Assault on Saint Agnes by Joseph Courtemanche

Assault on Saint Agnes

When terrorists assault Saint Agnes Chruch in St. Paul, Minnesota, they expect to find a congregation of lambs: they get Bobby Krutz, instead. An unrepentant Cold Warrior, Kurtz destroys the terror cell with violent finality. 

Against his will, Kurtz is pulled back into the life he left behind decades before. He reluctantly picks up the burden of hunting the terrorists in our midst. He risks his life, and his marriage, in a single-minded pursuit of victory over evil.

Working with a shadowy government agency, Kurtz uses all of his skills and experience to fold a plan that would plunge the Twin Cities back into the Stone Age. The final battle rages across the plains during a Christmas Eve blizzard in a story that will leave the reader pleading for more of Kurtz and his team of experts. 

Release date: April 18th, 2016 from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but an autographed copy is available now at a reduced price from the author's website: Commotion In The Pews

The Guru's Review: 

I was asked by the author to review this novel before its release date and was provided a free electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. 

I really enjoyed this story. For a debut author, Courtemanche writes well and has a solidly constructed novel. I should not be surprised as the author lists his writing background and "training" in his bio, 

Assault on Saint Agnes is the recipient of the Genesis Award for best-unpublished work in 2015. That was awarded by the American Christian Fiction Writers. Assault on Saint Agnes has also finished second in the Athanatos Ministries Christian Novel Contest, and was a finalist in Operation First Novel. All three contests are highly regarded in the industry. 

Quite an impressive writing resume! This novel is not overly as fast paced as novels of similar genre, but the pace is fast enough to keep you coming back for more. This author definitely knows his subject matter and the novel is built upon the experience the author's career, as described by himself,

.......former Police Officer and Middle East/North Africa analyst....a distinguished veteran of the Naval Security Group of the United States Navy, and an Arabic Linguist with training at the University of Minnesota and the Defense Language Institute (Honors Graduate) .......holds several military awards, including two flag letters of commendation for his work in providing real-time intelligence support to commanders in the field. His experience provides the background that’s crucial to his writing in the thriller genre. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and holds degrees from two other colleges as well. 

Seeing this novel revolves around Bobby Kurtz, it pays that Courtemanche has depicted him very relatable and one who the reader becomes endeared to. Somehow, I feel that Bobby is based somewhat on the author seeing that this main protagonist is depicted in an environment based on the author's past career. I can see nothing wrong with this and it definitely adds depth, and character to this "character"!

Courtemanche also portrays well the interpersonal relationships between Bobby's fellow agents and the hierarchy of this organization including their procedures and protocols. Again his past experience shines here and adds to the realistic feel of this novel including any action, suspense and intrigue. It sure does draw you in! This author really shines in creating the special ops plot and genre and he translates this past experience and expertise brilliantly. 

Courtemanche's research also extends to the terrorist plot line including the Muslim ideology and mindset for revenge, death, and destruction as part of following the Koran and its directives towards the American infidels. This is depicted well and shows the hatred towards the American people. I have read enough of these types of novels to know that how Courtemanche has depicted this is close to reality.

I am not a great fan of the romance genre either secular or Christian based, but when romance is included as part of the plot or a subplot, I do enjoy it, especially when it is written by a male author and a Christian one at that. I loved the romance created by Courtemanche between Bobby and his wife Grace, it shines of what Christian married love should be and needs to be. I look forward to more romance from this author as I feel he does this well and shows great potential for developing this further in future novels.

This is one very clean read, no sex or sexual innuendo, swearing, but there is violence and I feel in a novel like this you cannot get away with leaving this out, this is the reality of this type of plot as it does reflect real life. There are themes of redemption, sacrifice and relying on God but I would have preferred these to have been more obvious and developed as to their Christian/biblical source and the main character showing more of his faith in the events of this novel. There is great opportunity for the Christian worldview to be expressed in more detail here and it would have enhanced this novel better and taken it away from it being viewed as a clean read. As it is, it does not stand out as obvious Christian fiction until you get to the end of the novel. 

Here, what I am talking about is evident and very obvious in this scene that is very Christian/biblical orientated and presents the Gospel beautifully, and Courtemanche's love of his God shines through here. It shows the power of the Cross in changing a heart of hate and evil indoctrination towards God and the power of His might and Spirit to bring him into a right relationship with God, taking him from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. Very powerful and I don't see this as preachy or as bible bashing the reader. It fits in very well with the plot. 

This scene ends this novel really well and I can see the potential for Courtemanche to include more of these redemptive and spirit filled elements throughout the plot of his future novels. I feel that Christian fiction needs to stand out as such without bible bashing, preaching and turning readers away from the Gospel but rather pointing them towards this Gospel and its author. I can see that Courtemanche has great potential to do this in future novels.

I am very much looking forward to future novels from this very promising and talented author. 

Strongly Recommended

World building 4/5

Characters 4/5

Story 4/5

Spiritual level 3/5

Spiritual Enemy Level N/A

Average Rating: 4/5

The Fist of God (Agarthi Conspiracy Book 1) by M. E. Brines

The Fist of God (Agarthi Conspiracy Book 1)

What if the Second World War wasn't just the largest war in history, but a supernatural struggle between spiritual entities? 

It’s 1940 and the fires of war have set Europe ablaze, but America remains blissfully neutral. To please his parents, sceptical Stuart Mackenzie studies to become a minister. He has about as much concern for the outcome of the war as he does for South American sports scores. But his idealistic brother, a former bootlegger with ties to the Purple Gang, volunteers for the Royal Air Force. And when his Hurricane is shot down, Stuart abandons his studies to seek bloodthirsty revenge. 

But what he discovers unravels his world-view. Can a confirmed sceptic defeat a coven of Nazi sorcerers on their home ground? What chance will the mundane weapons of the Allied powers have against ancient magic and an artefact said to have slain the very Son of God?

The Guru's Review: 

This is my first book of Brines and it was the plot and genre that really attracted me to this. I had originally bought his short, The Spear of Destiny, which is a sub-plot of this novel, but when The Fist of God was reduced in price, it was too good to pass up. 

The first impression I received is that Brines writes extremely well and this novel is such a joy to read from that perspective. He is also very good at the first person narrative and this makes the main character Stuart Mackenzie one very three-dimensional character and very relational. Two strong pillars on which to build a very entertaining novel. 

Brines obviously has a passion for two main topics, WWII and the supernatural. Hardly surprising seeing he comes from a military background and has also grounded himself in the study of the occult and Christianity, being a Christian himself,

M.E. Brines spent the Cold War assembling atomic artillery shells and preparing to unleash the Apocalypse (and has a medal to prove it.) But when peace broke out, he turned his fevered, paranoid imagination to other pursuits. He spends his spare time scribbling another steampunk romance occult adventure novel, which despite certain rumors absolutely DOES NOT involve time-travelling Nazi vampires! A former member of the British Society for Psychical Research, he is a long-time student of the occult and a committed Christian who sees himself as a modern-day Professor Van Helsing equipping Believers for battle against the occult Principalities and Powers that rule a world in darkness. (Ephesians 6:12) The author of three dozen books, e-books, chapbooks and pamphlets on esoteric subjects such as alien abduction, alien hybrids, astrology, the Bible, biblical prophecy, Christian discipleship, conspiracies, esoteric Nazism, the Falun Gong, Knights Templar, magick, and UFOs, his work has also appeared in Challenge magazine, Weird Tales, The Outer Darkness, Tales of the Talisman, and Empirical magazine. 

Reading the Fist of God, it is easy to see that this passion and knowledge of the occult and the supernatural both from an occult and biblical point of view is very evident and makes for very absorbing reading. It is well known that Hitler was obsessed with the occult and the supernatural and amassed himself with an incredible hoard of religious artefacts. Brines uses this fact very well and it is one of the central themes of this novel that becomes more evident once the reader gets to the 60% mark. It is really at this point that this novel really takes off and the reader's interest deepens and becomes more of a "cannot put this book down" experience than the previous length of the novel up to that point. 

With Brines' writing style and well-developed first person narrative, his recreating of the WWII world, really does place the reader there. I felt as if I was an invisible character following Mackenzie and being part of what he experienced throughout his upbringing, the events that led to him joining the army, his quest for revenge and his subsequent many missions as a secret agent. All these events take up the majority of the novel and sets the stage for his most serious and risky mission, to steal the Spear of Destiny and thus deprive Hitler of the supernatural power that the Spear is believed to possess. It seems that these two plot lines are intertwined and despite the former aforementioned plot line taking up to 60% of the novel it does balance out the remaining 40% that deals with the attempt to steal the Spear. At first I was annoyed that this former length being this long but then realised that this story continues in Book 2, The Unholy Grail (available summer 2015), so it works out well. The ending is definitely open for this next instalment. 

My parents lived through WWII and I remember my mother saying that from the evilness that the Nazis perpetrated, she believed it was more of a spiritual war than a physical one. Brines is more than convinced of this. In the last 40% of his novel, he introduces the background to the evilness and spiritual aspects of this novel. He starts by having Mackenzie witness the satanic rituals performed by the Nazi sorcerers and their quest for more power from other deities. This provides proof to him that if these deities exist, then God exists and he has his faith in God restored and becomes a spiritual warrior quested to defeat them and destroy their attempts to win this war and extend their power worldwide. From this basis, it leads the plot into the next book. I felt Brines has depicted this satanic ritual really well and this supports what is known of Hitler being obsessed with religious artefacts and being involved in the occult. Brines' knowledge and study of the occult really shines here. He also shines when Mackenzie meets members of a resistance group (The White Rose) and one member, Sophie, presents the Christian world-view in this war very succinctly that stimulates Mackenzie's faith further and also exposes the behaviour and lies of Hitler and the Nazi theology back to the fall of Lucifer. Again, Brines' grasp of the occult here is accurate and true to the biblical account of the fall of Lucifer. The following account from Sophie (Christian resistance group) connects Hitler's motives to the occult and to Lucifer,

Every word that comes out of Hitler's mouth is a lie. If he says peace, he means war. If he, in his outrageous way, uses the name of the Almighty...what he means is the source of evil, the fallen angel, Lucifer. They are not just a political party wanting to introduce a few reforms. The Nazis are a totalitarian cult seeking to impose itself upon everything and everyone. This war is not a war for land, to move a notional border a few kilometres one way or another. It is a war for the soul of humanity. If the Nazis win, once they have crushed all opposition, a new Dark Age will begin, a Dark Age protracted by an incestuous alliance between ancient evil and modern technology.

I love Brines depiction of Sophie as one totally focussed and determined spiritual warrior, a real terrier who won't compromise her convictions as she shows how well grounded in God and the Bible she really is,

If you want to make a difference in this world, you can't do it just prattling good intentions from a sofa or a church pew. You have to go out onto the battlefield and do your part, no matter how small, because in this world, in the struggle against wickedness, we are the hands of God. 

And this leads to the book getting its title, The Fist of God, when Mackenzie states, 

Yeah?....well, little girly, in this world right now, what God really needs is a fist. 

And the rest of the novel shows Mackenzie becoming just that, The Fist of God, and continuing as such in the two future novels that will complete this  trilogy.  

I loved Sophie continuing to show her spiritual warrior nature as she continues her narrative of the Christian world-view and I found this compelling, 

We can take a stand against evil. That's more than our politicians ever did, more than the army generals, more than most in the church. There have been a few: .....Bonhoffer, Niemuller... but most of them have been arrested, so now it's up to us to continue the struggle until the victory. 

(Mackenzie): Or until you've arrested, too

 Perhaps. 

(Mackenzie): You don't seem very concerned. 

What's the worst the can do? Kill me? So I will miss out on a few short years on this Earth, and get to Heaven earlier. Should I love this life so strongly that I would betray both my country and myself and refuse the very calling of God? I think not. One cannot remain neutral. You must choose a side, for in not choosing to oppose evil you choose to embrace it. Did not Christ himself says, whoever is not for me is against me? Well, Herr Hitler has done the same. Whether you truly agree with him or not, your tax money goes to fund his world conquest anyway. Our children are conscripted into his armies. The produce of our farms and factories go to support his regime of evil. 

The Nazis go slowly now, on tiptoe, retreating from opposition. When they first began executing those in nursing homes and asylums, the outcry forced them to stop. Now, they continue as before, but secretly. Even with their control of newspapers and radio, they try to conceal the mass murders of the Jews and the atrocities on the Russian front. But the truth gets out. Still they continue, more and more boldly as they gain strength, and as active opposition fades or disappears completely into the night and fog never to be heard from again. Eventually, when they have crushed all opposition, their true nature will emerge from the shadows and be revealed for the Satanic cult that it is. By then it will be too late.  

Brines develops the spiritual theme further towards the end when Churchill has a confidential talk with Mackenzie. I found Churchill's narrative compelling and a great account from this novel,

Mackenzie: Sir, I've seen things you would not believe. I've seen supernatural powers at work. I've seen Nazi sorcerers and their pagan rituals. They have power. The Dark Gods favor them. Nobody believes me, but they'll listen to you. You've got to do something. 

 Further on Churchill states to Mackenzie, 

 I am not a what is considered a religious person.....come Judgement Day, I will have a lot to account for. But what I have done as Prime Minister will weigh heavily on the other end of the scale. I grew up in the Church, and I've read the Bible, and I know this: by invoking supernatural forces to slaughter the Jews, the Nazis have sealed their own doom. This war is no longer merely a struggle between the very gods themselves. God will not allow the Nazis' supernatural assistance to go unchallenged. 

Their compact with the evil gods has sealed their fate.....the Nazis have ensured their defeat and a terrible punishment to be metered out upon the German people: destruction of their cities, plundering by enemy armies, starvation and death on a Biblical scale. Their satanic rituals have not summoned the spirits of victory, but the Wrath of God and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In the end God will triumph.....

But until then, we must do our part. He demands from us nothing more than blood, toil, tears and sweat. The war will be long and terrible. This is not the beginning of the end, only the end of the beginning......go back to your regiment and do your best for King and Country. You believe in the power of the evil gods. Can you not trust in the power of the good? 

When the reader finishes this novel and discovers Brines' A Concise Timeline of World War II, the author asks the reader a question, 

Did the Nazis have supernatural assistance in World War II? Did the outcome of the war turn on the attempted genocide of the Jews? Watch the events and decide for yourself. 

Well, I did read the events as he outlined them in this Timeline and it clearly shows that when the Nazis started exterminating the Jewish people the events from then on, turned against the Nazis. So from this, I can see where Brines has based the account from Churchill and developed a very clever plot line. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel and it has whetted my appetite for the remaining two instalments. Despite having not read any of his previous non- fiction and fiction works, for any new reader new to this author, The Fist of God would be an excellent place to start. I am glad I started here. 

Highly Recommended. 

Impact (Fuzed Trilogy, Book 1) by David E Stevens

Book Description:

Winner of the 2014 Epic Award and ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year, Resurrect is a cross between The Bourne Identity, Avatar and Armageddon. It tackles the most likely and preventable cataclysms facing humanity.

What if you were fatally injured but offered a second chance in a genetically perfect body? The price? You don't look the same and everyone you knew believes you're dead. Oh, by the way, you have two years to prevent the extinction of humanity. 

Ridiculous plot? Not so fast. According to new research, the probability of a sudden global cataclysm is ten times more likely that we originally thought (see Author Page for video). A portion of all proceeds will be donated to non-profits, such as the B612 Foundation, that are working to protect humanity. 

This Kindle eBook is a Second Edition and has been updated from the paperback version in preparation for taking the Fuzed Trilogy to the movies.

The Guru's Review: 

I originally bought the first edition when it was released, thanks to Amazon's Recommendations. It remained on my kindle unread until Amazon advertised the updated 2nd edition recently. 

I knew from the description, and the fact that Stevens knows what he is talking about that I would like this book. Stevens is a Former Navy Commander, graduate of Strike Fighter Weapons School (“Top Bomb”), and nuclear weapons qualified, he served as the Navy’s Strike Operations Officer for the Persian Gulf during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. With a Top Secret clearance, he also developed classified weapon systems, test piloted new fighters and earned a patent. I think that more than qualifies him to know what he is talking about!

One thing I hate is when a new author writes about what they know and it ruins the novel because they don't write well, but I cannot say this about Stevens. He writes well and this definitely makes this novel all the more enjoyable and easier to understand with all the technical content he includes about how government defense forces work, aviation, military intelligence, science, and all things concerning astrophysics. Where some authors bog the reader down with too much information about an issue or background information distracting the reader and causing them to become disconnected from the plot, Stevens successfully avoids this by only including information that the reader and plot requires is worded carefully and concisely. After reading this novel constructed in this way, any reader is going to walk away with a better understanding of all the concepts and topics that Stevens has included. 

This novel grabs you from the start and does not let you go! Stevens keeps your curiosity piqued throughout. It is one very interesting construct where science and the supernatural intersect. It is very easy to see that the description of this novel being a cross between The Bourne Identity, Avatar and Armageddon is very true, and can only add to the various layers that this novel has in its development. Makes for one very action packed and totally absorbing read. 

One of the strengths of this novel is that everything is in its place, there is not too much or too little of any of its ingredients. It is one very well-rounded and very well-balanced novel. Another is the balance Stevens achieves integrating the knowledge of astrophysics, aviation, science, military and government politics with the action and adventure, suspense and even the element of romance that I feel fits in extremely well here. I do look forward to seeing how the relationship between Elizabeth and Josh develops in books 2 and 3. I do like romance in novels like this as long as it does not take over or stick out from the plot. I love romance written by male authors. Stevens does this well, and what he has included on this issue actually enhances the suspense of this novel. 

A major plot element is the genetically perfect body and enhanced abilities that Josh is given following his death.  As the reader progresses in the novel, it is tempting to see Josh as a superhero, but Stevens portrays Josh as a rather humble one and he does not see himself as such or expects the accolades or notoriety that we are used to being placed on characters such as these. Again it gets back to my comment previously that everything is balanced, but I can see that how Josh is developed is not the main focus of this novel but rather the reason he was created this way is, and that is for the mission that Jesse has given him. His enhanced human abilities are there to enable him to achieve this mission. It is really fun as well as enthralling seeing Josh use these abilities to achieve his mission. My kind of superhero! 

Stevens has entered the author arena on one very firm footing and comes across as a natural, one would not realise from reading this novel that he is a new author. It very encouraging for any author and reader to then have reviews either 4 or 5 stars on Amazon. Then the icing on the cake is to have their debut novel optioned to be made into a movie!  

I have an interview I recently conducted with Stevens that will be posted a few days after this review and it reveals a lot more about the background to this novel, the Fuzed Trilogy, and the author himself. It also has a giveaway of 5 copies of the updated 2nd edition (only published in kindle format). I encourage everyone to read it on this blog and consider entering in the giveaway. You won't regret reading this book!  

Took me a few days to come down to earth after finishing this novel. I look forward to Book 2 with great anticipation. 

Highly Recommended.