FIRST tour: The Ark by Boyd Morrison

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!



You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Boyd Morrison

and the book:

The Ark

Touchstone; 1 edition (May 11, 2010)

***Special thanks to Mallika Dattatreya and Ashley Hewlett of Touchstone/Fireside Publicity, Simon & Schuster, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Boyd Morrison is an industrial engineer with ten U.S. patents to his name who has worked for prestigious companies ranging from NASA to Microsoft's X-BOX Games Group and RCA Electronics. He is also a "Jeopardy!" champion and a professional actor who has appeared in commercials, stage plays, and films.





Visit the author's website.









Product Details:



List Price: $24.99

Hardcover: 420 pages

Publisher: Touchstone; 1 edition (May 11, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1439181799

ISBN-13: 978-1439181799



AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

My Opinion:


I was excited to read this book, I enjoy Christian suspense novels and with this one concerning the Ark I just had to read it. I must say I couldn't finish it, which dissapointed me since it would have been a great book. The story line and plot were well done and I found myself getting engrossed in it and caught up with the characters.


While I did enjoy what I read, the disappointing part came when I realized how many cuss words and saying "Oh my ***" came into the dialogue in this book. It is marketed to the Christian arena, however I find it lacking in what I expect to find for a Christian market book. If the cuss words and other offensive language had been removed this would be an excellent book.


If language isn't a concern then I think a reader would find themselves as engrossed as I was in the beginning. Again, like I said this book did have redeeming qualities such as good solid plot line, intrigue, well developed characters and would make a fascinating read for the person who can finish it.

The Knight by Steven James

The Knight is the third in the Patrick Bowers Thriller series written by Steven James and published by Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group. I hadn't heard of Steven James before and must say it's disappointing that I haven't had the pleasure of reading his books before.

The Knight is a thriller and one that will keep you up at night, reading. If you like thrillers without all the cussing and lewd actions of the characters this is the book for you. There are detailed descriptions of the crime scenes that FBI agent Patrick Bowers investigates. As the criminal is tracked the reader can feel the thrill of the chase and the climaxing of the story.

We are drawn into Patrick's life as he struggles with raising his stepdaughter, Tess as well as having a dangerous career and having to protect her. I could feel his struggle as he tried to decided whether to continue with his job or staying home with Tess as she finds something out that makes her reevaluate everything she thought she knew to be true. The reader feels the anguish that Tess goes through and I got the feeling of wanting to reach through the book to comfort this girl.

It's been awhile since I have read this type of book in the thriller genre, but I am glad that I took advantage of participating in this tour because this book was well written with well developed characters. I even felt as if I knew the criminals in this book - but beware of the surprising and twisting end - and could somehow figure out how they 'ticked'. If you like thriller's and are looking for a Christian alternative to the usual cursing and lewd filled secular thriller's this will definitely fit the bill!

Available August 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.