Category Archives: The Randleman Review

Posted on

Book Review – A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre

A Spy Among FriendsOne of my favorite authors of all time is Tom Clancy. The author of The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, The Sum Of All Fears and many more, Clancy can weave a web of intrigue in a novel that will keep you turning pages long into the night.

His novels center around the CIA and the intelligence community, and many of the best of his stories are from the era of the Cold War.

Though his novels are fictional, they are based somewhat on reality, albeit loosely. However, the underpinning of many of his novels could very well happen. And it did.

In the 1930s, the Soviet Union recruited an agent in the British government. And they had no idea just how far this spy would go. Kim Philby flirted with communism while at university. Unknown to his closest friends, he never discarded the ideals of the communist philosophy. He just buried them, and lived the outward life of a loyal patriot.

A patriot who just happened to be in the upper echelons of the British intelligence services, MI5 and MI6. Philby fooled everyone, from his own countrymen and colleagues, to his friends in other intelligence services. And he did so for more than thirty years.

Though much of his story is conjecture, and is either buried in the archives of the British intelligence files, or has been deliberately destroyed, Philby caused massive damage to British and American efforts to subvert communism throughout the Cold War. His betrayal gave operation and political advantages to the Soviets, and caused an unknown number of deaths.

Posted on

Book Review – Pilgrim’s Wilderness by Tom Kizzia

Pilgrim's WildernessNever have I been both so fascinated and disturbed by a book as I was by Pilgrim’s Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia.

I’ve categorized it as a biography in my library, but it is less the story of a life than it is the story of a crime.

Pilgrim’s Wilderness is the story of Robert Hale, also known as Papa Pilgrim, and his family as they traveled into the wild reaches of Alaska and settled away from society in the middle of a National Park.

Pilgrim’s past is jumbled. He was raised in Texas, married his teenage sweetheart, but her death just a few weeks later left him devastated, and the world confused. There are several interesting connections to the Kennedy assassination, and Pilgrim continued to have trouble almost everywhere he settled.

Eventually he married again, and began a family. He isolated himself in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico, where his family began to grow. By the time of the events in Alaska, he would have 15 children, ranging in age from 29 to 2.

Neighbors began to suspect Pilgrim of several inconsistencies. He claimed to be very religious, but items began to disappear from the neighbors ranches. Fences were cut. The children were bruised and neglected. But he was evasive, and had an answer for everything. However, it soon became clear that it was time to move on.

Posted on

Book Review – MindWar by Andrew Klavan

MindWarSometimes I just need to read a simple fictional story. Sometimes I just need to allow my mind to relax and get lost in another world, becoming the characters, experiencing the reality that the author weaves as a tapestry in my mind.

And that’s exactly what happened with MindWar by Andrew Klavan.

Set in America, in a current time, MindWar unleashes the technology of tomorrow. Terrorists have created an alternate reality where they can attack anywhere they please through technology and escape unscathed, because America does not have the ability to retaliate. But all is not what it seems.

Rick Dial is a teenage cripple. Having lost the use of his legs in a devastating car accident, he slips into a dark pit of despair and despondency, spending all his time playing video games, becoming a master of various fantasy realms.

But the government has noticed his abilities. And they want to insert him into the MindWar, a virtual reality where his life would be on the line, along with the safety and security of America.

Can he get in and accomplish the mission he is given before the game world destroys him?

Posted on

Book Review – Biblical Portraits Of Creation

Biblical Portraits Of CreationI love the first few chapters of Genesis, which give the history of Creation, and the Fall, and several other key worldview events. I grab and read anything I can find that deals with creation and forming a biblical worldview based on the authority and reliability of Genesis and the Bible.

When I saw Biblical Portraits Of Creation, I decided to read it, even though I was unfamiliar with either of the authors. This book will not be on my go-to list of books dealing with creation and Genesis, however it did offer a few interesting insights.

This book examines several different biblical passages that are creation focused. Each passage is examined and reviewed in a very brief fashion, not going into detail very deeply. I was slightly disappointed by this. I would have enjoyed examining each passage in light of creation, seeing how the rest of the Bible supports and refers back to the early chapters of Genesis.

This book does not do that. Instead, it examines each of these passages in a more devotional manner, outlining them for a lighter study, lending these passages more to a preaching outline than a detailed study. Some of these outlines are intriguing enough to consider adapting for future lessons or sermons. Most are not developed that well, and would require a lot of further study in order to make them work well.

Posted on

Book Review – C. S. Lewis And Mere Christianity by Paul McCusker

C. S. Lewis And Mere ChristianityI love reading biographies. I haven’t always enjoyed them. In fact, I can remember a friend telling me he enjoyed reading biographies a few years ago, and I distinctly thought to myself “Why?”

But my opinion of biographies has changed over the past few years. Reading the story of someone’s life can benefit my own life in ways that I can’t even imagine until I dig through those pages.

In a way, reading a biography is much like getting to actually meet that person, even though that’s a physical impossibility.

That’s the way I viewed Paul McCusker’s biography on C. S. Lewis. Lewis has long been one of my favorite authors. I almost experience feelings of regret that our lives didn’t overlap any. If they did, I would have at least had an opportunity to cross paths with the man. But unfortunately, he left this life before I entered it.

So, reading a biography is the next best thing.

C. S. Lewis And Mere Christianity isn’t really a biography, though, at least not in the regular sense. McCusker didn’t write a complete analysis of Lewis’ life. This book just covers the events surrounding Lewis’ creation of the classic, Mere Christianity.

Posted on

Book Review – The Confession by Robert Whitlow

The Confession by Robert WhitlowOver the weekend, I read Robert Whitlow’s newest book, The Confession. Overall, I enjoyed the book. In the genre of legal thrillers, it isn’t the best I’ve read, but it wasn’t bad.

The story line begins with Holt Douglas and a friend leaving a party drunk. An accident occurs, leaving the friend dead, and Holt responsible. Fast forward ten years, and Holt Douglas is an assistant country prosecutor with a great job, a steady girlfriend, and an established place in life. His goal is to fulfill the dreams of his dead friend.

But never, not once, in the past ten years, has he shared the secret he carries concerning the truth of that night.

Things begin to heat up in town as Holt stumbles across a cold case murder file that seems to have been covered up. Who was involved and just how deeply does it all go? Holt is determined to find out.

Throw in a female deputy sheriff who is attracted to Holt, causing problems with his girlfriend, a looming political campaign his boss needs to win, and the spiritual weight of the burden he carries, and it isn’t long before his life begins to spiral out of control.

As he struggles to come to terms with all that is going on, Holt discovers that God is actively seeking him. With numerous people praying for him, and his connection with a nearby minister, Holt begins to see just what God can do in his life.

Posted on

Book Review – 1 Samuel For You by Tim Chester

1 Samuel For You by Tim ChesterI have been extremely impressed with the God’s Word For You series from The Good Book Company. Not necessarily categorized as commentaries, these books still do a pretty good job of taking the reader through a book of the Bible, passage by passage, and examining it in detail.

The added benefit of this series is that there are some excellent personal application aspects, in the form of challenges as well as a few questions at the end of each chapter. This makes these books extremely practical.

So far, I’ve read several books in this series, including the ones covering Judges, Romans 1-7, Galatians and Titus. The newest installment is 1 Samuel. Each of these are practical and helpful, and are incredible resources for personal growth or for teaching. 1 Samuel For You is no different.

Much of the time, we tend to read the Old Testament as history, with little thought of the future it points toward. Much of the time, we read books like 1 Samuel, seeing only the events of the time, of Samuel’s life, of the nation of Israel from that period, and we leave it at that.

But Tim Chester does a great job of drawing out not only the historicity of the book, but he helps us see Christ in these events. And once he directs us toward Christ, he helps us draw current and relevant applications for our own lives in the twenty-first century.

In the past, I’ve read the chapters of 1 Samuel and have studied the events contained in them. But Chester takes things a bit further than I’ve ever thought to. He views most of the rest of the book through the lens of Samuel’s birth and Hannah’s song, found in the first couple of chapters. From these, especially Hannah’s prayer, he sees a shadow and and outline of the rest of the book, and even of Israel’s immediate future.