Mandrake's Cabinet of Readables & Curiosities

This is the third time I have read Spiritually Correct Bedtime Stories by Chris Fabry. This is a delightful little book and will be thoroughly enjoyed by any Christian who has a sense of humour and is not afraid to laugh at him/herself and some of the here-today-gone-tomorrow fads of Christendom.

Chris Fabry has taken twelve of the world’s classic fairy tales and has re-written them as satirical allegories of faith and life. Often sarcastic, brutally honest, though  always hilarious, this collection of short stories often hits the mark with the perfect balance of humor and much-needed teaching.

Here is an excerpt from my favorite story in the book: Beauty and the Mark Of The Beast, which pokes fun at how we often jump on the bandwagon of the latest and greatest ‘new’ Christian teaching:

“Beast” said Beauty, “Ive’ been down to the Christian bookstore and have purchased several titles about relationships. Don’t you think we need to improve our communication?”
“What do you mean?” said the beast.
“Well, you’re a microwave and I’m a crock-pot. You think visually and I think with my emotions…
Let me understand what you are saying,” the Beast learned to say.  And then he would state his version of what she had said.

Spiritually Correct Bedtime Stories is a short read at just 91 pages, with the length of each story being around 7-8 pages.  Therein lies the book’s flaw.  Often the stories finish abruptly leaving the reader disappointed with the anti-climax.

Most of the stories were great but sadly some felt like page-fillers.  Still a much-needed and rewarding break from my favourite genre of suspense/thriller.

One last comment, any book that makes the reader laugh out loud multiple times is a winner in my opinion.

Rob Shields has just lost his wife and son. Battling depression, denial, and an irrational fear of darkness, Rob travels to the small town of Mayfield, MD to check out a house he has inherited from his great aunt Wilda, a woman he has never even met. There in Mayfield strange things begin to happen that lead Rob to believe his son, Jimmy, is not really dead.

After a restless night and eerie dream, Rob is convinced the answer to the mystery surrounding Jimmy’s disappearance and alleged death is to be found in a village called Darlington, a town found on no map.

Teaming up with a quirky local waitress who insists she has been there, Shields begins his quest to find the truth about the town—and his son. In Darlington, Rob and Juli come face to face with the town’s secret, creatures called Darklings inhabit the night and instill paralyzing fear in Darlington’s citizens. Their search for Jimmy leads them into the woods surrounding Darlington where, once in, there seems to be no way out.

I sat down on the sofa this afternoon and read the last half of the book in a couple of hours – I didn't even get distracted by the kids, the TV, or my boisterous parrot, which can only mean one thing: Darlington Woods is good…. real good.

This is Mike Dellosso’s third published novel and his best yet.  If you want to get an idea of the tone of this book, think ‘I am Legend’ meets ‘The Gremlins’ in a creepy forest.

Dellosso has a very unique style of weaving faith themes through his books – not preachy, clinched or familiar, but still punchy and profound.  Darlington Woods’ grand theme is about facing and overcoming fear and it achieves it’s message on a number of levels.  Not an obvious allegory, but the more I think about it  – a very powerful, and personal one.

I've just finished The Breach by Patrick Lee and I loved it. 

The book doesn't fit neatly into any one genre.   At it's core it is a fast paced action/adventure with very strong thriller elements wrapped up in an original science fiction plot.

Comparing it to television/movies, the closest would be: Bourne trilogy meets X-files meets 24.

The action scenes are extremely visceral.  It is a violent read without being gratuitous.  The characters are complex, which is fairly uncommon when it comes to the action/adventure genre, and the storyline is the most original I have read since 'Search for the Buried Bomber'.

I love a fast-paced action-thriller with and intelligent plot with incredible twists and the Breach has them all.

One thing to remember... The Breach is the first book of a three-book overarching story, but I can assure you, you will want to read the second book as soon as you finish this.

4 out of 5 stars which for me means this book is a must read for fans of this genre-fusion.

In the 19th century, New Yorkers flocked to collections of strange and grotesque oddities called "cabinets of curiosities." Now, in lower Manhattan, excavators uncover the remains of 36 people murdered and gruesomely dismembered over 130 years ago by an unknown serial killer... and similar killings are happening again.

This is the third book in the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, following on from their debut work 'Relic' and its sequel 'Reliquary'.

I enjoyed CoC most out of the three, and in my opinion Preston and Childs' writing and the stories are getting better each time.

Cabinet of Curiosities is regarded by many Pendergast fans to be one of the best of the stories. I shall reserve my opinion until I have read more in the series.

Agent Pendergast is an awesomely unique protagonist and one of my favorites, my only negative point about him is that his skills border on being almost superhero-like at times.

One word of wisdom from reading the first three in the series: Although each novel is a 'stand-alone' story, I recommend reading them in order of writing as each book refers to events which happened in the previous stories. The reading experience will be richer overall, if read in order.

One more thing is that as a Christian, I do not appreciate the amount of times certain characters use Jesus' name as a cuss word.

Cabinet of Curiosities: Good but not great... 3 stars. (less)

I read this book in a few solid hours, which is proof in itself that this book is good (understatement). This is also the first novel I've read where I didn't read the back cover, nor knew any hint of the plot beforehand. I intend to do this more often.

For the sake of not giving any of the mystery away, I shall give away only two plot hints: Sensuality and vampires.

I personally thought that Immanuel’s Veins was much tamer than other recent works by Dekker, and was not offended in the slightest by its content. I actually thought Ted could have been more descriptive in parts (the vampire parts, not the sensual ones :-)).

Is any of you readers getting sick of me stating the obvious? That No one, NO ONE writes Christian fiction like Ted Dekker. Immanuel’s Veins is a delectable tale of darkness, light, betrayal, redemption, hate and love.

One reviewer has written:
“Within five days I had read “Immanuel’s Veins” three times, and two weeks later I was reading it for the seventh time.”

Not my favorite Dekker novel, but an excellent, excellent read… and one which will find a special place in the hearts of all Circle fans.