War Songs by Brett Nelson Blog Tour Book Review

About the Book

Book: War Songs

Author: Brett Nelson

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction/Spiritual Warfare

Release Date: February 6, 2022

Trigger Warning: WAR SONGS is free of profanity and sexual situations (There is some mild slang terminology spoken by fallen angels and certain human characters, ex: c**p, w**re, etc). Also, there is one short scene in the book that depicts violence with very minimal graphic details that could be triggering and/or upsetting for some readers.

There is an invisible realm around us that we can neither discern with our eyes nor hear with our ears. This invisible realm is where the powers of darkness and light reside. They can see and hear us, but we cannot see and hear them.

Jenner Alekson is a leader in his praise and worship band that travels extensively in the tri-state area of Cape Kennington, North Carolina. He makes little money in his chosen profession, yet the rewards he reaps in obedience to his call of ministry are eternal, and that’s enough for him.

Always happy with all aspects of his existence, Jenner is blindsided when his life suddenly catapults into turmoil, and he is thrust into a crossroads where discontentment, anger, and loss of desire to carry the gospel with his song takes root in an otherwise sheltered and stable life.

Unbeknownst to Jenner, his wife Hyacinth, and best friends Camden and Lucas, a spiritual war rages around them. The powers of darkness will try their best to derail Jenner’s spiritual walk, his marriage, his ministry, then ultimately his life.

Meanwhile across the country, rough and gruff long-haul trucker Arnold Collins leads a different kind of life. He’s a recovering drunk who chases women and is unhappy with an unloving, belligerent wife who could out-cuss any man who ever dared to challenge her. Without a warm and inviting place to call home, Arnold prefers the wide-open road before him.

As he rumbles across the terrain of small-town America one lonely night in his eighteen-wheeler, grumbling about his unfulfilling lot in life, he happens upon a radio preacher. Not interested in religion, he flips past the station with mutters of disdain, but for reasons he cannot explain, he is compelled back to it and hears a sermon he doesn’t understand but can’t get out of his mind.

Will the schemes of the powers of darkness pull Jenner away from the faith that means everything to him? And will the same powers prevent Arnold from finding the faith he needs but never wanted?

Heaven and Earth, light and dark, good and evil, are about to collide in ways Jenner and Arnold and those they love could never imagine.

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

This novel introduces readers to the unseen world of spiritual warfare and ultimately, heaven. We see how demons try to derail Christians in their witness and daily lives, such as keeping them busy doing religious acts rather than actually loving their neighbors. Nelson covers many issues in the novel. We get realistic views of how Christians behave under demonic attack, harsh bickering and crude talk, depression, and more. We also get a realistic view of non-Christians and their worldly pursuits, from seeking popularity to getting drunk to the excitement of murder. Nelson includes extended discussions on some topics like speaking in tongues and whether Christians should drink alcohol. He also includes some spiritual lessons, such as not judging others by appearance and the purpose of trials, and the power of music and intercessory prayer in spiritual warfare.

Because so many issues are covered and lessons included, this is a really long book. I would have preferred something a little shorter, perhaps making it two novels. Nonetheless, this novel introduces a new generation to the reality of the spirit realm those of us older readers encountered in the exciting Frank Peretti novels of the 1980s.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author

Brett Nelson is an Amazon TOP 5 BEST-SELLING author. “When Raindrops Fall” and “War Songs” hit #4 and #2 respectively in the Christian fiction genre, and “A Christmas to Live For” hit #9 in Christian Fiction. He lives in Arkansas, where he was born and raised. He wrote his first novel in 2012, just to see if he could. His goal is to write stories of fiction that are clean, easy to read, fun, and that injects a layer of his faith into every novel. In short, he desires that his readers would finish every novel having experienced a tapestry of emotions from a good healthy cry, fits of amused laughter, soul-splitting inspiration, and everything in between. He has published five novels to date. Book #2 to “War Songs” will publish in Spring 2024, and he is also currently working on Book #2 for “When Raindrops Fall.”

His novel “A Christmas to Live For” won the Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal in Christian Fiction in 2021, and “War Songs” won the Global Book Awards Silver Medal in Christian Fiction in 2022.

Other than writing, reading is one of his favorite things to do on a lazy, rainy day (or a sunny day, or at the beach, or…well, you get the picture).

He enjoys reading the novels of lesser known authors, because you never know when you’ll uncover a new favorite.

More from Brett

“War Songs” was my fourth published novel, and I wrote it because I love books about spiritual warfare. The few that I’ve read, though, lean more on the occultic side than biblically based, which was what I wanted. Spiritual warfare isn’t pictures falling off walls for no reason, or seeing a shadow in the corner, or things that go bump in the night, which is how books that I’ve read tend to depict the subject of spiritual warfare. So, I decided to tackle the subject for myself and write a novel that I would want to read. I’m blessed to have received amazing email feedback about the book from all over the country and even from readers in Pakistan, Germany, the UK, and Canada.

One question that I’m asked a lot is how I came up with the unique angel and demon names (ex: Animi, Mataio, Roga, and Mortol, just to name a few.) In the book, I gave each demon a specific job and/or specialty (discouragement, anger, etc) then I researched the Hebrew/Greek root words for the emotions that the demons represented and created a name based off the root word. It made for some great demon names, even if I do say so myself.

As an author, I rarely use the names of people I personally know in my books. I like to use unique character names that no one in my life has, hence the names of my main characters in “War Songs,” Jenner and Hyacinth. To help find character names, I often go to baby name websites and search until just the right unique name comes along, and the minute I see it, I just know that will be the character’s name. That said, I have given a few special people in my life a shoutout in the books by using their name for a smaller secondary character then giving the character an outlandish personality that is nothing like the person whose name I used.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, February 8

Artistic Nobody, February 9 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 9

Texas Book-aholic, February 10

Fiction Book Lover, February 11 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, February 12

Guild Master, February 13 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 14

A Reader’s Brain, February 15 (Author Interview)

Through the Fire Blogs, February 16 (Author Interview)

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, February 16

Lily’s Corner, February 17

Pause for Tales, February 18

Blossoms and Blessings, February 19 (Author Interview)

Splashes of Joy, February 20 (Author Interview)

For the Love of Literature, February 21 (Author Interview)

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)