The Journal of Ezekiel Walker by John Zelenski

The Journal of Ezekiel Walker

In the wake of light…evil waits. 

In the fall of 1945, just after Word War II, Ezekiel Walker has returned home on a furlough from his Civilian Public Service Unit. As Ezekiel tries to adjust back to life at the farm, strange and unexplainable events begin to occur at the homestead, and Ezekiel begins to experience visions and bizarre sightings. When a stranger suddenly arrives with promises to rebuild the small town of Walker’s Vale and befriend the young Ezekiel, a portal to the supernatural is opened and lives will never be the same.

The Guru's Review: 

I have waited approximately two years to read this prequel. So many times I have looked at it on my Kindle Cloud Reader and Goodreads shelf longing to read it, but have had other books to review by author requests. John has asked me so many times over this period when I would be able to review it. Well, that time has come!

Being the first novel I have read from Zelenski, I must say that he writes competently. As this novella is in a journal style of writing, he has mastered this very well. It tells the story effectively and transports the reader into the post-WWII era. More importantly, into the mind and personality of Ezekiel Walker. I really felt as if I was there with Ezekiel as he was journaling these events. You also experience his faith and relationship with God. That becomes very encouraging. Not only is Zelenski's writing effective in telling this story, but it is his construction of it that results in one suspenseful, action-packed read, engaging, compelling and biblically based.

I have often stated in previous reviews that part of an author's character, personality and relationship with God can be found scattered throughout the story. These are found in characterisation and plot constructs. This is very much the case with this novella. I like what I see here. How much of Ezekiel is based on Zelenski? Author's are encouraged to write what they know. Zelenski has had dealings with the demonic in his own life and this novella may be influenced by this. The next novel, Walker' s Vale is directly based on his past dealings. How much of this personal experience has shaped his relationship with God? How much of his relationship with God has encouraged him to deal with the demonic God's way? From reading this tome, I would say a lot on both of these accounts. I very much appreciate his adherence to biblical, spiritual warfare principles that he has included. This honours God. Using these principles, he shows that anything to do with the demonic can be overcome by 

• engaging the name of Jesus, 
• pleading the blood of Jesus 
• quoting specific bible verses (in this novel, Isaiah 41:10 was used as an example)
• being open to, and obedient to, the leading of the Holy Spirit 
• praying before, during and after any demonic activity. 

Zelenski shows that it is God's battle and not ours. He is showing us in this novella that a horror and spiritual warfare story is not worth telling if it is not constructed from a biblical worldview. 

I often state in reviews that I like to see certain criteria in Christian fiction: 

• it has entertained me 
• it has encouraged my walk with God, 
• it has not deviated from known biblical doctrine, and it will not lead a non-believer astray or promote false doctrine, 
• it honours God, 
• it does not encourage worship of the created (eg angels) instead of the Creator (God).

Zelenski has achieved all this for me in this novella. Very impressed with his first offering. If this is the standard that he has set for future novels, then I am definitely a fan. 

Highly Recommended. 5/5 Stars 

World Building 5/5 Characters 5/5 

Spiritual Level 5/5 

Story 5/5 

Enemy Spiritual Level 5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5 

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Spiritually, based on my review and on the following reference booklet,

A Spiritual System for Rating Books by David Bergsland, and that The Journal of Ezekiel Walker contains elements of the criteria of what constitutes Christian Spirit-Filled Fiction outlined in this booklet, I award John Zelenski with (click on the title below to see what this is based on)

The Reality Calling Christian Spirit-Filled Fiction Award

Congratulations, John Zelenski!

To read a preview or buy this enthralling novella, it is available online at Barnes and Noble, or can be purchased and autographed from the author from his website at http://www.johnjzelenski.com/.

Currently not available from Amazon.