Ingress: An Alaska Iconoclast Mystery by Mary Ann Poll

Ingress: An Alaska Iconoclast Mystery

The dark and cold of an Alaska winter settled over Ravens Cove. To boost the sagging economy, Mayor Thomas Orthell brought in a new tourist attraction—an ancient town abandoned for almost a century. The Forgotten Place is rumored to be cursed and to hold the threat of death for any who enter. Now, the town and its curse have made their way to Ravens Cove. As mysterious deaths, legendary entities, and folklore come to life, the town is hurtled into a spiritual battle with a familiar nemesis. The lessons learned during the Iconoclast siege are going to be put to the test—along with the small troop of warriors that have been brought back together to learn a better way to fight and defeat a shrewd and dangerous enemy.

The Guru's Review: 

Reading this second volume in this An Alaska Iconoclast Mystery series just reinforces that it is a great series with a very talented author. 

It is so good being back in Ravens Cove with all the characters from the previous volume and a few more added in this one. I did not realise how much I had missed them until I started reading this much-awaited story that has sat in my To Be Read list. I feel very much a part of the Ravens Cove community and not just as a reader, but as if I was there with them. Poll has constructed this setting that makes it real for the reader. I definitely want to visit Alaska after reading this series. Add this to my bucket list. Looks like the application of the resources listed in the Acknowledgements has worked in depicting the rich heritage of Alaska. Kudos to this author for being committed to depicting Alaska as it is and thus making this a very memorable read. 

Poll shines in further developing the characters and progressing their relationships from the Ravens Cove volume. It is good to see the fractured relationship between Ken and Kat restored. It is predictable that this would come to the conclusion that I no doubt believe every reader, including myself, wanted and expected to see. Sometimes predictability is necessary and has a nice place in a plotline. It is not just romance between these two characters but a few others as well that add further layers to charactersation. This pleased me immensely. I look forward to these existing romantic relationships and these newly forming ones being developed further in Gorgon, the next volume in this series. There is nothing like romance to soften but strengthen a suspenseful but serious plot. In this novel, it is good versus evil, spiritual warfare over the battle for the souls of mankind, demonic versus the angelic. It is these themes that underscore this novel. 

I love the character of Grandma Bricken. I never knew a Grandmother in my life but Bricken would fit the bill very nicely. She also is very similar to a very close friend in the same age group who has been a spiritual mother to me for the past 30 yrs. Bricken is so much like her it is not funny! It seems that every family or community needs strong spiritual leadership and/or mentors. The main characters are blessed with a trinity of them: Pastor Paul Lucas, Josiah Williams and Grandma Bricken. These three provide Poll with the necessary platform for spiritual truth to be added to the storyline in dealing with Iconoclast and his minions. 

This novel flows seamlessly on from the cliffhanger ending of the previous volume, Ravens Cove. Seeing what happens to Josiah in his confrontation with Iconoclast gives closure to this first volume. It then sets the stage for the next incursion that Iconoclast and his circle of eight demons have with the townsfolk of Ravens Cove. The Prologue gives the history of The Forgotten Place with its demonic heritage and establishes the background for this volume. The stage is set for another action packed, suspenseful and engaging read, complete with the demonic activity and spiritual warfare that was established from the previous volume. 

Any spiritual warfare novel that is based on the Bible and its spiritual warfare principles need to reflect these. Poll has done so again in this novel. She has also taken this to the next level. She has shown what is an obstacle to these principles being effective and how this prevents God from acting. What Poll shows is a common sin that everyone falls victim to and that is pride.and arrogance. This is shown in the Bible as something that God hates and deals with severely. The following links from biblegateway.com show how God deals with this, 

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=pride&qs_version=HCSB 

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=arrogance&qs_version=HCSB

When the main characters' attempts at spiritual warfare do not work, Josiah states that they have been praying. He does not understand why God won't stop the demonic onslaught. Upon introspection, he realises the battle for the souls of men is with God, and their sin of arrogance and pride has prevented God from acting. He states,

"I think the evil foe knows his battle for the souls of men is with God. But people arrogant as we are, think we can fight that battle for God. Maybe God wants us to know for a fact that He is the only one that can fight this battle. Not us." 

then later, 

"I can't believe my own arrogance........I have been acting as if I was calling on God. I was calling on God and expecting myself to fight this evil myself. I am a fool." 

and Pastor Paul admits the same sin, 

"I am too. I have been doing the same thing."

They then act on what they have to do: repent of their sin, 

"Lord", Josiah began, "help us. We have sinned against You. We have forgotten we are weak and cannot fight any battle without you. Please, God, help us. Please fight for us. In Jesus' name. Amen" 

Paul sighed. 

"Pride is such a deceitful thing-the heart of man laps it up like water."

Later, Doc Douglas, the veterinarian, humbles himself before God and beseeches Him to act on their behalf. God sends His angelic warriors to defeat Iconoclast. This humbleness is born out in the above biblical verses and is what God honours. 

Adding this obstacle to such an important spiritual warfare principle not only adds suspense and tension to the final confrontation scenes. It also adds to the entertainment value. This is very effective. However, it achieves another aspect of what Christian fiction can achieve: educate the reader. I always appreciate this educational inclusion. It shows that an author is willing to honour God in their writing by revealing more about His Word. It also shows they are willing vessels to allow their God-given talent to be used by Him for His purposes. And those purposes will be different to each reader as God reaches them where they are at. This is the second novel by Poll that I have read where she allows herself to be used like this. 

From this novel, Kat, Bart and Ken have now been through two demonic and supernatural events. They have seen both the destructive power of the demonic and the omnipotent power of God. I was hoping that by the end of the first novel, they would be convinced of the Gospel of Christ and become Christians. I am sure the author had reasons for not allowing their conversion thus far and that this would occur in this novel. However, Christian fiction needs to portray life as it is if the former is to be credible. Just as in real life, how many times have we witnessed to someone over a consistent period of time and they still do not accept the Gospel and the salvation that Jesus achieved on the Cross? 

Again, this adds more tension and suspense to the plot and spiritual warfare. However, after the defeat of Iconoclast, Poll has Bart and Ken stating that they now believe. This depiction is brief and more head knowledge than a heart transformation. I will have to wait until reading Gorgon to see if this is becomes a fully fledged conversion of the heart with accepting Jesus as Saviour. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed this novel and this has encouraged me to now move onto the next novel, Gorgon. This series keeps getting better and better! I can see why Poll is described on Amazon as "....America’s Lady of Supernatural Thrillers...." Quite a badge of honour but this one is less that the honour she shows in honouring the Word of God and keeping these novels biblically based. 

Strongly Recommended. 4/5 Stars

To read an excerpt or buy Ingress, click on the BUY or PREVIEW icons underneath the cover below:

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 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Nikolai The Penitent: A Novel of the Brotherhood of the Cross by Mark Carver

Nikolai The Penitent: A Novel of the Brotherhood of the Cross

SALVATION MUST BE PAID IN BLOOD.

The Black Death ravages 14th century Europe. Kingdoms crumble, cities fall, family members abandon one another. God has forsaken His children and now chaos reigns.

A young man who has lost everything is swept up in the turmoil and finds his calling in the Brotherhood of the Cross - groups of pious men and women who viciously whip themselves as they parade through the streets of sinful cities, hoping their sacrifice will atone for the iniquities of the people. As the scars grow on Nikolai's back, he purges himself of lust, fear, and doubt, but the price he pays will threaten his very soul.

The Guru's Review: 

I looked forward to this novel when Mark Carver announced it earlier this year. Even at that stage its premise intrigued me. I remember in secondary school how fascinated I was while learning about the Black Death (Bubonic Plaque). Even the history book that we studied from brought to life this period of dark history and portrayed the devastation and decimation of the human population as it spread over Europe. It was this vivid recording that grew my fascination for this period. 

Well, I can say that Mark Carver has brought to life in a much more dramatic and a very rich way the life of this period. Through the eyes of Nikolai Solberg in the fall of 1333 A. D, the reader experiences life in his village, and the mental imagery of this is very powerful. I found myself there, and was not aware of my surroundings, but very much aware of Nikolai's.

I found the section of this novel that described Nikolai's life from 5 years of age to age 20  almost a novella on its own, and it serves well to lay some solid foundation for the rest of the novel. It was this structure and development of the setting, that not only shows Nikolai finding his vocation in life, albeit a dark, extreme, almost mystical one, but also gives the reader a first hand experience of what the Plague was like and how it decimated his community, destroyed some families, strengthen others and increased the fear and anxiety overall. Carver successfully portrays, how this pandemic brought some to embrace the spiritual side in a negative doomsday style attitude, with even the Catholic church shunning their communities and blaming them for this scourge while doing nothing to help them except cloister themselves in their monasteries and cathedrals to avoid contracting this disease. 

For Nikolai, it sparked a quest to better himself and overcome his sinful nature. Carver portrays this well through an example of sexual desire that awakens in him at his age of 20 where he succumbs to this desire and fornicates with the only girl that he has become attracted to. Here Carver shows the depth of Nikolai's determination in his quest by describing in a little graphical detail this sex act.  I questioned the author about this in my interview with him,

Peter: What sort of criticism or feedback are you expecting from the sex scene you have included? I did not consider it too graphic and I can see why you included it as you have, to show the intense struggle of sexual temptation when one believes that any sexual activity outside marriage is spiritual impurity (sin) and therefore not receive the favour of God or freedom from this plague. Do you think you could have achieved the same effect or outcome without the graphics of this scene?

Mark: I expect some people to be critical, and I definitely wrestled with this scene and how much to describe, but because it is such a crucial scene in the story, I didn't want to rush through it. Hopefully it won't be an issue with too many people.

By showing some graphic and describing Nikolai's panic, remorse and shame during and after the act, Carver successfully shows how the effect of his sin deeply affects him leading him to accept a mission to help break the curse of this plague and in the process lead him to a level of righteousness and favour of God.

I can see that some Christians are going to be critical of Mark for including the topic fornication, let alone including some graphics as well. The debate about the merits of any Christian author doing this will not end until the return of Christ Himself. It is the hottest potato of an issue in Christianity and specifically Christian fiction. All I can say is that Carver has depicted this to the degree that it does not detract from any part of the story or stand out like a sore thumb, derailing the plot, but becomes an essential part of Nikolai's motive to overcome his sinful nature. I would expect that most people would agree that it is not included for the sake of including a sex scene, to glorify fornication or to appeal to an audience that expects sex in the novels they read. As Carver states, it is a crucial scene to the story relating to Nikolai's quest.

I found this novel to be one that is unique, different, dark, brutal, gritty and disturbing. This mainly applies to the second part of the novel that describes Nikolai's time in the Brotherhood of the Cross. It is here that I found it hard to read, as the flagellation routine of the members of the Brotherhood, especially of Nikolai, and the effect on them physically and mentally, is the brutal, gritty and disturbing part of this section. There were many times where I nearly gave up reading. Some of the flagellation and the gruesome descriptions of what Nikolai experiences made me angry, frustration and despairing! I had similar reaction to the whipping of Jesus in the movie, The Passion of the Christ. I can fully understand Carver feeling nauseated as he wrote these accounts as he stated in my interview. It is definitely not for the faint hearted.  

In my occupation as a Registered Nurse, I found some of the effects of the flagellation and the malnutrition that Nikolai and the members of Brotherhood a bit too far fetched. I based this on the following from my interview with Mark,

Peter: You have Nikolai flagellating himself from early morning to dusk most days describing a lot of blood loss from Nikolai's body on a daily basis. Based on the fact that the total blood volume for an average 70 kg human (150 pounds) is approximately 5.5 liters (or a little more than 5.5 quarts, (this can vary depending on various factors) in their blood, Nikolai would have suffered from chronic anaemia and its associated serious health problems and together with the lack of food that you have portrayed, he (and his members of the Brotherhood) would have been malnourished as well, which also has serious health issues. From my Nursing background I found the description of this chronic blood loss and malnourishment just a little hard to believe or have much credibility.

Did you include the physical/medical side of the effects of flagellation (such as I have mentioned here) on the human body in your research? I ask this as I am sure many readers might come to this conclusion as well.

Mark: I did consider this, but I didn't want to spend too much time on the medical minutae of the story because that would drag it down. I do describe the incredible fatigue suffered by the flagellants, but I also hint at supernatural sustenance that allows Nikolai in particular to endure more than would seem humanly possible.

This is one reason I interviewed Carver, there were so many controversial and unique elements/issues in a novel like this that I needed to know what made this author write this novel and more of what went into constructing it. It has been well worth reading this novel, and especially interviewing him. I think readers would agree that he has wielded his research well into the construction of this novel in reproducing the essence of this dark period in history.

I consider it would be a minority of readers who would have come across a novel of this type. I find it a daring move on Carver's part. Many authors, including Christian ones, would pass on a topic like this as too hard or too controversial and I can imagine even damaging to their reputation as an author.

One other aspect of this novel that I feel Carver has depicted well is the ignorance of the spiritual in this era. I covered this in my interview again, focusing on the subtitle of the novel,

Peter: The subtitle of this novel is “Salvation must be paid in blood”. The Bible states that this was achieved by Jesus' death on the Cross, but your research, as portrayed by this flagellation practice of the members of the Brotherhood of the Cross was a common event. Was the truth of salvation not taught in the Church in the 1300s? I ask this as I believe that the majority of Christians would not know if this was or was not taught in this era unless they have studied Church/bible history formally or informally. Were you surprised at this as well?

Mark: The book takes place in the Dark Ages, and most people were spiritually ignorant beyond what the church taught them. The church in this story is very "Catholic" in that works are required for salvation, more than just faith in Christ and His death and resurrection. Monetary penance, pilgrimages, and self-abuse were lauded by the church as means to achieve salvation, and the church in those days wanted to maintain power over the people as much as possible, and these "extras" were an easy way to do this.

I found that Carver handled the antisemitism very well in this novel and depicted a realistic attitude of the times as displayed through Nikolai, especially seeing that very few of the Jewish population in these European countries were affected by the Plague. He has been very respectful to them and depicted them realistically and I appreciate that in a novel like this. I do understand from reading this part of the novel why he needed to include a Preface on this issue. 

The only other aspect that I did not like was the ending. After all Nikolai went through and how he came to the end of himself and his final decision at the end, I felt that it ended far too quickly and I was left hanging expecting more to close off this tale. After the emotional ride that Carver had put me through, I needed some closure! 

I have read some of Carver's books and love what I read. This novel reveals another versatile side of him and shows that he has reached a level of expertise and maturity as an author that he can write about difficult subject matter and make it unique, successful and worthwhile. 

Strongly Recommended. (4/5 Stars)

When The Watcher Shakes by Timothy Huguenin

When The Watcher Shakes

The walls were meant to keep evil out–but they only hid the evil within.

John has given up his ordinary life to find wisdom traveling the country and enjoy the freedom of living as a nomad. But when he stumbles across a mysterious town tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains, walled off from modern society, he discovers a group of people who could use some freedom of their own. Are they a harmless religious sect, or is there something less benign underneath the surface?

The townspeople are initially wary of their new visitor, but as John questions their way of life, some of them begin to have questions of their own. As the leadership’s tight control unravels, men and women break free from the chains of legalism–some literally, and some at the cost of their own lives.

The Guru's Review:  

I was asked by the author a few months ago, to review this debut novel before it was released but was unable to due to my review schedule. I did add it to my personal To Be Read list for later reading. It was only when the author made it free that I decided to download it instead of buying when I planned to read it. Out of pure curiosity, I started to read the first page or two and I was hooked. I then decided to rearrange my entire weekend to reading it. I simply could not put this down. I realised what caused this and it is multifactorial. 

First, it is the plot and the secluded setting. A pseudo Christian community (the word sect comes to mind) set in the mountains of West Virginia that is walled from the outside world with its own interpretation of living out the word of God and corrupted with man made rituals and extreme forms of punishment for sinning.

Second, the sense that all is not as it seems and that is something lurking in the background that keeps you wondering what this is or could be, and sometimes thinking "Where is the author going with this?"

Thirdly, how does all this affect John, the Outsider and how does John's influence affect this community that has no idea of what the outside world is like except that they are indoctrinated that is is evil? 

Fourth, it is Huguenin's writing style. He writes well, it is crisp, to the point, specific and he describes the events really well. This transported me to this walled community, I could picture the town, the clean ordered streets, the behaviour and attitudes of the people in their interaction with each other and the air of deception, fear, oppression that hangs in the air.

Fifth, this novel is well constructed and everything fits together very nicely. Reads like a very finely tuned engine. Smooth, consistent, one event building onto the next. No peaks or troughs in the pace or plot. 

For a debut novel, you would never know it. It seems that Huguenin has a combination of talent and good mentoring. One has only to read the Acknowledgements to see where some of this comes from. It has paid off exceptionally well for him. If this is the quality of his first novel, then I am very much looking forward to everything else coming from his pen in the future. He sets a high standard from the start. 

I usually find novels where there is spiritual oppression and deception hard to read as it angers and frustrates me but in this novel, it was not the case. The way Huguenin constructed this is done well with enough intrigue and suspense to keep you wanting to find out more and to see what is behind this deception. However, as much as the author has constructed this deception based on abuse of the Word of God and the Letters and Journals of Abe, the Esteemed One, founder of this community, I would have appreciated more of what these Letters and Journals contained to explain the basis of this grand deception of this community and to back up the enforcing of the (legalistic) rules and regulations/rituals that the community live under. It would also have provided more of the background to this community and how it came to be like it is. This is not to say that the absence of this was a weakness of this novel, or where it falls short, just that it would have added more depth and credibility to the deception that Huguenin successfully develops. 

Through all this, the author has done a great job of showing how abuse of power, distortion of the Truth, in this case the Word of God, and basing a government on a Pharisaic legalism style is evil, self serving, oppressive, demoralising and destructive. One characteristic of control of the masses in this system and is also characteristic of it being a cult, is to suppress, ban, block the masses from questioning the way things are, but to only concentrate on the what, the when, the where, 

The people of Abestown did not care to speculate on the whys of any given topic, only the topic itself: the what, the when, the where. Rarely did they even concern themselves with the how. This was strange to Isaac, who had come to think that the why was the most intriguing, if not the most important, question to concern himself with.

This is the icing on the cake of oppression and deception, where the masses are not encouraged or taught to think for themselves or to question any element of their lives. This is epitome of control, power and its destructiveness. Huguenin does not just leave it there either, he shows what the consequences are in this deception and legalism when someone steps out of this mold and does question the order of things and it is this that adds more suspense and darkness to this novel. 

Huguenin definitely shows what happens when a society is ruled on legalism and grace is totally absent. Jesus exposed the dangers of this and so did Paul in his Epistles. There is no balance between these two elements in this novel as there is in the Bible and in how Jesus taught us to live. Not sure if this is one of the messages Huguenin wanted to portray but it definitely stood out to me as I have seen this inbalance in some of the churches and behaviour of Christians over the years. Either extreme is just as destructive as the other.
 
When the control of the community began to get out of control and two main characters started to see the truth of this oppressive legalistic regime and rebel against it and its perpetrators, I would have expected these characters to have found the truth in the Gospel, seeing that their spirituality is based on this and they did know this but part of this oppressive regime enforced by the Head Historian and the Council of Historians was that the Bible was not encouraged to be read or studied by the community and instead the Council and Head Historian were the ones that interpreted and instructed them in it, albeit a corrupted interpretation, that further supported the legalistic regime. Very much reminds me of the denomination of the church of my youth. However, I would have loved to have seen this community find the salvation and freedom found in the true Gospel message and show the power of this Gospel unto salvation. This would have made a great ending or epilogue.

I really liked this novel and I look forward to more from this author. I feel he is one to watch. He has made a great debut with this novel for all the reasons I have mentioned above. 

Strongly Recommended

World Building 5/5

Characterisation 5/5

Story 5/5

Spiritual Level 3/5

Enemy Spiritual Level 3/5

Average Rating 4.2/5