The Fifth Column

Another day, another air raid. For Detective Inspector John Jago,  there's nothing unusual when two men report a body at one of the air raid sites.  However, the initial investigation reveals that the body wasn't at the site the previous night, and no bombs had fallen in the area since. Could it be foul play? Supplies have gone missing from the classified office where the young woman worked; her sister seems indifferent, and not all stories match up.  As Jago investigates the case, it seems everyone has something to hide....

The Fifth Column by Mike Hollow is the first novel in a new series, The Blitz Detective. As the title suggests, the novel focuses on a British detective during WWII.  The historical setting provides both atmosphere and motivation for several plot elements without becoming too dense for causal reading.

Mysteries aren't my usual reading fare, but I'm familiar with the basic genre conventions.  Two writing elements stood out for me in this book. First, the number of characters and perspectives. I'm not sure how common this  tactic is in mysteries (historical or otherwise), but there were at least half a dozen characters/perspectives in the book. While they did overlap to a certain extent, it made it tricky to judge which information would be relevant to the murder. It's not the same as red herrings or false leads, but I'm not quite used to it.

The second aspect I noticed (related if one likes to try solving mysteries ahead of the book) is that some of the motivations would have been inexplicable if they had not been spelled out by characters. For example, 1940s methods of dying hair have a certain relevance, but I didn't even think about it until one of the female characters brings it up to Jago.  It's not the sort of thing a single man would know, but it still seemed ....lecturish?

I would probably still recommend this book, but I doubt I'll reread it,

I was given a free copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for an honest review.

Amish Vampires in Space

This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.
Amish Vampires in Space exists. And it's exactly what it says on the cover. When their planet's sun enters its red-giant phase, an Amish colony must decide whether to accept the help of a spaceship to evacuate. But their troubles don't end after the decision is made...
This book began as a joke: Amish titles dominate the Christian publishing industry, while vampires are trending in secular markets, especially the YA subgenre. But despite the parodist elements, the novel has carefully developed characters. The author has considered how Amish pacifism would respond to vampires, as well as setting up conflict between the spaceship crew and the Amish. It also avoids the reverence of Amish culture common in many Christian novels while still treating them with respect.

Lucy's Temptation

While rewatching VOTDT, I was remembered how much I disliked Lucy's temptation scene. Oh, the magician's house is absolutely beautiful, especially with the snow, but by the Lion's Mane, why did her temptation scene have to deal with physical appearance? It's not entirely invented--she did see images of herself beautiful in the book, but far more than that--

She saw herself throned on high at a great tournament in Calormen and all the Kings of the world fought because of her beauty. After that it turned from tournaments to real wars, and all Narnia and Archenland, Telmar and Calormen, Galma and Terebinthia, were laid waste with the fury of the kings and dukes and great lords who fought for her favour. Then it changed and Lucy, still beautiful beyond the lot of mortals, was back in England. And Susan (who had always been the beauty of the family) came home from America. The Susan in the picture looked exactly like the real Susan only plainer and with a nasty expression. And Susan was jealous of the dazzling beauty of Lucy, but that didn't matter a bit because no one cared anything about Susan now.

She has a strong feeling that she shouldn't say the spell, but looks at the words anyway.  However, in the middle of the page she sees the face of Aslan, and instead, enacts a spell which lets her know what her friends think of her.  When she hears two of her friends belittling her, she thinks

I wonder are all my friends the same? There are lots of other pictures. No. I won't look at any more. I won't, I won't' and with a great effort she turned over the page, but not before a large, angry tear had splashed on it.

To be honest, I think this scene would have been far more interesting. I know a lot of girls struggle with  appearance, but it doesn't fit Lucy's character. She is concerned about other peoples' opinion, but in a different way. Both in LWW and in Prince Caspian, she is deeply hurt when people don't believe that she is telling the truth. Also, a temptation involving friends hits much closer to home for me. During high school, I had acquaintances, buddies, but no peers I would classify as friends. Even now, at college, I feel unreasonable panic when one of my friends chooses to hang out with another and I'm left alone. Not always, but in certain circumstances..

Once Upon a Time: The Cricket Game

Have you never done anything worthy of binding or of worse punishment? However, that is not for me to judge, happily. --Faramir, The Two Towers 

 Since the "winter finale" of Once Upon a Time, I've been nervous about Regina's redemption arc, and last night's episode, "The Cricket Game," fulfilled some of those fears. It started out fine--even humorously, with Emma and Henry walking on ....er Snowing. I mean, they're married, so it's fine from a moral standpoint, but so, so awkward. And David's response:

It's impressive that we can still provide her with a few traumatic childhood memories at this stage of the game.

That's absolutely hilarious. But then...it went downhill from there. Cora, disguised as Regina, killed Archie (except she didn't, not really).  The moment she started throttling him, I knew it was really Cora, but I could see the whole episode laid out. They'd believe Regina did it, and Emma would defend Regina for no logical reason. But what made it worse was seeing all the chances  Snow had given her before. They knew she was dangerous, a threat to them and the whole realm as long as she lived, but they still let her live, judging her actions by a clearly generous standard.
The whole plot makes me want to gag. Because Regina's innocent of this particular murder, it makes people more inclined to consider her innocent of all her previous shenanigans.  It goes back to the Tolkien quote I put at the top of this review. When Faramir captured Gollum at the Forbidden Pool, he expressed gratitude that he didn't have to judge Gollum on any charges besides trespassing, but implies such charges still exist. I wish something like that had been put in this episode.
Emma's characterization here was incredibly sloppy. One moment she's all REGINA IS INNOCENT and the moment after seeing Pongo's memory she was all REGINA MUST DIE. I just want Snow and Charming to sit down with her and say: This is everything Regina did to us. We gave her chances--so many chances--but I wouldn't trust her for five minutes.  It feels so wrong, so unlike her...

The Eternity Clock

I am not a frequent gamer; I've never owned a game system or bought any non-educational games. Even so, I was thrilled when "The Eternity Clock" finally came out for PC. After all, what Whovian wouldn't be thrilled at the prospect of running around as River and Eleven?

The mechanics are good, easy to understand even if you're using a keyboard for controls. The graphics are smooth and of good quality. There were one or two points where the character froze and refused to move, as well as a moment of green tinting while escaping Stormcage when the trap lights affected the whole screen. I also have to log off via task manager, but that might just be me. The audio can be controlled, setting it louder or quieter, with subtitles as an option as well.

In single-player format, one switches between playing as the Doctor and as River. At first, one plays as the Doctor trying to escape the London Bank, but it switches to River in Stormcage. After she joins him, she becomes a NPC and the user plays the Doctor. The main difference between the two is that the Doctor uses his sonic, while River takes a more aggressive approach with her lipstick and gun.

It's a really fun game to play. I enjoyed breaking out of Stormcage, even if the method of disabling guards (the hallucinogenic lipstick) resulted in such thoughts as "stop running around and let me kiss you!" I'm also a Doctor/River shipper, and enjoyed some feels from the scenes with them together. I could just imagine River making sarcastic comments when I made a mistake controlling the Doctor: "Sweetie, why are you impersonating a gibbon?" or "Stop running around and give me a boast. I hate you sometimes."

It's only $10, which seems a reasonable price to me. Here's the US link. 

The Thirteenth Tribe

After the golden calf incident at the base of Mount Sinai, a small group was cursed with immortality. Throughout the centuries, they attempt to earn heaven by conducting vigilante killings of people they judge to be sinners. Meanwhile, the head of security for an archelogical dig near Mt. Sinai gets drawn into their schemes.
I generally like sci-fi and thrillers, but I felt the author wasted a lot of character potential in favor of action. For example, the youngest of the immortals is about seven. Does she ever think of growing up? Get frusterated because she's never going to be able to fall in love? Apart from one twist near the end, it was fairly predictable and "safe"--the fear for the main characters was more from the genre, not any circumstance.
2 of 5


* I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Replication

I recieved this book through Zonderhaven's Z Street program for teens. The story of a clone called Martyr and an average teenage girl named Abbey. Without giving any plot, I will say that it was an engaging read that gripped my attention. I also liked how Abbey's slight preachiness to her dad was shown with realistic consquences.

Ascent from Darkness: A True Story

Note to self: do not read the biography of a former Satanist just before your professor assigns Marlowe's Doctor Faustus for class. It adds an entirely new layor of creepiness to the story.
Ascent from Darkness is the autobiography of Michael Leehan, who became a Satanist at age thirty-three. For twenty years, he was in bondage to Satan, until he accepted the mighty power of Christ over darkness.
This book exposed an area of spiritual warfare I have no experiance or awareness of whatsoever. I suspect many American believers would say the same thing. But although the descriptions were dark and graphic, I would still recommend this book for solid believers wanting more information about the spiritual reality we often forget.
Four stars

* I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."