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Raising the Past by Jeremy Robinson

The story begins ten thousand years ago, when a canny cavewoman is visited by strangers from another world. She accepts the object they give her, yet at the end of her life she fails to use it as they instructed. Next thing you know, her frozen remains are unwittingly discovered by a modern-day excavation team in search of the woolly mammoth. Tried and tested archaeologists are rocketed into a fight for their lives and ultimately for the whole planet.

Twists and turns of truly “mammoth” proportions follow. The action rarely eases, and new dangers heap up around every corner. The reader is fleeing along with the team, and learns the truth step by shocking step until finally the entirety of the deception is revealed. Nothing is as it seems to be. What if the idea of angels and demons really did come from opposing alien factions, warring for control of the Earth – one race said to be evil and another claiming to be good?

This is a good exercise in mind-expansion, for sure. It’s mainstream fiction, although you will also find spiritual aspects – chiefly the significance of free will in the value of human society. Vast quantities of blood and gore, fights to the death, and impossible chase scenes with larger-than-life alien species make this a nail-biting thriller from beginning to end – though not necessarily to be recommended for a weak constitution. It reminded me vaguely of Jurassic Park at times, in a different setting and with different monsters.

“Raising the Past” makes a terrific cross-over effort, in two directions at once. It’s ideal to draw an average reader into the science fiction scene, and may also serve as an effective introduction for someone unfamiliar with spiritual genres. It’s this mix that brings you to the unique conclusion, amazingly managing to leave the world unshattered at the end. I view it as a considerable bridge-building contribution and an enrichment to the genre scene.

Jeremy is currently running a viral campaign to make his next release a bestseller. Check out this vid:

It's Fantasy Four time!

Four amazing Christian Fantasy authors are on tour this week! Although I'm far away, I'm watching online as this historic event unfolds. Here's the tour trailer - enjoy!

True Light by Terri Blackstock

After reading the first two books in the Restoration series, I was curious to find out what happens next. Since some of the characters made big mistakes in earlier installments, I wanted to know if they grew beyond that. On the day that “True Light” came up to the top of my “to-read” pile, we actually had a short power cut in our street – making the scenario suddenly very much close to home. What if the power didn’t ever come on again?

The worldwide power outage has gone on for several months now. Doug and his family have motivated their community to work together for everyone’s good. Wells have been dug and yards are full of vegetable gardens. Things look pretty good for a while. Then a young boy is shot and seriously wounded in the woods, and Deni’s longtime sweetheart Mark finds himself the main suspect. A winter drama of mistrust and exhaustion follows, as Mark faces his fears, the crippled judicial system, and his worst enemies.

As the authorities struggle to bring order to a world without electricity, this is a chillingly realistic picture of something that could quite possibly happen. People in all their humanness can turn into monsters of selfishness, given the right circumstances. Although it looks like good is winning out in their neighbourhood, the neighbours turn against Mark as Doug and Kay do their best to turn the tide of unfounded suspicion.

There’s plenty of adventure to keep you turning pages. The practical details of the whole scenario are highly plausible, although at times the characters seem a little flat and stereotyped. Maybe they’re still in shock – I know I would be. The action in the plot is centred on the premise that the lack of technology turns people and society into a dangerous kind of modern Wild West full of renegades and vigilantes.

It’s certainly a fascinating idea – the end of the world that isn’t actually the end of anything except technology. Although it starts out sounding like science fiction, it’s really a futuristic thriller. Life goes on, even when nearly everything is stripped away. People are still around, and that’s what really matters.

You can see more of the action at the Christian Fiction Review Blog's main tour site!

The Restorer by Sharon Hinck - the very best in fantasy

Click here to see The Restorer at Amazon
Click here to visit CSFF Blog Tour Central for more buzz!

This book reached me at a time when I badly needed a break from my own life. Instead of running away, I ran into its pages and met people – and a woman like me – dealing with tougher things than I’ve ever had to face. I huddled on my sofa, glancing out at the thunderstorm beyond my window, and relished this balm for the soul – words to comfort and empower.

Susan, prime-aged mother of four, happily married, has struck a crisis and gotten bogged down in a housewife’s daily slog. Her thoughtful husband provides a possibility for her to take time-out, but before she can catch her breath, a mysterious portal whisks her into a strange and terrifying place – a land where she has a task she knows nothing of.

Randomly memorized Bible verses often provide precise help when she most needs it along her journey of discovery – what it means to be this peculiar land’s prophesied Restorer. This story will keep you panting as you follow its jagged, twisting path, and a constant stream of breathtaking surprises are coiled around every corner.

The characters are rough-edged and realistic, carrying their weaknesses with courage, no matter how severely dysfunctional they are. One object lesson stuck particularly in my mind: as Restorer, Susan is given the ability to heal quickly from any injuries she receives. To prove she really is the Restorer, various locals frequently use their knives on her so they can watch the miracle healing take place within seconds. Thus, the proof of one’s strength is seen in how your wounds heal. Isn’t that true of real life, too?

Susan sees it all with the eyes of a mother, her feelings mirroring what you or I would go through if we were suddenly transformed into another world’s heroines. The impossible odds she faced and conquered tell me that although this is a fantasy, God’s faithfulness and love are no fairytale and remain the same – in any world.

The only other book I can even remotely compare this to is Karen Hancock’s Arena, although it’s actually completely different. They share the theme of an ordinary woman being dumped into a hostile fantasy world, so if you enjoyed Arena, you’ll love Restorer too. It’s a rich feast for the senses, earthy and inspiring. It left me with lots of questions, but of the kind that open a horizon of hope. I ponder: If I trust God to patch me up and make me whole, maybe I can be a Restorer, too. And that’s something our own world can sure use plenty of.

Click here to see The Restorer at Amazon

Other tour participants: Trish Anderson - Brandon Barr - Jim Black- Justin Boyer - Amy Browning - Jackie Castle - Valerie Comer - Karri Compton - Frank Creed - Lisa Cromwell - CSFF Blog Tour - Gene Curtis - D. G. D. Davidson - Chris Deanne - Jeff Draper - April Erwin - Linda Gilmore - Beth Goddard - Marcus Goodyear - Andrea Graham - Russell Griffith - Jill Hart - Katie Hart - Sherrie Hibbs - Holly - Heather R. Hunt - Becca Johnson - Jason Joyner - Kait - Karen - Dawn King - Tina Kulesa - Lost Genre Guild - Rachel Marks - Rebecca LuElla Miller - Eve Nielsen - John W. Otte - John Ottinger - Robin Parrish - Rachelle - Cheryl Russell -Hanna Sandvig - Chawna Schroeder - Mirtika Schultz - Steve Trower - Speculative Faith - Jason Waguespac - Daniel I. Weaver

FabChat Presents David Brollier

This is a live chat transcript. Karina and Grace have done some editing to make it more readable...

Welcome to FabChat, where you can meet authors live and on-line. I'm Karina Fabian, your host. This is a moderated chat.

David Brollier is a retired corrections officer, a minister at Soar Like an Eagle Ministries, and a long-time writer. He’s been writing since the 70’s—poetry, editorials, songs and articles. He has an SF trilogy that he says “is not ready” and is working on a second mystery, but right now, his published work is The 3rd Covenant.

In the meantime, please welcome David Brollier, hereafter known as "sonburst".

karinafabian:
David, tell us about your current Work In Progress.

sonburst:
Deliverance? It's coming along fantastic. Not a murder, but I deal with the rape and abduction of a teenager.

Joyce_A:
I remember my grandmother's bookshelves being full of Pollyannaish type Christian books where nobody did anything different or "bad"

sonburst:
Not a chance of "Pollyannaish" stuff here ;-)

Joyce_A:
I was wondering if you think the deeper subject matter in Christian fiction is more appealing to mainstream readers?

sonburst:
I think that most important thing is getting the Gospel out. There are so many kinds of readers, but most of them are readers of fiction. Those readers don't want to skirt issues. They want the cold hard facts, well, wrapped around a really good story. I did that in 3rd Covenant.

Joyce_A:
so you think it helps

sonburst:
I think telling the story helps, yes. Keep it as real as possible. And for goodness sakes, let Jesus give you some help, k?

Joyce_A:
Ty :-)

sonburst:
The best Christian fiction I've read is sharp, cutting, but provides a balm to those who want to accept it rather than force it upon the reader.

Joyce_A:
I like that idea :-)

sonburst:
Thank God, He just gave me the words.

karinafabian:
Tell us about this award you're up for.

sonburst:
Deadly Ink has nominated me for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2006.

sent sound: applause

sonburst:
David Sasher was a member of Deadly Ink who had volunteered much of his time getting them off the ground. "The David" is in honor of him.

Joyce_A:
:-0

Joyce_A:
Congratulations!!

sonburst:
Thank you.

karinafabian:
What is Deadly Ink? Is there a website?

sonburst: Deadly Ink can be found at http://www.deadlyink.com It's a secular group devoted to writing mysteries.

sonburst:
Thank you. I was wondering if CFRB might come up with a similar award in the future.

karinafabian:
that would be cool--best of the 12 toured that year? or let folks nominate books?

sonburst:
Best of the Twelve? I like that, Karina.

karinafabian:
anyways, talk about that later. Cyn's been typing--did you have a question?

cynmacmor:
Mysteries are reportedly the most difficult type of fiction to write effectively. I thought you did a superb job of keeping the elements of mystery alive until the very end. How did you manage to do this? a special technique? outline?

sonburst:
I didn't work with an outline Cyn. I had an idea, a few characters, then I let the story unfold all by itself. It's amazing how much the characters know that can help the author with the story. Btw I was told I broke about every rule of telling a mystery story, but made it work ;-)

cynmacmor:
Well I didn't notice and I am an avid mystery reader. I just know that I was kept in suspense!

sonburst:
I didn't go in to break any rules. I just wanted to tell a story. I knew my characters (and got to know them much better) that helped greatly. I had an event to start off with. I had an idea for the bad guy. Then the end surprised me too.

Joyce_A:
Did any character end up totally surprising you--if so, how?

sonburst:
Yes, Hattie surprised me. She very much surprised me. Even I didn't know how great her love for her son had caused her to rebel.

cynmacmor:
The "whodunnit" reminded me of a Agatha Christie, you think, hmm it could be this person, no this one, no probably this one -- but one is never sure until you read it! Hattie totally took me by surprise also! Well done!

sonburst:
That was one of the challenges. In the beginning or very near, the reader is told that the Bishop was the "bad guy"...and he is, but I didn’t' want to leave it like that. I wanted to show how the poison of his hatred had infected others. That pulled in the Bishop's sister.
sonburst: I didn't know whodunit until 2 weeks before ending my rough draft. That's how loose I write.

cynmacmor:
He is a bad guy, no doubt, but there was so much we didn't know about him . . . what made him tick, why he was the way he was . . . I like how you doled that info out s l o w l y --kept me wanting to read on!

Joyce_A:
sounds like me :-)

sonburst:
The Bishop is special. He's like that part of us that no one wants to admit exists. The "us" that wants to kill the guy who cut us off...but I came to know more about him as I wrote. I knew he was a convict, so what kind of convict was he? That's where creating him came in.

karinafabian:
who was hardest to write?

sonburst:
That's a hard one. Probably Mr. Sung. Although I know lots about him, his style of speaking had to be different.

karinafabian:
which character is your favorite and why?

sonburst:
Nat's my favorite. He's who I'd like to be.

cynmacmor:
Did you learn anything from looking back on The 3rd Cov that you will apply to your next novel?

sonburst:
Yeah. Re-write more, get it critiqued by different people and Listen to what they say. Gosh, I was reading part today and I can't believe how poorly some of it is written.

karinafabian:
I think a lot of us have that reaction with our first novels

sonburst:
:-)

karinafabian:
what do you love about 3rd Cov? what do you re-read and think "Oh, yes!"

sonburst:
The story about God's love conquers all. Justice is served, but not without the context of love. We see that in Susan's tears. I also like the tit-for-tat conversations between Nat and May.

karinafabian: lol
karinafabian: I got an off-the-wall character question: If May hates her name so much, why not insist on being called by her middle name? I know why you didn't do it, but why doesn't she?

sonburst:
Oh, May? I think somewhere in the back of her mind she realizes that the odd name is making her strong, and she needs to be strong. May's rape, something only the readers and May know at this point, force her to take a harder road than most people would take.

karinafabian:
what’s one thing you'd like folks to know about your work that no one has asked you before?

sonburst:
I want them to see the love between husband and wife. Most focus on the rest of the book, but I wanted romance. What better romance could there be than a loving husband and loving wife in a Christian marriage?

karinafabian:
you've been married 33 years, right?

sonburst:
34 come July 7, a month from today.

karinafabian:
plenty of material to draw upon--are there similarities between you and Barbara Ann and Nat and Susan?

sonburst:
Some. That deep, soulful kiss, we've kissed like that many times. It's not just the lips folks, it's the blending of 2 hearts.

cynmacmor:
Ah, that is so sweet!

sonburst:
There's also this, Susan is Nat's "backup". When he's afraid he can lean on her. Barb is just like that for me.

sonburst:
There's also this, Susan is Nat's "backup". When he's afraid he can lean on her. Barb is just like that for me.

cynmacmor:
"sweet" sounds trite . . . I didn't mean it that way! Sorry

karinafabian:
nuthin’ trite in 33 years of soulful kisses--we knew what you meant, Cyn

sonburst:
Hey, we're just 2 "kid's in love. Oh, Cyn, I didn't take it as being trite. I took it for the wonderful comment it was meant to be.

cynmacmor:
phew!

sonburst:
Hey, if I can't be "sweet" on my wife, something's wrong. :-)

Adrienne_Ray:
I think there is something special about Christian love. there is a special trust there I think

sonburst:
There is. Love and trust are never far apart. Lose trust and loss of love isn't far behind. If you truly love, however, you'll extend grace so trust can be restored.

karinafabian:
how've promotions been going? what's been most effective so far?
sonburst:
Okay. I mean I'm not a self-promoter, but ... most effective has been one on one. My dad took me to a men's breakfast and I ended up selling there.

karinafabian:
the walking book tour. Did one last week...

sonburst:
CFRB was supposed to be my big "marketing tool. Then I fell back into letting God have control. When you think of it I have people who don't really know me reading my book now in almost every state, not to mention Grace reading it overseas.

cynmacmor:
that's a really cool thing! The power of the internet

sonburst:
I'd like to take a moment and that you guys for helping me. CFRB could have been a bust, but LGG (by God's direction) breathed life into it. Also, LGG has shown me how to tighten my writing, make things even more suspenseful. There's even a little spec-fic in my WIP ;-)

karinafabian:
cool. Before the chat, Joyce and I were talking about how much our lives as writers have changed this past year. Have you seen a lot of changes, and if so in what way?

sonburst:
Oh, wow. Where do I begin? In many ways I've grown as a Christian, not just a writer. The needs of CFRB members have become important to me. I've been working on getting my POV settled in. I don't want to lose any readers. It was the contributors to Light at the Edge of Darkness that really showed me how to write right. I was able to use some of that stark, edgy stuff in my writing.

cynmacmor:
What a wonderful compliment, David: I'll be sure to pass it along!

Adrienne_Ray:
I was wondering if the book caused you to discover anything about yourself?

sonburst:
The book helped me discover that I'm not as mealy-mousy as I thought I was ;-) I actually have the heart of a hero. I have the heart of Jesus. What greater hero could there be. And then it showed me how much I still needed to learn. Like when to shut up and listen ;-)

karinafabian:
wow--that's a lot. 3rd Covenant will always have a special place in your heart, won't it?

sonburst:
Oh yeah. I've been asked if I was going to correct it for my reprint when the rights came back to me. The answer is "no". I need to see and be reminded of just where I came from. I need to be reminded that without Jesus, this book wouldn't even exist, much less new ones coming out. And for those interested, outside of not knowing a whole lot about kung fu, being more writer than fighter, Nat is me. You get inside his head, and you've pretty much gotten inside mine.

Blog Tour: The 3rd Covenant by David Brollier

(This is a re-post of Caprice Hokstad's review at Shoutlife. Thanks, Caprice!)

Before I get to the book, I must talk about ignorance. Not the author's. Mine. This ignorance has a very important bearing on the story, so perhaps my enlightenment will save you the confusion I suffered.

See the book cover? See how the word "covenant" has a knife forming the letter 't'? If you were to ask me before I read this book what kind of knife it was, I would probably have said, "a hunting knife". You see, I am female and really detest weapons. My dad was a cop and though he kept guns in the house, I always felt it was a necessary evil for his job. I was not the least bit tempted to touch them or to learn how to shoot them. I affirm the constitutional right for citizens to bear arms, but I personally would rather never see any weapons. At all. Ever. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. No thanks, I pass.

However, I do watch movies on occasion, and I saw a very similar knife (to the one on the book cover) in the movie "Crocodile Dundee". You might remember the scene. In the New York subway, some gang-type pulls a switchblade on Dundee and his New Yorker host/girlfriend. The girl is appropriately scared and says, "Give him whatever he wants. He's got a knife." Then Dundee laughs and says, "That's not a knife. This..." and here he displays his massive hunting knife which he has used to slay crocodiles, "is a knife." Would-be mugger turns tail and runs. Audience laughs.

Okay, so what's the problem? Well, at the very beginning of this book, we have a murder of a priest and the murder weapon is left in the victim. The weapon? A bayonet. All right. I know what a bayonet is. I have read history books. Bayonets were invented in the French town Bayonne. They were long spikes added to the ends of muskets because early firearms required so much time to load that the enemy could overrun you while you were loading your next shot. Bayonets were weapons of last resort, for use in hand-to-hand combat when you couldn't shoot.

I even knew what bayonets looked like. Illustrations from the American Revolution are positively brimming with these because the point is to show how mismatched the Patriots were to the much-better armed Redcoats. So this is what I picture when I read the word "bayonet":

But fairly early in The 3rd Covenant, they start talking about the handle of the bayonet having fingerprints. Wait a minute. Handle? I'm thinking they must mean a rifle of some type, but that doesn't seem to fit. Furthermore, the blade is stuck and the rib bones won't let go until it is twisted. But aren't bayonets more or less like an ice pick? How could one lodge between two ribs in such a way that twisting would make it release?

Well, to make a long story only slightly shorter, I finally had to look up the word. Evidently, English has expanded bayonet to mean just about every kind of military blade ranging from what I would call a "saber" to what I would call a "hunting knife". No firearm required. Great. Why didn't I get the memo? That t-substitute on the book cover is actually called a bayonet. It isn't the author's nor the cover artist's fault that I didn't know what that knife was called. But you, dear reader, may now be spared the embarrassment of suffering the same ignorance, because I have educated you. Forget history. Forget French towns and American Revolutions. In this book, a bayonet is a honkin' big knife with a wide, thick blade and a handle. Now that I have labelled the cover illustration so you don't have to consult "Knife Names for Dummies", we can get on with the review.

First of all, The 3rd Covenant by David Brollier is not a typical mystery. We know whodunit from the very beginning. The main characters know whodunit very, very early in the story too. And despite there being a CSI character in the book and the setting being New York City and environs, this is not a CSI: New York type of story either. If I had to relate this to something known, I would say this was like Columbo's Memoirs.

Remember the trenchcoat-clad Peter Falk from the old ABC Mystery of the Week series? Lt. Columbo almost always knew who committed the crime right from the start, but knowing and proving are two different things. Unlike Columbo, who spent every episode asking suspects the hard questions, investigating, and then going back to ask more, The 3rd Covenant's CSI and cop team have the disadvantage of not being able to find all the people they would like to question. So it's not a "whodunit" or even a "howdunit", but more of a "where-are-these-dastardly-culprits" and "how-can-we-prove-they-did-it-so-we-can-put-them-away" kind of mystery.

I say it reads like a memoir because The 3rd Covenant is written in first person, told from the point of view of the cop character, Nathan Adams. But the narrator is omniscient and tells us details Det. Adams couldn't possibly know. It is as if Adams asked his buddies over the years, and then guessed the thoughts, motivations, and actions of the criminals to put together this story at some point after the fact. This wouldn't be my choice for point-of-view, but who am I to talk when I myself decline to use commercial fiction's darling, i.e. Deep Limited POV. Non-authors probably wouldn't notice. Deadly Ink sure didn't care. They nominated The 3rd Covenant for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for the Best Mystery Novel of 2006.

So what is the story about? A cult leader who calls himself "the bishop" is using his "congregation" of ex-cons and miscreants to commit serial killings with big honkin' knives (aka bayonets). During the investigation, Nathan's wife gets kidnapped and the cop's kung fu buddies volunteer to find and rescue her. Having a member of a cop's family stalked and kidnapped sure pushed all my "worst nightmare" buttons. Being a cop's daughter, I lived a good portion of my life in fear of that very scenario. I don't want to ruin the book's ending, so I won't tell any more of the plot. Suffice it to say, there are plenty of surprises, all the way to the end.

	Read a professional review from the Times Herald-Record. View the book trailer. Buy The 3rd Covenant at: Publish America Amazon Barnes & Noble Books A Million Direct from the author

See more reviews on the Christian Fiction Review Blog tour, running June 3-9.
Visit David Brollier's ShoutLife profile and his website.