In this novella, Distant Boundary, Prequel for The COIL Legacy Series, D.I. Telbat takes us to a distant land where danger knows no boundaries.
Now working for COIL, Agent Titus Caspertein has left the criminal underworld to carry the cross of Christ, but survival has never seemed more unlikely for this new Christian.
Assumed dead after a bungled humanitarian airdrop, Titus fights for his life against hyenas, wild dogs, and isolation in the African savanna.
With two broken limbs, and predators prowling for his blood, Titus relies on a young boy to keep him alive. Unless his wife, Annette, finds him before a heavily armed rhino poacher does, Titus will become a casualty of the Zimbabwe wilderness!
With a Bonus Chapter from Distant Contact, Book One in The COIL Legacy, map downloads, and cover design by Streetlight Graphics, we pray you enjoy this exciting Prequel to The COIL Legacy. And discover there is truly no redemption without sacrifice.
The Guru's Review:
Having now read this, I can say that this prequel provides a worthy introduction to this new series, COIL Legacy.
It follows on well from Dark Zeal, the last volume of the COIL series. It also follows on from the conversion of Titus in this same last volume. Strategic from Telbat as not showing what happened to him from Dark Zeal would make us wait for a future volume to find out. This break in continuity would take the reader longer to build a rapport with this new character. Telbat has mentioned in the past that we would hearing more from Titus so it seems that he is important to this new series. If this is so, it pays to establish his placement and importance from the start.
For a short story of this length, 82 pages, Telbat succeeds in setting the scene, pace, atmosphere and tension. As a result, I was transported to this hot, dusty, drought stricken Zimbabwean environment.
The plot for this short lends well to the first mission of Titus and his new wife, Annette. I loved the way Telbat showed how the dire circumstances that Titus found himself in tested his faith. The same with Annette. I dislike an author's portrayal of a character's newly found faith in Christ as unchangeable and rock solid. Not so with Telbat. He has depiected faith in his novels as they are in real life. I related to the fact that both Annette and Titus had to learn to trust God to deliver them both from this situation. Their faith waned but both realised they only had God to rely on and it was not in their hands anymore, but His. Showing a character's faith as realistic is what readers will relate to. Reader's who are Christian will relate to this from their own experience. Those who don't will see the Christian living out their faith under these circumstances as non-conventional and even strange. This may encourage them to question why this is (and lead to them closer to God's truth). It may even provoke them to question the validity of their own reaction to the same circumstances.
This is one thing that I have loved about Telbat's COIL novels. His Christian characters are three dimensional and relational, so is their faith. Telbat's depicts Corben, head of the COIL organisation, as one who has a strong faith. This faith is grounded well in Christ, but it is his past that gives his faith a relatable edge and humbles him. It would be tempting to have depicted him as a super spiritual, bible quoting CEO but then he would just be a character in a novel and not a relatable one. I would find it hard to relate to him like this.
I say the same for Titus and Annette. It is their pasts that are making them relatable and their relationship with Christ a humble one. Not only is it due to who Christ is and what He has done for them via the Cross, but it is this past that has made them appreciate this. They know what they are willing to sacrifice for Him. They both make mention of this in the novel.
In novels like these that depict the suffering and persecution of Christians, I suggest that Telbat would have had to make these faith based. Herein lies why his Christian characters show that their faith is worth living out and dying for. It reminds me of the catch phrase and theme of all his novels, "..there is no redemption without sacrifice".
I really enjoyed this short prequel to the COIL Legacy series. My interest is piqued for the rest of the series. I am glad that the next instament Distant Contact is ready for me to enjoy.
Highly Recommended.
It follows on well from Dark Zeal, the last volume of the COIL series. It also follows on from the conversion of Titus in this same last volume. Strategic from Telbat as not showing what happened to him from Dark Zeal would make us wait for a future volume to find out. This break in continuity would take the reader longer to build a rapport with this new character. Telbat has mentioned in the past that we would hearing more from Titus so it seems that he is important to this new series. If this is so, it pays to establish his placement and importance from the start.
For a short story of this length, 82 pages, Telbat succeeds in setting the scene, pace, atmosphere and tension. As a result, I was transported to this hot, dusty, drought stricken Zimbabwean environment.
The plot for this short lends well to the first mission of Titus and his new wife, Annette. I loved the way Telbat showed how the dire circumstances that Titus found himself in tested his faith. The same with Annette. I dislike an author's portrayal of a character's newly found faith in Christ as unchangeable and rock solid. Not so with Telbat. He has depiected faith in his novels as they are in real life. I related to the fact that both Annette and Titus had to learn to trust God to deliver them both from this situation. Their faith waned but both realised they only had God to rely on and it was not in their hands anymore, but His. Showing a character's faith as realistic is what readers will relate to. Reader's who are Christian will relate to this from their own experience. Those who don't will see the Christian living out their faith under these circumstances as non-conventional and even strange. This may encourage them to question why this is (and lead to them closer to God's truth). It may even provoke them to question the validity of their own reaction to the same circumstances.
This is one thing that I have loved about Telbat's COIL novels. His Christian characters are three dimensional and relational, so is their faith. Telbat's depicts Corben, head of the COIL organisation, as one who has a strong faith. This faith is grounded well in Christ, but it is his past that gives his faith a relatable edge and humbles him. It would be tempting to have depicted him as a super spiritual, bible quoting CEO but then he would just be a character in a novel and not a relatable one. I would find it hard to relate to him like this.
I say the same for Titus and Annette. It is their pasts that are making them relatable and their relationship with Christ a humble one. Not only is it due to who Christ is and what He has done for them via the Cross, but it is this past that has made them appreciate this. They know what they are willing to sacrifice for Him. They both make mention of this in the novel.
In novels like these that depict the suffering and persecution of Christians, I suggest that Telbat would have had to make these faith based. Herein lies why his Christian characters show that their faith is worth living out and dying for. It reminds me of the catch phrase and theme of all his novels, "..there is no redemption without sacrifice".
I really enjoyed this short prequel to the COIL Legacy series. My interest is piqued for the rest of the series. I am glad that the next instament Distant Contact is ready for me to enjoy.
Highly Recommended.
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Hi Peter!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a chance to start this new COIL Legacy Series by David Telbat! Thanks for another great review, too! We pray you'll thoroughly enjoy the following books in this series just as much. Thanks so much for being a reader and using your gifts for the Lord!
Dee,
for D.I. Telbat