BOOK REVIEW - "THE INSPIRATIONAL STUDY BIBLE: LIFE LESSONS FROM THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD (NKJV)" BY MAX LUCADO

"The Inspirational Study Bible" by Max Lucado does a great job of being Inspirational. But as a study Bible? Not as much.

This book has an introduction to each book of the Bible. As you go through it, you will see on the margins a life lesson or two developed from the Scripture covered on the two pages you're looking at. This volume is strong on giving applications to God's Word. 

But what do I expect in a Study Bible? 

• A column containing cross references so you can see how a topic is dealt with through Scripture. This edition does not have cross references.
• Notes that deal with exegesis of the original languages, a look at the culture of the Bible time, and an explanation of difficult passages (though study Bibles and Commentaries all too often skip those tricky passages, because the author doesn't know the answer any more than you do).  This edition has some applications, but not the same kind of study notes.

I would call this a devotional Bible, but definitely not a Study Bible. This doesn't mean it lacks value. But if you want to study Scripture, I'd recommend other Study Bibles like the Scofield Bible, the Geneva Bible, the MacArthur Study Bible, the Ryrie Study Bible, or the International Inductive Study Bible, all of which have cross references and notes.

 

BOOK REVIEW - "GAZING INTO DARKNESS" (QUEEN CITY HEROES, BOOK 1) BY HEIDI GLICK

Why did someone try to burn down EPA CID agent Stacey Sanderson's apartment ... with her in it? Will her partner Chance McPherson ever see her as his equal? Or could there be darkness in his past that is haunting him?

"Gazing Into Darkness," Book 1 of Queen City Heroes by Heidi Glick, is an exciting romantic suspense novel. Chance McPherson is one of my all time favorite fiction characters. Also, while I'm used to the usual suspects of law enforcement, I learned getting to see characters in the EPA CID. 

One honor I had was working as a critique partner of Heidi's while I was a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) from 2011-2014, which is my first introduction to Chance and Stacey. I'm very excited to finally see it in book form.

I highly recommend this book.

 

BOOK REVIEW - "TRANSFORMING CULTURE WITH TRUTH" BY LEN MUNSIL, PRESIDENT OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Question: If individual believers in Jesus, local churches, and Christian institutions dedicated themselves to living out the Gospel unashamed, would it not also impact society?

I'm a graduate of Southwestern College in Phoenix in the early to mid '80's, when the enrollment was between 150 and 200. Southwestern is now Arizona Christian University (aka ACU), and hit an enrollment of 1400 in Fall '24, making it the ninth consecutive year of record enrollment. Let this sink in - this consecutive record streak continued DURING the COVID pandemic. How in earth could you explain this?

If you think the President of the University would be a factor, then you'll be looking at Len Munsil, an attorney who ran for Arizona Governor in 2006, and has been the President of ACU since 2010. The story is told in "Transforming Culture with Truth" (1st edition in 2015; 2nd edition, which I'm reviewing, in 2020). 

In 2012, Munsil brought a set of principles, called ACU's Core Commitments, to the Board of Trustees. This book looks at each of these 9 Commitments in the 8 chapters and Conclusion of this book. His goal is to make ACU the number 1 Christian worldview college in the country.

Nobody should be surprised if those Commitments are illustrated by what's going on at ACU, but there are other anecdotes which would help a church or a Christian organization to implement the same ideas. 

After I graduated in '86 from Southwestern, I moved gradually east till I arrived in Indianapolis in '95, so I have not been following the transition of the school. However, after reading this book and hearing Munsil interviewed on the Natasha Crain podcast, I'm excited to be a Southwestern College/ACU graduate.

BOOK REVIEW - "UNDERCOVER COLORADO CONSPIRACY" BY JODIE BAILEY

Who is bilking money from would-be adoptive parents? Military agents Thalia and Phillip Campbell are posing as a married couple to uncover who's doing the dastardly deed, but has their cover been blown ... on day one? And is the danger from someone they just met, or from one of the agent's past?

Am I the only one who finds the cover of "Undercover Colorado Conspiracy" by Jodie Bailey exciting? The covers for these Love Inspired Suspense novels sometimes focus on the characters (human or animal) posing in front of a picture of the setting, while others - like the above - are a "shot" of the action in the book. In this case, this is showing you what's happening on page one. Ready to strap yourself in for an exciting story?

This is the 16th book I've read by Jodie Bailey, and they are consistently filled with plenty of plot twists and characters that you care about. Add to that a strong Christian story-line for those who aren't bothered by that.

I highly recommend this book.
 

BOOK REVIEW - "ASK. SEEK. KNOCK.: A DEVOTIONAL OF REST AND MOVEMENT" BY JOSH STONE.

 The past several weeks, I've been blessed by reading "Ask. Seek, Knock," a Devotional by Josh Stone. This volume comprises of 48 devotionals and 4 poems, allowing you to either make it a weekly reading for the next year or be like me and spend seven weeks reading it.

I had the honor of meeting him at a music festival, where he performed as a spoken word artist, "Outward Conversations." The emotion he expressed in live performance also is evident in print in this book.

These devotionals vary from being inspirational, encouraging, and challenging. I will definitely be using this devotional again.

BOOK REVIEW - "CASE FILES VOL. 1: MURDER AND MEANING," BY J. WARNER WALLACE & JIMMY WALLACE

 

What connection is there between 25 year veteran detective Michael "Murph" Murphy and the serial killer who bashes his victims' heads in and then brands them? Is there a method to the murderer's madness, or is it better put "a message to his madness?" And since he does it the same day of the week, can Murph and his "A-Team" find out who it is and stop him before he strikes again?

"Case Files Vol. 1: Murder and Meaning" is a graphic novel written by Homicide Detective/Christian apologist/Author J. Warner Wallace and his son Jimmy Wallace (also in law enforcement), with great illustrations by Steve Crespo and Dario Formisani. The plot follows seasoned detective Murph, easy going Pete Leota, hard-working young mother Ashley Perez, and self-proclaimed hot shot Marco Russo as they try to catch a serial killer who keeps calling to talk to Murph. 

This story gives me a realistic view of what police-work is like. For example, Leota asked Murph if they used chalk like on TV in the old days, and the fact that the members of a team may have other cases to work on besides the main one. I'll admit that it wasn't the most joyful and enjoyable novel I've read, but the writers did a great job with the plotting and with the character development. And since this is Volume 1 and having read the ending, I'm sure there will at least be a volume 2. And I'm looking forward to it.

LOVE INSPIRED SUSPENSE BOOK SERIES CRITIQUE - MOUNTAIN COUNTRY K-9 UNIT (2024)

Some of my writing friends have a 5-star policy in reviewing fellow authors - if it's not worthy of a 5-star review, they don't review it. The purpose? To encourage authors and recognize the work it takes to make a publishable book. While I feel as a reviewer that I have at least as much (and probably more) responsibility to be honest enough in the reviewing to warn readers of things that will take away from their enjoyment, I give most novels 5 stars because they have done a good job writing the book, even if it's not one of my favorites. 

But this is not a review of the series, meant to strengthen the interest in a books. This is a critique. So this has spoilers. And I'll point out my opinion even if it is negative. And I'll go ahead and state - my favorite series is the Pacific Northwest K-9 Unit and my least is the Mountain Country K-9 Unit. No, I don't think it's a bad series - I gave all the books a deserved 5 star - but there were several small things that made it less enjoyable.

However, let me start like I usually do, and give you an overview of the three main storylines, though in this case, two are intertwines immediately. The focus is on the Rocky Mountain Killer (aka RMK), who killed three young men of a seven person group a decade earlier, two more just before the story starts, number 6 in the middle of the series, and "saving the best for last." The group (or most of the group) had mistreated and humiliated a young lady ten years ago, so someone is taking revenge. In fact, the Mountain Country K-9 Unit was created specifically for the purpose to bring RMK to justice.

The second theme is the suggestion Ashley Hanson, the  rookie of the K-9 unit, to train a therapy dog for the small town where the killings were centered, and the designee was named "Cowgirl." Well, by the time the first book ends, RMK dognapped Cowgirl and got her a collar with "Killer" on it, showing up on occasion to taunt the good guys. During that 6 month course, Cowgirl gets pregnant and has pups, which RMK puts in a place where the K-9 Unit will find them, so they don't get in his way.

The third continuing storyline involves the tech guru Isla Jimenez, who wants to foster care and adopt this young boy. But someone calls the adoption agency and gives false accusations of Isla being on drugs and putting the adoption on hold. Then, that person locks up Isla's bank account. If that's not enough, Isla's house is set on fire. And is that the end of it?

Here are the books in the series:

1. "Baby Protection Mission" by Laura Scott.
2. "Her Duty Bound Defender" by Sharee Stover.
   
3. "Chasing Justice" by Valerie Hansen.
4. "Crime Scene Secrets" by Maggie K. Black.
5. "Montana Abduction Rescue" by Jodie Bailey.
6. "Trail of Threats" by Jessica Patch.
7. "Tracing a Killer" by Sharon Dunn.
8. "Search and Detect" by Terri Reed.
9. "Christmas K-9 Guardians" by Lenora Worth and Katy Lee.

Allow me to say there are things I applaud the writers of this series for. Of course, each story has thrilling plot twists, great romance, and interesting characters. For example, Jessica Patch repeatedly introduces me to characters I absolutely love, and Rocco and Sadie in "Trail of Threats" are prime examples. Also, most series introduces you to the main stories in book 1, and on rare occasions book 2, but only give reviews and updates until at book 7-8 (maybe as far back as book 6), while the authors focus on their individual stories. Not so here. The RMK is suspected to be involved in several crimes that he isn't. And unless if you count finding the puppies in book 7 a wrap up of that storyline (I don't, because Cowgirl is still in RMK's clutches), none of the story-lines are resolved until finale book 8, where unit chief Chase Ralston has to deal with RMK's plan to kill his final victim, the person troubling tech guru Isla Jimenez, and a person who's trying to kill a mother of a young girl.

For those who love youngsters as well as K-9s in this story, this will be your series. Six of the eight novels and one of the two Christmas novellas have a minor involved (two feature teen-agers, and one is approaching the 9th month of her pregnancy at the story's start).

As mentioned, this is not a bad series, but I do have a list of things that took away from the story in my opinion. They may not be negatives to all readers. So here goes.

• What is the difference between Mountain Country and Rocky Mountain? Both are separate series with no overlaps, but it is the same geography, with one story in New Mexico but mostly staying north. By the way, the two series ends with the respective K-9 units becoming permanent, though via different roads (Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit earned it in spite of sabotage by overcoming the various battles; permanence was not a goal of the Mountain Country K-9 Unit, but they received it by being successful in their main purpose.)
• While this series has three good covers ("Crime Scene Secrets," "Montana Abduction Rescue," "Search and Detect," the infant on the cover of "Baby Protection Mission" doesn't look realistic to me. By the way, neutral rather than negative, Laura Scott starting this series with the threat of kidnapping is not the first series she kicked things off with that plot - she did the same with Pacific Northwest K-9 Unit's "Shielding the Baby", the immediately previous series - nor the last - she's launching the next series, Dakota K-9 Unit, with "Chasing a Kidnapper. How long a streak will this be?
• Some of the individual stories had twists that I didn't care for. I never care for stalker stories, where the victim has to play along to keep alive, as in the climax of "Trail of Threats" (otherwise one of my favorites). Then in "Search and Detect," Chief Chase Ralston three or four times made a good case on why he felt one of the two main suspects was the killer. Surprise, surprise, he guessed wrong. Sorry, but I thought that could have been done better.
• The top reason I was disappointed in Mountain Country K-9 Unit was what I sensed as a greater than normal dose of sadness mixed in with the happy endings. The rookie ended her story on desk duty after shooting the villain (who survived that shooting). One male lead started the story handcuffed being transported to where he'd face trial, and he was temporarily in custody at the end until they officially recognized his innocence. The cousin of another female lead's cousin found out the woman he loved and was going to marry was a serial killer and a thief. And one of the other heroines learned that her brother was the RMK and hade to deal with that. 

I want to close a little more upbeat, though. There were several stories I enjoyed. As mentioned above, Rocco and Sadie were one of my highlights in Jessica Patch's "Trail of Threats," (book 6) and while Rocco wasn't as fun when he appeared in following stories, Jodie Bailey did a good job of showing the promise of Rocco being entertaining in "Montana Abduction Rescue" (book 5). The RMK was also an entertaining villain, a cold-blooded killer who took good care of the dogs he stole.

I hope you noticed with the warnings of spoilers and my disappointment that you read this series, and that you liked it better. As for me, this weekend I'll be starting the third-in-a-row-baby-abduction-Laura-Scott-K9-Series-Kickoff, book one of the Dakota K-9 Unit series. (And hoping sometime they'll have an Arizona series.)