Review of The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker

I thoroughly enjoyed Ted Dekker’s novel, The Bride Collector, so I snatched up The Priest’s Graveyard in an instant. However, I found it to be nowhere near as suspenseful or exciting as Collector.


The Priest’s Graveyard reads more like a love story, albeit a violent one. Told in rotating viewpoints, first person from Renee Gilmore’s pov and third person from Father Danny Hansen, the story follows the pair as they are brought together by unfortunate circumstances and continue on the same dangerous path.

Hansen was born and raised in northern Bosnia and witnessed the rape and murder of his mother and sisters at the young age of fifteen. Scarred for life, he becomes a resistance fighter and manages within two years to kill the men responsible for his family’s murders.

After immigrating to the United States and becoming a priest, Danny continues his avenging angel ways. He stalks his victims for weeks, watching and studying their movements before he strikes. He’s very similar to Showtime’s Dexter, since he goes after the worst offenders, those who prey on the weaknesses of innocent people, and those who use money and power to oppress.

Renee Gilmore is a drug addict with an abusive boyfriend. During a bad trip, she is rescued from a brutal beating by a guardian angel, Lamont Meyers. He nurses her back to health, treats her addiction, makes her fall in love with him, and then disappears for good.

She knows who’s responsible for his death, Lamont’s employer Jonathan Bourque.

In the meantime, Danny has caught the scent of Bourque as worthy of his ‘attentions’. His mission becomes hopelessly tangled with Renee, who demands he include her in his vengeful task. Danny tries to put her off but she persists.

And persists.

Danny finally agrees to train her and take her in his vendetta against Bourque after she wears him down. Then she systematically sabotages everything Danny plans as she exerts her own agenda, wanting to destroy Bourque on her own time, on her own terms.

One of the most tedious aspects of the book was Renee’s repeated stupid acts that kept ruining Danny’s well-organized plans. I became exasperated with her antics.

But the plans to avenge Bourque’s crimes against humanity provides only a back drop for the blossoming romance between Danny and Renee which grows large enough to take over the whole book.

Among the sneaking around, breaking in places, and shoot-outs, each finds the heart they thought they had lost forever. The violence gives The Priest’s Graveyard its edge but the love story, although never mushy, softens the cut. Not exactly chick-lit but not on the same level as The Bride Collector.

Cover for my new novel, "Inside Passage to Murder"

JMS Books, LLC is publishing my novel, "Inside Passage to Murder".  It's a new mainstream novel from the Psionic Corps, which has been introduced in the Corey Shaw mysteries I've published under the name "Alex Morgan".  This series will follow Corey's colleagues as they solve mysteries in their own states and around the world.  We decided on a cover this past week and here it is!  Love it!


Synopsis:

Paranormal sleuth Mark Shotridge has a dream that indicates a cruise ship operating in Alaskan waters is in trouble. He books passage on the ship to investigate his vision. After leaving Seward the first night at sea, Mark has another vision that suggests someone has been thrown overboard into the icy waters of the north Pacific. However, nobody is reported missing and Mark begins to question his special abilities.


Soon crew member is found murdered in his cabin and Mark is certain that there is more going on than he originally suspected. The body count rises and he realizes that a serial killer might be on board but what is the reason behind the murders?
Mark must use all of his powers to stop a ruthless killer before the ship docks in Vancouver, British Columbia. Otherwise the tourism industry and the economy of Alaska may be destroyed.

 
 
Excerpt:
 
Mark Shotridge stirred in his bed. Then consciousness returned in a rush. He sat up, startled. Something had disturbed his sleep. Shivering, he tucked his arms back underneath the warm covers and listened, trying to determine what woke him. Nothing in the house stirred and he couldn’t discern anything moving around outside either. There was just the rain making soft noises as it dropped from the eaves and was too quiet to have roused him.


“September in Alaska,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. The dim gray light filtering through the windows told him the sun hadn’t risen yet.

So much for sleeping in on a Sunday morning. Mark rose and shuffled to the window, peeked through the slats in the blinds, and blinked at the gray light, bright in comparison to the darkness of the bedroom.

In the distance, heavy clouds hung low over Juneau. He wrinkled his nose at the musty odor of dampness seeping into every nook and cranny of his house.

The short summer was fading fast. It seemed like winter came to Alaska earlier every year. And stayed longer.

His thoughts returned to his sudden awakening.

He could have been awakened by a wild animal wandering past. His house lay in a rural area, with undeveloped land all around, overlooking Gastineau Inlet. Bears were a frequent sight, foraging for food in the humans’ habitats, but Mark couldn’t see any evidence of one passing, the usual sign of which was trash strewn across the yard. Moose, also common in these parts, tended to leave the trash alone.

In the distance a dog barked, but the sound wouldn’t have awakened him. Besides which, if a bear or a moose were anywhere nearby, every dog in the neighborhood would be engaged in a frenzy of barking.

Across the bay, Mark could just make out the lights of the city of Douglas. Traffic was starting to pick up on the Glacier Highway, running north and south far below his house, past the bay into the capital, toward the docks where the cruise ships disgorged hundreds of tourists each week. He couldn’t see the highway from his house, but the sound of traffic reached his ears.

Cruise ships.

SOS!


Save Our Ship.

Review of Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie

After reading Robert Massie’s biography of Empress Catherine II of Russia, all I can say is ‘Wow!’ At a whopping 574 pages, Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman is a fantastic and captivating read into one of the most powerful women in history. He dismisses the myths surrounding her sudden rise to power and her thirty-five year reign. No storming the palace with soldiers riding horseback through the corridors as she deposes her husband, Peter III. No wanton duchess seducing military officers to support her and her coup. No unnatural love of horses.


Massive shows a woman, a benevolent monarch, who ruled her massive kingdom through long periods of peace, but when provoked, who could raise a formidable army to quash her foes.

He also shows a woman desperate for love and to be loved. She arrives in Russia at the tender age of fourteen to be betrothed to the future emperor who is cold and indifferent to her. To his credit, Peter III was raised in a series of unfortunate circumstances that left him incapable of love. He basically becomes a pawn by his aunt, Empress Elizabeth, to secure the Romanov line for the throne, but has no interest in ruling Russia.

Catherine has beauty, intelligence and wit, which make her immensely popular with the Russian people. She uses those talents to her benefit. Eventually, she sees that she is more capable, more qualified and more passionate for the throne than Peter.

Once in place as monarch, she sets about making Russia a world power, bringing the country back to its glory days as it was under Peter the Great, her husband’s grandfather.

She became one of the preeminent art collectors in the world. She helped advance medicine, including the smallpox inoculation, and hospital care in Russia. She absolutely detested torture and refused its implementation in interrogation even in extreme cases. Although reluctant to enter war, she massed a considerable army with shrewd military leaders who put down a Cossack revolt and thwarted Turkish advancement. She politely refused King George III’s persistent entreaties to aid England in their war against its American colonies.

Despite her magnificence in ruling a country, she had her flaws. By taking handsome men much younger than her as lovers, she scandalized European courts who thought nothing of a male monarch with young women as mistresses.

I’ve read Massie’s The Romanovs: The Final Chapter (twice) and he treat Catherine the Great with the same respect, candor and warmth as Nicholas and Alexandria.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman is a must-read for all students of history.

The Grove, Los Angeles, California

The Grove in Los Angeles, that's all the rage these days.

A live Christmas tree.

This narcissitic S.O.B. was inviting people to have their picture taken with him.  There ain't a wide angle lens in the world big enough to capture your ego, dude.

Especially when less than fifty feet away is a Ferrari parked in front of Robert Downey, Jr.'s movie poster.  Two yummies!

Hearst Castle - Roman Pool

The tennis courts.

The outside of the Roman pool.

The high diving board.

Hearst Castle - Grand Rooms

The grand entrance.

This is the reception room where guests would gather for cocktails before dinner.

The magnificent dining room.

The billiard room.

Hearst Castle - Upper Bedrooms

The library. 

The oldest piece in Hearst's collection is a vase from about 2700BC.

The reading room where Hearst had newspapers from around the world delivered.

The bachelor's bedroom (two-story).  Guests could not share a bed unless they were married.  Ironic, since Hearst lived openly with his girlfriend (his wife wouldn't grant him a divorce) as a couple. 

Do as I say. 

Don't do as I do.