REVIEW: Flashback: A Thriller by Kevin Mark Smith

Back Cover:

He’s on the verge of making his dreams come true… Then a dream, a dead client, and a mysterious stranger shatter his world… 

Kenneth Cartwright, Attorney at Law, is a success by all the world’s standards. He’s even landed the client that will earn him the law partnership he desperately craves. Yet, a simpler, happier life haunts his dreams, making him regret his life choices. Just as he begins to see hope of that life becoming reality, those connected to his wealthy client begin dying. Can Kenneth solve the murders before success destroys everyone he loves? 

Kenneth’s nightly flashbacks are to a simpler life, one not nearly as successful as the one he’s living. Why does he wish the dreams were reality? More important, why do the dreams feel more real than reality itself? Will the trappings of success destroy him and everyone he loves before he discovers the truth behind his dreams? 

Stacy stumbles across a sad yet successful lawyer in a coffee shop. How can someone who looks so successful be so empty? As their friendship grows they discover there’s more to life than just success, and that the love of money truly is the root of all evil. Will they survive the evil closing in? Will Ken finally discover the joy he’s been missing in his life?


My Thoughts:

This is an amazing book. I've always loved John Grisham, but Kevin has nothing to be ashamed of. Fast-paced, action-filled, and suspenseful, this book will keep you reading to the last page, up at night if you dare read it in the evenings, and wanting more from this author. 

The protagonist wonders if the life he has is all it should be, but when he lands a job that involves danger and suspense and romance and promotion, he will find out, through disturbing dreams he must interpret, what is really the "world" for him. 


I heartily recommend this book and recommend you watch for more novels from this talented writer.

About the Author

Kevin Mark Smith is an evangelical criminal defense and family law attorney in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated cum laude from Regent University School of Law in 1999 where he served as Issue Planning Editor for the Regent Law Review and clerked with the American Center for Law and Justice. Kevin is a former Assistant District Attorney for Sedgwick County, Kansas, and an Allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom. He serves on the Kansas Board of Indigent Defense Services. You can read his writings on the Constitution and home school education in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com.

Link to buy the book:

amazon

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The Diaries of Pontius Pilate: A Review

Kevin Elliot, head archeologist, Jill Gates, assistant, and their team have discovered some ancient scrolls at the Dead Sea area. This valuable discovery has the potential of being the work of a life time except someone--some unknown group--is determined to destroy these scrolls.

During a terrible desert storm, the whole team except Kevin, Jill and the area police chief, is destroyed. Running for their lives, they load the scrolls and escape the annihilation and destruction. Their escape is not easy. The anti-christian group called The Society, do not give up. From the warehouse where the policeman leaves them, to the cargo ship where they are attacked; from bus attacks to kidnapping by foe or friend, Kevin and Jill keep moving and are determined to get the information into the right hands.

This fast paced thriller will keep you on your reading toes. It's the debut novel written by talented author Joseph Max Lewis. Keep your eyes on him for more action novels that will give you the roller coaster rides of your life. I highly reccomend this book.


About the author:

Joseph Max Lewis served as a member of an Operational Detachment in the U.S. Army's Seventh Special Forces Group, the storied Green Berets. During his service Lewis received antiterrorist training and his detachment was tasked to "Special Projects." Afterward, he served as an instructor at the Special Forces Qualification Course. Lewis attended the Pennsylvania State University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the University of Tel Aviv in Israel, and the University of Pittsburgh, receiving degrees in International Politics and Law while being certified in Middle East Studies.

After living and studying abroad, first in the Middle East and then Southeast Asia, Lewis returned home to practice law. He’s a columnist in the New Bethlehem Leader-Vindicator and currently lives, writes, and practices law in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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NEXT month:

Upcoming review of Hummingbird, a novel by David Stearman.

Blessings!

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate Joseph Max Lewis

Book description and reviews:

THE DIARIES OF PONTIUS PILATE

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate opens when a member of an archeological team is murdered along the shores of the Dead Sea. We learn that the murderer and victim are both spies, observing the expedition and grappling with the fact that the team has just discovered some controversial artifacts.
In fact, Archeologist Kevin Elliot and his Deputy, Jill Gates, have unearthed twenty copper scrolls etched with the results of Pontius Pilate’s year long criminal investigation into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They manage to open one scroll far enough to take a series of digital photographs of the etchings. Unaware of the scrolls content, they email the photos to a Professor of Ancient Latin for translation. The Archeologists are unprepared when they’re caught between an ancient conspiracy of global power that’s determined to destroy the scrolls and everyone connected to them, and a small, fledgling volunteer group, the only force on earth that stands between Kevin, Jill and certain death.

Advance Praise for: The Diaries of Pontius Pilate

"Lewis has written a nail-biting thriller that jumps into action on page 1 and doesn't stop until you reach the back cover. Don't open this book unless you're sitting in a comfortable chair with good reading light, because you won't want to move." - Thom Lemmons, Christy award winning author of Jabez: A Novel, and Blameless.

“Pontius Pilate’s diaries . . . would rock the world if discovered today . . . Lewis’s characters are muscular, violent, dedicated . . . and faithful . . . Good and evil remain at war . . . while an archaeologist possessing Pilate’s scrolls is hunted down - Denny Bonavita, Editor and Publisher, Courier-Express / Tri – County Sunday (McLean Publishing Co. - Pennsylvania).

“Joe Lewis and The Diaries of Pontius Pilate tantalize . . . as did “Raiders of The Lost Ark”. . . The archaeologists who discovered the Diaries travel through a gauntlet . . . to bring those records to the public. Don’t wait: . . . follow them in their quest!” – Major Anthony F. Milavic, U.S.M.C. (Retired) and founder of MILINET.



Buy It:
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com




About Joseph Max Lewis:

Joseph Max Lewis served as a member of an Operational Detachment in the U.S. Army's Seventh Special Forces Group, the storied Green Berets. During his service Lewis received antiterrorist training and his detachment was tasked to "Special Projects." Afterward, he served as an instructor at the Special Forces Qualification Course. Lewis attended the Pennsylvania State University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the University of Tel Aviv in Israel, and the University of Pittsburgh, receiving degrees in International Politics and Law while being certified in Middle East Studies.

After living and studying abroad, first in the Middle East and then Southeast Asia, Lewis returned home to practice law. He’s a columnist in the New Bethlehem Leader-Vindicator and currently lives, writes, and practices law in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.




Blessings!

I'm Excited about Having Nick Daniels on my blog this week!

He's giving away a copy of his book: The Jihad's Messiah
Leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win his book!
How long have you known that you were a writer? Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?

Ever since I read Dick Sand: A Captain at Fifteen by Jules Verne, during sixth grade. Fascinated won’t even begin to describe it. I discovered my passion for stories and before finishing high-school I was already a story teller. Obviously, hand writing a novel in a notebook during math class didn’t help my grades.

LOL. Probably didn't, but what fun. I did the same thing. What is the genre you write in? Would you explain what it is?

Suspense and thrillers are my genres. I tend to hover on controversies like the science versus faith debate (the theme of my first novel, The Gentlemen’s Conspiracy) and the role of Islam in Biblical prophecy (the premise of my new series). I guess suspense and thrillers are the most suitable genres to deal with these topics. And besides, I’m a guy who likes guy stuff.

They both sound great to me! How do you spend your writing days? Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day? Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?

I tend to write in spells. I’ll get in a roll and write for days, then get busy with other projects for a couple of weeks and then go back to my manuscript. That’s why it takes me two years to finish a novel, even though the actual writing time is not more than three months. Once I’m past the three-fourths mark, it goes really fast.

You recently had a book published. Would you take this time to describe it to us? How and where can readers buy your books?

The Jihad’s Messiah is the first book in the Jihad Series (http://www.jihadseries.com/). Here’s the back cover copy:

In a future when world power has shifted to the Middle East, and the Arab nations have signed a seven-year peace treaty with Israel, a radical Iraqi leader—known as Al-Mahdi, “the Awaited One”—rises to power promising to convert the world to Islam.


Major General Farid Zadeh is Al-Mahdi’s most loyal follower and the next in line to become the Full Army General of Iraq—until he is falsely accused of being an Israeli spy.


Determined to vindicate himself, Farid flies to Jerusalem to spy on the Israeli military. But before he can return home with the intelligence, the peace treaty is broken and war breaks out between the Arabs and Israel. Now he must run for his life, as both armies consider him their enemy and want him dead.


Help—and perhaps redemption—come from unlikely sources: a stunning Jewish woman and a Christian prisoner. When his faith and his loyalties are tested, Farid must decide which side to take….


His decision could alter the course of Man’s final war.

The book is available everywhere books are sold.

What is the spiritual message in your book? What can readers expect to get from reading it?

The Jihad Series examines Islamic terrorism in the light of biblical prophecy, while giving a human face to the so-called “enemy of America”—the Muslim world. Unlike other novels in the market dealing with terrorism, the Jihad Series tells the story from the point of view of a Muslim militant, not an American with a Christian background. The character’s spiritual and physical struggle plays against the end-time events described in the Bible.

Oooo. Love the end time novels. Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out? Anything else you’d like to share? Promotional information?

My personal website is http://www.nickdanielsbooks.com/ and my podcast is at http://www.breakingunbelief.org/

There is also a website exclusively for the series: http://www.jihadseries.com/

Along with my publisher, Risen Books, we have started a campaign to sponsor orphan children around the world through a wonderful ministry called Holt International. All my royalties for The Jihad’s Messiah will go to feed these children. Check out the ministry’s website at http://www.holtinternational.org/



Thanks for being here, Nick!
Readers, your comments and email addresses will enter you in for a chance on Nick's book!

Blessings

Review of The Prophetess One
by Linda Rohrbough


Back Cover:
It's a very different kind of war. Why would God choose a pregnant computer programmer to fight it? All Anna McClintock wants is a peaceful stretch of beach she can walk to with her new husband, Jack, and her soon-to-be-born child. Jack is finishing his engineering degree this semester and the two plan to leave his Kansas home to build their lifes together.

But when Anna finds herself in jail for the murder of a preschoo child she tried t save, she realizes she is alone, except for God. She has to rely on new-found spiritual gifts as well as her wits and skills in order to save herself, her unborn son, and her marriage.

And she has another decision to make. This one affects the entire nation.


My Take:
This is one book with all the characters appealing to me.

• Anna, with her hesitant, yet decidedly-chosen-by-God personality and talent for seeing things that she doesn't want to see.
• Jack, with his husbandly fears, and anxiousness to do the right thing.
• The snooty friends, with their airs of pretending concern.
• Theo, with her godly obedience, yet touch-of-the-past look.
• Kyle, and his youthful rebellion and needs.
• Dr. Moody, with his sinister hate and determination to carry out his plans.

Good, well-drawn characters that the reader can relate to.

It's an excitiing roller coaster ride from the first page to the end. From the first page to the last one, the reader will be taken on an exciting journey.


I loved the love between Jack and Anna, in spite of his annoyance with her and her visions, in spite of her reluctance to admit her "seeings." Their love was strong even when he didn't-wouldn't-understand her, even when she shrank from acknowledging her ability--the burning truth--within herself. There is a connection between them that is real.
 
Anna's first mistake is in trying to save a preschool child, but when the little girl dies, Anna is accused and arrested for murder. Doubts flood in: does anyone care what happens to her, a simple pregnant woman? Does her husband even love her enough to try to raise enough bail to get her out?

It's only when an older woman, Theo, hippish, weird and the only one to not only get Anna free of her jail bars, but to urge her to listen and use her inner gifts.

But Anna would rather not go against her husband's wishes or even to answer the call to serve her nation. Should she believe this old woman who says God told her she'll have no need of her property, with her unworldly wisdom? Should she listen to her husband who practically begs her to forget her visions?
Or should she do what she knows is right and the only thing that will give her peace?

But peace seldom comes without a price, and Anna's not sure if she wants anything at all to do with the whole notion that she's the one to save her nation, whether they listen or not.

This is a novel that deals with husband and/or father relationships, one that brings school bullying and the hard facts of what it does to a child to a vivid consciousness. It's a book about obeying God even when obeying is difficult and friends and family don't understand. If you want to read a book that will change you forever, will cause you to seek God for a deeper walk, and question the reasoning for leading a monotone life, then get The Prophetess. A great book!

Blessings