstructing Infatuation are Helen Hayes, a late thirty-something literary agent living in Manhattan, and Tiziano Conti, a handsome Florentine in town to run the New York Marathon (one would assume, referred as it is as the marathon). Helen has a significant other who lives in his own apartment across town when he is in town which is not often as he is traveling 360 days of the year.

Her roommate, Marlene, comes and goes, it would seem, although the reasons for her itinerancy are never explained. It's enough to the author and presumably to the reader that Marlene will be out of town for a month and wants to sublet her bedroom, which she has done in the past with less than satisfactory results. However, this negative experience does not deter the roommates, and the story opens on the pair holding an open house in an attempt to find the right temporary tenant.

Book Review: Once Upon A Tour by D. Ogden Huff

Book:  Once Upon A Tour

Author:  D. Ogden Huff

Pages:  300-ish

Format: Kindle/ebook

Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Book Source:  Provided by Author

Category:  Contemporary Romance (LDS)

Style:  Character-driven, fanciful

Synopsis from GoodReads:

Creepy castles, exotic sights, and flirty foreign men—it’s no wonder ALINA, a starry-eyed American Mormon girl, is in love for the third time in three weeks. When a guided tour of Eastern Europe repeatedly tests her moral strength, she must decide whether her love is real or only imagined.

Alina knows that she sees the world through fairy tale-colored glasses—after all, she writes sappy romances and collects old fairy tales. But why stifle her overactive imagination when there’s romance all around her? With every new castle, Alina envisions herself in historical romances where she’s chased by delicious vampires, roguish robbers, and conspiring counts—right into the arms of loyal captains, fearless farmers, and regal princes. But in her short stories, as well as her real life, her romances don’t end well. . . . read more

My Take:

To be totally honest, I am always a touch leery of "Mormon" literature.  Don't get me wrong: I like to read books about characters who try to hold to the same standards as my own.  I enjoy reading about their struggles to live in but not of the world.  I especially appreciate getting through an entire book without being blindsided by gratuitous sexual content or foul language or graphic violence or any combination of the three.  I believe it's possible to tell interesting stories without having to resort to the salacious, and I appreciate it when the authors I read prove it.

Book Review: Supreme Chancellor of Stupidity by D. Ogden Huff

Book:  Supreme Chancellor of Stupidity

Author:  D. Ogden Huff

Pages:  287

Format: Kindle/ebook

Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Book Source:  Provided by Author

Category:  Young Adult Speculative Fiction

Style:  Character-driven but light

I had fun reading Ms. Huff's second installment of her Beau & Bryce Blair trilogy.  Like Master of Emotion which I reviewed here, this story is told in first person.  However, Supreme Chancellor of Stupidity speaks with the voice of Beau's twin brother, Bryce, a smart Alec, charmer, and terminal flirt.  

Nicely juxtaposed against Beau's brooding isolation and channeling of emotions without thoughts, Bryce, a semi‒ Big Man On Campus, reads  thoughts without the emotions.  He uses his talent to anticipate football plays and connect with the ladies.  Think What Women Want (Paramount 2000) with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.  Unfortunately, like all rakes with true hearts of gold, Bryce falls and falls hard for the one girl who refuses to give him the time of day because he's that kind of scoundrel. What's a guy to do?  Enlist the help of a dating coach, of course, and instigate a faux relationship to practice his new resolutions.