Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey

Pearcey points out a crucial turning point in the American mind, when values became subjective. Politicians used to be seen as the selfless guardians of the public good. But if there is no understood public good, politicians are now self-serving promoting policies that benefit themselves.
Secular forces have “exerted a destructive impact in every area of life,” Pearcey says. (3) She reveals secular ideas in science, philosophy, ethics, the arts and humanities. She helps the reader recognize the concepts and know how to resist them. She looks at the historical development, the events, thinkers, and artists who led the way to the current worldview. She also shows that the only hope lies is a worldview originating from the Creator.
Part One of her book looks at international secularism and how it sets the stage for imposing political control.
As a result of the scientific revolution, knowledge was seen as the product of science, derived from senses. “As a result, moral statements were no longer considered truths at all, but merely expressions of emotion.” (24) The only form of “correctness” is political correctness. Since there are no moral truths for appeal, political and legal measures are used to coerce people to this “correctness.” “The loss of objectivity in moral thought does not lead to liberation. It leads to oppression.” (41) “It's time for the church to regroup, rethink, and recast its strategy for social and political engagement. Christians must learn to engage the secular worldviews that drive the public debate.” (69)
Part Two traces the historical rise of secularism, looking at the paths of the Enlightenment and the Romantic movement, as they run side by side in modern history. This includes reviews of art and literature and their impact on culture. “Learning to interpret the arts can be a powerful strategy for understanding the monolithic secularism that is spreading around the globe today.” (75) “If to day's Christians hope to be proactive, they must acquire artistic literacy. Only then will they get ahead of the cultural curve and learn how to speak God's truth anew to each generation.” (132) Pearcey does an excellent job of explaining modern, abstract art (and music). I now understand the thought behind its origin. She does the same with contemporary film, revealing the messages the originators intended to convey.
She writes, “Because humans are created in God's image and live in God's world, at some point every nonbiblical worldview will fail the practical test. Adherents will not be able to apply it consistently in practice – because it does not fit who they really are, Instead they will find themselves living as though a biblical view of human nature were true – because that is who they really are.” (152)
She ends her book with a vision as to how each individual can become a culture shaping individual. Noting the recent popularity of Bach in Japan, she encourages Christians to create the same kind of Christian influence today. “Where is the music and art that expresses biblical truths so eloquently that it invites people to embark on a search for God?” (268) Reminding us that we are to be salt and light, “The only way to drive out bad culture is with good culture.” (268) Churches must again be places nurturing artists.

This book is not easy reading. Assimilating the heady concepts takes time and concentration. This book would be a great basis for an adult or high school Sunday School class and would be a good resource for those homeschooling.

B&H Publishing Group, 281 pages.

Liberty Defined by Ron Paul

“Liberty means to exercise human rights in any manner a person chooses so long as it does not interfere with the exercise of the rights of others.” (xi) While leaders in Washington say they believe in liberty, Paul argues that they do not. “We are policed everywhere we go...” Paul says. “What is at stake is the American dream itself...” (xiii) “Understanding how governments always compete with liberty and destroy progress, creativity, and prosperity is crucial to our effort to reverse the course on which we find ourselves.” (xv)
Paul says, “The crisis demands an intellectual revolution.” (xvii) We need to understand again the ideas of liberty and Paul offers thoughts on a number of controversial topics. While he does not expect everyone to agree with him, he does hope to spark thinking and debate.

Following are a few comments from his alphabetical list of issues of liberty.

On abortion: the Constitution says nothing about it. “If anything, the federal government has a responsibility to protect life – not grant permission to destroy it.” (2) “A society that condones abortion invites attacks on personal liberty.” (6) He suggests removing jurisdiction from the federal courts, returning it to the states.
On bipartisanship: forget it. When two bad political parties agree they just pass more bad legislation. “Gridlock can be the friend of liberty.” (20)
CIA, government and terrorism: “They never want to ask or admit that we're endangered as a consequence of our foreign policy.” (40) Wondering why some are willing to commit suicide to do us harm, Paul says, “I believe the answer relates directly to the recklessness of U.S. foreign policy.” (43)
Education: “...[T]here's no constitutional authority for the federal government to be involved in education...” (78)
Empire: that the U.S. is one, by any definition, “An empire, which requires perpetual war and preparation for war....” (88) (Troops in 135 countries, 900 bases.)
Foreign Aid: “The Federal Reserve is allowed to make secret agreements with foreign governments, foreign central banks, and international financial institutions. Since audits of these agreements has never been allowed, there is no way to know with certainty whether the Fed participates in foreign policy strategy.” (120)
Global warming: a skeptic. “...[I]ndustrial growth in a free market is the only solution to poverty and hunger.” (138) He says it took years to scare people into believing grave danger lies ahead unless radical laws were instituted regarding growth and energy. “...[I]t will require many more years and hard evidence to come back to sanity regarding CO₂ emissions...” (140) He says of the oil energy issue: “This whole scandalous debate is misleading. The only thing that counts is whether the free market or government planners are in charge of providing energy to the people.” (142)
Prohibition: “The entire drug war is an arbitrary prohibition that violates the Constitution...” (226)
Public Land: “Total federal ownership is more than one third of the land mass of the fifty states.” (232) Federal laws override state and local laws. Most federally owned land is not part of a national park. “Our biggest current battle is to restrain the eminent domain enthusiasts at all levels of government.” (234)
Racism: “The 9/11 hijackers were not devout Muslims, but er are often led to believe that they were.” (239) “Government-backed racism is designed to shore up government power. The idea is to steer popular opinion that should be directed against one's own government toward some evil foreign enemy.” (241)
Taxes: “Taxes and the power to tax have been destructive to civilization and all progress.” (280)
Terrorism: “Invading other countries is a bad idea, especially if the goal is to stop terrorism; quite the opposite will be the result.” (288)
Paul concludes, “We must recapture what it means to be free.” (323) “All we need is the access to good ideas, some degree of idealism, and the courage to embrace the liberty that so many great people of the past have embraced.” (325)
Grand Central Publishing, 325 pages.

My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

Isadora Presley is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. She had held her dying mother in her arms, surrounded by the flames of a burning automobile. Her father, the successful football coach of Deep Haven, now lies paralyzed in a care facility across town.
Traumatized, Issy stays in her home. While she has progressed to jogging around the block for exercise, she will not venture to the grocery store a few blocks away and it terrifies her to think of driving a car to see her father.
Yet Issy has a meaningful life. Unknown to anyone except her best friend, Issy is Miss Foolish Heart, host of a call in talk show about romance. She connects to the producer through broadcast facilities in her home studio.
Life has settled into a routine. Issy's friend and donut bakery owner Lucy helps her out with groceries and free donuts. And then everything changes.
Caleb Knight is a vet who has lost a leg in a fiery bomb attack in Iraq. With a prosthesis and training, he hardly limps. He is also the new football coach and psychology teacher at the high school. He has hidden the truth about his leg from the school board. He fears they would not have hired him. He wants to prove to them, and himself, that he can do the job.
He rents the house right next to Issy. These neighbors get off to a rocky start, Issy yelling at Caleb over the bad behavior of a dog she thinks is his. Then Issy makes a brave trip to the grocery store and “bumps” into Caleb. She sees his burn scars and loses her fragile confidence.
The situation becomes even more complicated when Seb, the high school flame of Lucy and hero of the football team, returns to Deep Haven. He has been hired as a math aid in the high school and he wants to be football coach. The school board proposes a scrimmage with the winning “coach” being hired.
Caleb, waiting to listen to his favorite sports roundup show on the radio, catches the last few minutes of My Foolish Heart. He is intrigued and becomes a regular listener. He even calls in to ask advice about how to win the heart of the girl next door. As the two strike up a dialogue, and begin to have feelings for each other, neither knows they are next door neighbors.

Warren drew me into this novel. I found myself wanting Caleb to succeed then feeling for Seb, too. Seb has come a long way and deserves a chance at life. I felt for Lucy as she struggles to overcome the hurt Seb caused years ago. I felt for Issy as she is trapped in her house by panic attacks. I laughed at the You've Got Mail kind of situation, but here, neither know the true identity of their dialogue partner. I felt for Lucy when the holder of her mortgage and old rival of Seb for her affection in high school decides to foreclose. I read in suspense as the all important scrimmage progressed, Caleb's world falls apart and only Issy, with her father's secret play, can rescue him.

Warren has crafted a very good novel about traumatic hurts and how they can be overcome. The struggles she portrayed are realistic. The Christianity of the characters is well done. Her character development is awesome – I felt like I really knew these people as I cheered them on. Five stars for this great story. A discussion guide at the end of the book makes it a good choice for reading groups.

Read an excerpt here: http://www.susanmaywarren.com/novels/contemporary-romance/

I received a copy of this book from The Litfuse Publicity Group on behalf of the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Buy the book from CBD.

Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig

Lieutenant Danielle Roark is a demolitions expert with the Corps of Engineers. Her team was sent to a village in Bolivia to blow a bridge believed to be the main route used by local rebels to transport drugs and kidnapped villagers, selling them as sex slaves.
The team had almost accomplished the task when rebels attacked. Many in Roark's team were killed and the rest taken captive. Being the only female, she was separated from the others and taken to a facility where she was sexually abused by officers from Bruzon's army and then by Bruzon himself.
Beaten, bruised, violated, Danielle managed to escape. She was found by a couple on a pleasure boat, hanging to a makeshift raft. The Coast Guard flew her to Florida and safety.
She has evidence of what Bruzon is attempting but a senate subcommittee does not believe her. The evidence does not match up with what others have found. Several senators think she may be lying and, in fact, be a spy for Bruzon. The only way she can prove her story is to go back and show others what she has found. Can she do it? Does she have the strength to go back to where it all happened?
Enter Nighshade.

I've read all of the Nightshade books and this was my least favorite. The Nighshade action does not start until a third of the way into the book. The Nightshade team did not seem to be as effective as in the past novels. There is less action in this book and more dwelling on emotions, it seems to me. Canyon over and over and over and over struggles with his love for Dani. It got a bit tiresome. The book drips with romance (This is definitely a woman's book. I don't think a man would like this going over the emotions again and again – even if it was a man doing it.)

The language! I got tired of Thwack! and Snap! and Crack! And then there was “smirked,” used way too many times. (Canyon smirks three times while in the hospital room with Dani.) 
Kendig's terse writing style is sometimes confusing. For example: “'That's not going to happen.' Max glared at the Kid.” Then a paragraph of an individual thinking follows. To me, normal reading would seem to indicate Max made the statement and therefore Max does the thinking that follows. Not so. Canyon does the thinking. So who made the statement?
Another example is from chapter 11. “Silence dropped like an anchor in the room.” There is a one sentence paragraph and then, “Conversations died. Movement ceased as all eyes pinned on the confrontation.” But an anchor of silence had dropped! I think this example shows that Kendig writes for effect. Such as, “Darkness draped over them like a blanket.”
Sometimes I was confused, having a hard time following Kendig's story line (this has happened to me with all of the Nighshade books). For example, in chapter 12, Canyon and Dani are in a Hummer that slides into the river. “...Hummers didn't float, but their sealed interior would keep them buoyant.” But wait a minute. There had been shooting as they previously got in the Hummer and escaped. In fact, Dani brushed glass off the seat as she jumped in the Hummer and cut her hand. So a window was shot out and yet the Hummer was “sealed” and buoyant?
And, it was noted as the team approached Bruzon's facility that they were two clicks away from it. Then the Hummer slides into the river an they float and then float some more and then got out and walked, etc., for some time, then came across a village, etc. But wait a minute. When Dani previously escaped from this facility, she ran to the cliff and jumped into the ocean. So the Hummer goes into the river two clicks from the ocean (next to the facility) yet the river must go miles and miles and miles. Not only that, but Canyon turns on the headlights of the Hummer as it is sliding into the river. They are two clicks from the facility and he turns on the vehicle's headlights?
I know that each of the members of the Nighshade team have their troubles. I respected the way previous characters struggled with their issues and overcame them. Canyon is different. He was not a character I respected. He seemed to make wrong choices way too long.  One of them was having sex with Dani after the Hummer incident.  (I also find it hard to believe a woman used as a sex slave would, in a couple months, be ready to have sex with a man - even if she did love him.)
I like this genre so I will probably read the next in the series. I do hope Kendig cleans up these troublesome writing characteristics.

Barbour Publishing, 352 pages.

I received an egalley of this book from Barbour Publishing for the purpose of this review.

Shattered by Melody Carlson

Cleo has to live with what she has done and right now, that is not very easy. If it hadn't of been for Cleo, her mother wouldn't be dead.
It all started the last night Lola, Cleo's best friend, was in town. Lola had won tickets to a Christian concert in the city and the girls planned to go. But Cleo's mom said “no.” Cleo's dad was out of town on a business trip and her mom was going to a bachelorette party of a college friend. There was no way Cleo's mom would let her drive her dad's car to the part of the city where the concert is.
But Cleo has it all figured out. She is almost eighteen, after all. They take the metro bus to the concert and back. There are some scary times with creepy people on the bus, but they make it back OK.
Cleo is amazed to sleep in late, wondering why her mother hasn't awakened her. But her mother is nowhere in the house.
And then the doorbell. It is the police. Cleo's mom was found murdered near to where the concert was held. She finds out from Lola later that Cleo's mom had called Lola's mom and found out the girls had gone to the concert after all. She left the party to find the girls. But in that dangerous part of town, someone found her, killed her, and stole her money.
Now Cleo has to live with knowing it is her fault her mother is dead.
Cleo makes it through the funeral with the help of pain pills she managed to sneak from her mom's medicine cabinet.
But how is she going to continue living with the hypocrisy, the deceit? Should she call the guy a friend said could help her with more “medication”? How can she ever live with her guilt?

Carlson again shows her passion for writing about teen issues in this latest installment of her Secrets series. She does not shy away in this novel from the consequences of deceit. Cleo goes to church but the gospel has not become a reality in her life. Carlson has done a great job showing Cleo's need for God's forgiveness as well as needing to forgive herself.

There is a discussion guide at the end of the book and this would be a good choice for a teen reading group.

Melody Carlson has written more than a hundred books for all age groups, but she particularly enjoys writing for teens. Perhaps this is because her own teen years remain so vivid in her memory. After claiming to be an atheist at the ripe old age of twelve, she later surrendered her heart to Jesus and has been following him ever since. Her hope and prayer for all her readers is that each one would be touched by God in a special way through her stories. For more information, please visit Melody's website at www.melodycarlson.com.

I received a copy of this book from Glass Road Public Relations on behalf of the publisher for the purpose of this review.

NavPress, 198 pages.

False Witness by Randy Singer

Mr. Kumari, a Christian from India, has possession of the Abacus Algorithm. With it, one can factor very large numbers into their primes with ease. This computer program would make most encryption useless.
The Chinese mafia is willing to do anything to obtain this program. The wife of Clark Shealy, a bail bondsman, is kidnapped. The mafia uses her life as the price: Shealy must find Kumari and get the algorithm within 48 hours or they will begin to torture his wife.
Amazingly enough, he manages to find the man. They make a convoluted plan to fool the Chinese mafia into releasing Shealy's wife and yet retain the algorithm. She is released but Kumari is taken and is killed. Kumari had given Shealy the algorithm, promising that the key would be sent to him soon from India.
Move ahead four years as the Shealys are now in the witness protection program. Clark appears at a legal aid office and begins to involve students in a dangerous game of avoiding the Chinese mafia and the FBI. The focus of the story at this point switches to the students and their irritating professor.
The FBI thinks the Shealys (now the Hoffmans) have violated their witness protection agreement and are trying to sell the algorithm. The Chinese mafia are still after the algorithm and manage to find the Shealys.
Kidnappings, threats and clandestine meetings drive the action in the book as the Shealys and the students try to stay one step ahead of the FBI and the mafia. The students don't know who they can trust as they try to save the Hoffmans' lives and their own.

This is the first of Singer's novels I have read. I found the plot to be complicated and the action permeated with long sections of background material. I learned lots about law school and perhaps that was the intent. I felt the book could have been reduced by about 100 pages without losing any of the force in the plot. I would have rather seen those hundred pages used on character development. At the end of the book I would not say that I felt I really “knew” or had compassion any of the characters.

For me, the ending was unsatisfactory. The driving force in the book was the algorithm yet at the end of the book we find its potential unleashed but its future unknown. Perhaps Singer plans a sequel.

Singer wrote this book to highlight the state of the church in India. The royalties from the sale of this title will go to the Dalit Freedom Network. The gospel message is very clear in this book - the government can give one a new identity but only Christ can change a life.

I received an egalley of this book from The B&B Media Group on behalf of the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Tyndale House Publishers, 409 pages.

See more at: www.randysinger.net

Undercover Pursuit by Susan May Warren

Luke Dekker is a member of Stryker's team and is on assignment.  He is to protect a bride on Isla Mujeres, an island off of Cancun - a bride marrying into a drug cartel family.  A bride willing to set the stage for the capture of the groom's powerful uncle.
Scarlett Hanson is a last minute addition to another wedding on the island, her sister's.  She was going to be her sister's maid of honor until her jealous sister took her out of the wedding.  But now the new maid of honor has had an accident and can't make it.  Scarlett is suddenly back in the wedding and rushing to the island.
When Scarlett and Luke end up in the same cab, Luke mistakes Scarlett for the woman Stryker arranged to be his "fiance" as Luke carries out his assignment.  When Luke finally realizes the trained operative has been delayed and this woman he has already introduced to the "family" is really a temp from Minnesota...
Warren has written another great romance/intrigue novel in the Missions of Mercy series.  There is great humor as the two weddings unfold - as people and plans get really messed up.  There is serious intrigue when the groom's father suspects Luke is not who he says he is.  And there is romance as Luke and Scarlett struggle with the feelings they have for each other.

Love Inspired Books, an imprint of Harlequin, 218 pages.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Louis Zamperini was a delinquent teen.  He was encouraged to channel all his energy into running and excelled.  He was Olympic material and was on his way to breaking the four minute mile. 
Then WW II intervened.  Louis became a lieutenant in the Army Air Force.  In May of 1943 the bomber Louis was in crashed in the Pacific.  He and two others spent 47 days at sea, barely surviving hunger and the elements, only to be captured by the Japanese.
The experiences Louis had in Japanese POW camps are nearly indescribable.  It is amazing that anyone survived the horrible conditions and treatment from those over them.
But survive Louis did, unbroken.  He had been listed as deceased, missing for over two years and unlisted as a POW.  His family always kept up their hope they would see Louis again.
When Louis finally returned to the U.S. he was plagued with nightmares and flashbacks.  His life was still one of mental torture, until his wife dragged him to a Billy Graham crusade.
What an amazing story!  I am amazed at the stamina of the human body and mind.  I am distressed by the cruelty one man, the Bird, gave to another.  I am awed by the change Louis experienced when he encountered God.
Hillenbrand has crafted Louis' story in such a way that I felt like I was there with Louis, experiencing the pain and anguish.  This is a page turning story of an era in country's history that should not be forgotten.
See more at: www.unbroken-book.com.
Author site: www.laurahillenbrandbooks.com.

Random House, 328 pages.