The RX Factor

What if there was a drug that could cure what ails you? Cancer? Diabetes? Alzheimer's? What if that drug wasn't FDA approved, yet in human clinical trials it was showing a 100% success rate? How far would you be willing to go to obtain it? What price would you be willing to pay?

In the latest medical suspense thriller, The RX Factor, takes the reader on an interesting journey between the world of the pharmaceutical business and those patients that are willing to risk anything to obtain the cure. But what it the "cure" wasn't really a cure after all but a way for the drug companies to make a huge profit at the risk of human lives? What if someone knew what they were doing and threatened to expose them? What if the government was involved in the biggest conspiracy to hit the medical community?

This is just some of what you will uncover as you meet Ryan Matthews, former FBI agent and biotech researcher who gets involved with Jordan Carver, a fellow cancer research scientist whose company is under the microscope for a corporate buyout. Because Jordan is willing to offer the success at a cure for far less than the larger drug companies, they want her silenced at any cost. So when the yacht she is staying on with her Aunt and Uncle is suddenly blown up moments before she is expected to arrive, it suddenly interests the local police into the investigation.

Ryan Matthews is attempting to start over again after losing his wife and children in a plane accident. Once at the top of his game, he had invented what he had hoped would be the cure for cervical and ovarian cancer. His motivation came from his wife, who was diagnosed with the disease and had only a couple of years to live. However when he learned that the vaccine was causing the cancer to grow instead of cure, he gave up all hope for healing his wife.

Now it seems that Ryan's previous drug being marketed under a new name is being sold to third world countries as a way to offer a cure that the FDA isn't willing to invest anymore interest in and the price tag for a possible cure is listed at $5 million dollars. Now it's up to Jordan and Ryan to try and solve whether a cure does in fact exist or are the drug companies merely a front for a bigger problem.



I received The RX Factor by J. Thomas Shaw compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours for my honest review. I was immediately drawn to the premise, because behind the big drug companies you often wonder if there are cures out there for such things as cancer, but because it would mean an end to hospital treatments and prescription drugs, the companies want to keep it under wraps so they can continue to make a profit. There are two different stories being challenged in this novel that become a tangle web of deception and suspense as the race for answers comes down to the wire. It will make you rethink every drug you take for whatever ails you in this suspense thriller. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

The RX Factor by J. Thomas Shaw

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Just How Far Are You Willing to Go?

It seems like the world around us is falling apart. People are getting sick, having more health issues, more surgeries, more financial issues, and in general finding it hard to make it in this world any more. Yet it seems like when I look around, all I can see is people burrowing in deeper and deeper. Avoiding stares, their neighbors and trying to keep their heads down and keep to themselves, while all around us people are in need of our help.

I even hear excuses that people are tired of helping everyone else and that it's someone else's turn to help. That just because help is needed, they are sick of being the one to do it. Really?

I'm not asking people to consider having people move in with them or emptying their bank accounts, but what I do notice takes me back to the Amish way of life. Where community isn't just about who your neighbors are but it may include others you don't really know but live near you. Whenever a crisis hits the Amish community, they rally together and the entire community helps out. They bring food, supplies, tools, whatever the crisis calls for in need, they supply in abundance. They don't keep records of whom they helped, or how many times they've been there for others, how much it has cost them in supplies, they simply do as much as they can.

What if our neighborhoods were so much more like the Amish community? What if people stopped living for themselves and looked out for others. The Amish believe that God will provide their daily needs so they don't worry about tomorrow. They don't worry about the things they didn't get to yesterday, they focus on today.

It makes me wonder, and I am just as guilty of this as most, how many of our neighbors could use help in some way? Perhaps someone is sick and could use the help in cleaning or watching their kids so they can get some rest. Perhaps it's someone who recently had surgery and they can't get out to visit, what about going to visit them, bring them a meal that they can simply pop in the oven or their favorite dessert, or perhaps taking care of some much needed errands for them.

I think the problem lies with simply being too selfish. We are simply too worried about ourselves, our families needs and what will happen if we help and it's never returned when we have a need. The thoughts should be who cares if they remember our needs when we are hurting. Jesus reminded us to take care of the poor, the sick, the needy, the widowed, the single parents, and I would wager that you know of someone who could use your help, but they will never ask out of pride. Yet if you showed up with genuine concern, not only would you find your help appreciated, but we would show them just what being a Christian means.

I think the Amish do a great job as teaching the world what it means to be followers of Christ. They aren't perfect and too often the world spends too much time trying to figure out their motives, instead of just seeing that what they do, is simply done if love, no conditions, no paybacks, or records of how often they have come through for others. What a different world this would be!

Sure there are bound to be people that would take advantage of our kindness, but I think the world would be better off with more kindness than worrying about greed. Greed is our motivation now, what's in it for us, for our families, if we help out. I think that is sending people the wrong message. If you think about it, God supplies our daily needs, not weekly, yearly or ten years from now, but just for today. So in the world today, there are enough families for orphans to love and care for, their is enough medicine to take care of those in need, there is enough food and water for everyone, and the world could be a better place.

We need to be willing to step outside our comfort zones and stop waiting for someone else to do it, we need to be the ones. If we could motivate our homes to help, then our neighbors, then our communities, cities, counties and states, the world would look a whole lot different.

Just how far are you willing to go to help someone out today?

The challenge has been issued.

Porch Lights

Porch Lights are a sign of welcome or a symbol that you are waiting for someone to come home and that's exactly what you, the reader, will find when you read the latest novel by Dorothea Benton Frank, Porch Lights!

I guess the hardest thing for someone to deal with in life is to lose someone that they love. Dealing with the loss and finding a way to move forward when it feels like you lack the motivation to do so would be a challenging thing to do. Yet that is exactly what Jackie and Charlie McMullen are trying to do. Finding a way to move forward without Jimmy McMullen, who was killed as a New York fireman when the building he was in collapsed, living Jackie without a husband and young, ten-year-old, Charlie without a dad.

Now Jackie is trying to find a way to pull Charlie out of a lingering depression that is consuming his life. Withdrawing as an Army nurse, Jackie takes a trip back to her childhood home on Sullivan's Island in Charleston to stay the summer with her mom, Annie Britt in hopes of finding a solution. What she learns there is a process of letting go of the pain but retaining the love and memories she has of her life with Jimmy and begin building a new one. Along the way she learns how much she needs to change as well as the beach begins to sooth away the worn and sharp edges of her past. She learns to let Charlie begin to experience his own challenges as a boy growing up, from skateboarding with the friends he meets, sleep overs, baseball games and learning a different way of life from the one he left behind before the summer.

Along the way, Charlie and Jackie have plenty of help from not only Jackie's mom Annie, but her father, Buster who comes and stays with them to help Charlie make the transition much easier doing stuff a father and son might. A neighbor next door to Annie's, is a local doctor, Steven Plofker, who offers Charlie a job walking his dogs and taking care of them for the summer while teaching him the value of a job and responsibility. He is also very interested in Jackie seeing as they both share losing a spouse in common.

The delight the reader finds in Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank is a life that is much more simple. Spending the days walking along the beach in search of the ocean's treasures, sharing homemade ice cream from an old fashioned crank machine, and just memories of grilled bar-b-que meals eaten in the company of close family and friends on porch, calls the reader home in a serene way. Healing begins for all of them and changes how they view life as they work together to move forward in the next chapters of their life. Dorothea paints such a splendid canvas for the reader, you can smell the salty air and feel the cool ocean breezes in her latest novel.



I received Porch Lights compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins publishers for my honest review. If you are truly looking for a memorable summer read, than search no further and pick this one up. It is such a treasure to find a difficult subject like the loss of someone dear is something to be shared with family and friends and in the end changes them all and brings healing no one really expected. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and the cast of supporting characters Dorothea created make this an exceptionally fun read, especially Jackie's mom, Annie who fears aging the most!

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this summer treasure today, please click on the links below:

Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank

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Touching The Sky

Laura Marquardt soon learns that being a strong, smart and independent women will win her the attention of two very different men and for two very different reasons in the historical fiction, Touching the Sky by Tracie Peterson. Set in the mid 1800's at the end of the civil war between the states, hostilities still run high between the North and South and those who remain loyal to either side. The Marquardt household even though residing the Texas maintain loyalties with the North with the Ironclad Oath. It seems however that some animosity still resides among their own citizens in Texas to the Marquardt family.

Most of their friends and family believed that the Emancipation Proclamation wasn't such a good idea and now will Lincoln dead, many feel that the war needs to rise up once again in the South. So when Malcolm Lowe arrives to begin courting Carissa Marquardt and eventually marry her, he has more on his mind that just wedding plans. Malcolm Lowe served in the Southern army and isn't so happy to have people like Captain Brandon Reid living among them as well as most of colored troops that he served over from the North. Now Malcolm is making plans with other men who feel the same as he does to make sure that the South will rise up and claim what they feel is their just reward and to take as many of the Yankees and colored with them.

Captain Reid is assigned to find out information about Malcolm whom the Northern Army feels is up to no good in Texas, so when he is asked to attend a party at the Marquardt's, he doesn't plan on falling for Laura in the process. Yet trying to keep both of his obligations separate, he struggles with wanting to tell her the truth about his actions so she doesn't believe that he is using her to get close to Malcolm. So when an opportunity presents itself that Laura finds out information about Malcolm that she believes he is planning to murder innocent people, it provides an open door for Brandon to help her without telling her everything. But will he have the opportunity to be completely honest with her before Malcolm's plans have a chance to be carried out, or will Laura find herself in danger without an opportunity to know just how Brandon feels?

I received Touching the Sky by Tracie Peterson compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and found this story captivating. On one end you have the building tension between Malcolm and his hate for the Northern supporters and on the other side, the romance building between Brandon and Laura which keeps you wondering just where this will all end. This is the second book in the Land of the Lone Star series and I can't wait to see where this one will conclude. If you haven't read the first book in this series, this book can be enjoyed as a stand alone. However, being a huge fan of Tracie Peterson's novels, I know you will want to go back and enjoy the first one as well. She writes so well and is noticeable of her time periods. I think this is the draw readers enjoy as they immerse themselves into the story. For that I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information on Touching the Sky, Tracie Peterson, and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Touching the Sky by Tracie Peterson

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Harvest of Rubies

Some of the most amazing things I've discovered through Christian Historical Fiction, is the author's talent to weave a story about someone from the Bible in a whole new way through their fictional novel. In fact, sometimes it's so well written it sounds as if we were a part of that story and the character is someone we got to know through their words.

That is just what you, as a reader, will find when you open the cover of Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar. Here you are immediately drawn back into 457 BC to the home of Sarah, Nehemiah's cousin, where we find she struggles to find the attention of her father. Now that Sarah has taught herself to read, something forbidden for women, her father is more than pleased at her new found abilities and offers to help her learn more. However, her Aunt Leah, confronts her father and explains how this might get them all in trouble if anyone finds out. When he isn't willing to give up helping Sarah, Leah confronts Nehemiah who works in the palace as a way of convincing them both of their foolish ways.

When Nehemiah shows up, he reminds them all of Queen Esther's gifts of saving God's people through her beauty, and tells Sarah to continue to pursue her love of reading because no one knows just how God will chose to use her gifts in the future. Now she is able to read Persian, read and write Akkadian, another complicated language practiced only by royal scribes for the keeping of important administrative records but also Aramaic as well. Becoming a proficient keeper of records in an empire that relied on its administrative skill to prosper made Sarah a valuable commodity to her father. By the time she was twenty, she was more scribe than woman. Yet the God that Nehemiah spoke so highly of, was one Sarah now couldn't believe in. He was the one she blamed for her mother's death, believing that he was simply too busy to bother with their daily needs. It was Nehemiah that made certain that Sarah learned Hebrew after discovering her discouragement with God. Once Nehemiah is satisfied that Sarah has learned proficiently enough, he informs her and her father, that she shall now serve as the Queen's senior scribe and live at the palace for such a post.

It is here that Sarah's life will be forever changed and where the book Harvest of Rubies begins the adventure to live in a palace - to be surrounded by beauty and culture and new wonders. To occupy such a high position - one rarely enjoyed by a woman, no less. To have her abilities acknowledged in such a public fashion. Her life will serve a purpose she could never have conceived. This is a door that the Lord has opened for Sarah. God who has called her will also equip her. Everything she lacks will be provided. Now if she can only get over her fear of failure.

I have had the delight to read a previous novel by Tessa Afshar, Pearl in the Sand, and she truly does possess a beautiful gift for words in taking your typical Bible story and weaving a completely different light on it, while still capturing the essence of the Bible. For this reason, I know if you love great Historical Bible Fiction, then you will absolutely LOVE Harvest of Rubies. I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and have to give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. Here's even more information on this book, the author and even a sneak peek into the first chapter:

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Harvest of Rubies River North; New Edition edition (May 1, 2012) by Tessa Afshar



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TESSA AFSHAR was voted "New Author of the Year" by the Family Fiction sponsored Reader's Choice Award 2011 for her novel Pearl in the Sand. She was born in Iran, and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She moved to England where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. Tessa holds an MDiv from Yale University where she served as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. She has spent the last thirteen years in full-time Christian work.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Remarkable Talent Threatens to Cloud a Life



The prophet Nehemiah’s cousin can speak several languages, keep complex accounts, write on tablets of clay, and solve mysteries. Her accomplishments catapult her into the center of the Persian court – working long hours, rubbing elbows with royalty, and becoming the queen’s favorite scribe.

Not bad for a woman living in a man’s world: so why does Sarah feel like a failure?

A devastating past has left Sarah with two conclusions: that God does not love her, and that her achievements are the measure of her worth – a measure she can never quite live up to.

Darius Pasargadae is accustomed to having his way. A wealthy and admired aristocrat, the last thing he expects is a wife who scorns him.

Can two such different people help one another overcome the idols that bind them?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Harvest of Rubies, go HERE.

God on the Streets of Gotham

In light of all the recent summer blockbusters coming to the big screen, I thought I would share with you an incredible book, I had the privileged to get to read and review. It's Paul Asay's debut book, God on the Streets of Gotham, What the Big Screen Can Teach Us About God and Ourselves. I have to say if you're a Christian and love super heroes, then you will LOVE this one.

Here's just a sample of the synopis from the rear cover:

"For more than seventy years, Batman has captured the imagination of millions of people worldwide. First created in the 1930's, Batman has become a cultural icon in comics, television, and films. Why does the story of Batman continue to fascinate? Why does this dark hero inspire millions of us?"

I think Paul does a fabulous job at walking through all the different media aspects in search of these answers and holds them up to the light of God's word. Here are just some of the incredible passages I highlighted in my reading:

"Batman is no lunatic. He is no villain. He is a hero, pressed into service by a source he may be only dimly aware of. He believes in goodness even if he doesn't call it God. Perhaps he's like the disciple Thomas, who heard the call to follow, but didn't quite understand who he was really following.

But because Batman perhaps doesn't perfectly understand his calling or the implications thereof, he can sometimes get a little lost. He can grow confused in his role and sometimes his values can get a little scrambled. He is prone, like most of us can be at times, to place his trust in the wrong things and his faith in the wrong people. We all lose sight of God and sometimes chase after the nearest approximation. And sometimes he literally follows the wrong guy." (pg 18).

"He is not much like Superman, but he is something like Moses, David and Peter. The Bible doesn't sugarcoat our heroes for us or tell us they're anything but pretty sorry, flawed folks. And yet God takes them and makes them special, even great, just as he does with us. God takes badness and makes it good. He takes shadow and shines a light - if not on it, at least in it. He transforms us not from the outside but from within.

Is it surprising, then, that Batman would see some light and hope in Gotham as well? The place may be bad, filled with all manner of corruption, but there's goodness to be found underneath the grime. It isn't Sodom, without even ten righteous people. It can still be saved. It can still be redeemed - if only someone would care enough to help the cause along. Someone with a little faith. " (pg. 15).

This is just a small sampling of the fine work that Paul Asay does in dissecting all the parts that make up both the man, Bruce Wayne, but Batman as well. He analysis the villains, his partners, his tools of the trade and what it all means through comic books, movies and the television series and why we all need to believe in a hero. Not just in Jesus, but that a hero lies within us all to seek out to be a better person and to care for those in need.

I received God on the Streets of Gotham by Paul Asar compliments of Tyndale House Publishers for my honest review and highly recommend this to any one who loves super heroes, both young and old alike. Paul Asay is the associate editor at Plugged In, a ministry that reaches more than six million people with movie reviews that help people understand popular cultural trends and how they intersect with spiritual issues. I easily award this book a 5 out of 5 stars in my personal opinion and for me as a parent, this book makes a great resource for balancing things out in the world and what God would want us to see. I think this does nothing more than point us to Jesus Christ in all the things we do today. There is a light within the darkness if we but only are willing to search for it. For now, I'm off to enjoy watching Batman Begins again with a greater sense of purpose.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up your copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

God on the Streets of Gotham by Paul Asay

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Necessary Heartbreak

What would you do if you found yourself transported completely by accident into the Biblical past, back to the time of Jesus' ministry just before the crucifixion? Well that is exactly what happens to Michael Stewart and his daughter, Elizabeth.

Having many struggles early on in his life, Michael now finds himself raising his daughter, Elizabeth on his own, having lost his wife, Vicki. Now Michael has turned his back on his faith in God and in a surprising turn of events, while helping out a food drive at the local church, Elizabeth disappears into the basement behind an ancient door in the floor. When Michael attempts to go after her, they find themselves transported into first-century Jerusalem during the last week of Jesus Christ's life.

Not exactly being dressed in local attire and coming to the aid of a man being severely beaten by Roman soldiers, Michael is arrested for interfering. He soon finds out the man he attempted to rescue was Barabbas, accused of murdering a Roman soldier. Now trapped within an ancient prison, all Michael wants to do is find Elizabeth and get back to their real home. Elizabeth finds herself the center of unwanted attention when one of the Roman soldiers, Marcus, sees a possible wife in finding her. Now she must remain hidden while the Passover feast begins and the city is swarming with soldiers and citizens. She finds shelter and security being taken in by a local woman named Leah, who knows Michael already. How is that possible if they just entered Jerusalem today?

When Michael is released from prison, he thinks it's because he's befriended by Marcus, only he is using Michael as bait to find Elizabeth. When Michael attempts to find Elizabeth in the busy city, he comes face to face with Jesus Christ as he is entering the city on Palm Sunday. Will Michael and Elizabeth ever find their way back home, or does God have bigger plans by transporting Michael back in the past to find his love for Christ again?

In the novel, Necessary Heartbreak by Michael J. Sullivan, the reader is given a great look into the historical world of ancient Jerusalem and how we might view this time in history through the eyes of Michael and Elizabeth. This is Michael Sullivan's debut novel and I was fortunate enough to read the sequel to this one first, Everybody's Daughter and immediately found the connection between the two stories. This is a fantastic series for anyone who loves Bible history and who would love to go back in time without the fear of being really trapped there like our characters from the story. I love how both characters view this opportunity to meet Jesus in this once in a lifetime moment.

I received this book compliments of Michael J. Sullivan for my honest review and once again have to applaud his talents as a writer. Even though this is his debut novel, it was well thought out and the story line is amazing. It truly holds the readers attention throughout and wonder just what the interactions will be during their trip into the past. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and if you love science fiction blended with a bit of history with a Christian twist, then this is the perfect book for you.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Necessary Heartbreak by Michael J. Sullivan

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