Category Archives: The Randleman Review

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Book Review – The Last Con by Zachary Bartels

The Last ConNot too long ago, I read a new author for the first time, Zachary Bartels. And while the story was very good, I wasn’t completely impressed with his first novel, Playing Saint.

However, I am glad I decided to read his next work. The Last Con reads like it is by a completely different author. This is one of the best suspense fiction novels I have read in a long time, and now I am excited to see what else Bartels can do.

The Last Con is about a man, Fletcher Doyle, was was a con artist and a thief. After being arrested and imprisoned for several years, he has finally been released and has returned home to his family and new-found faith.

When he and his family have the opportunity to participate on a mission trip to his old stomping grounds, he runs into trouble and is blackmailed back into a life of crime. But this time, his wife and daughter are involved.

Can Fletcher Doyle get out of this with his life? Can he protect his family? The Last Con is a page-turner from the very beginning until the end, and it is a difficult book to put down.

Full of suspense, The Last Con also plays on various secret societies and the mystery associated with them throughout history. In a lot of ways, this book reminds me of the movie, National Treasure, but on a grander scale, and with an element of faith involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Con. And my daughter is reading it now as well, and is enjoying it too. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy and read it. I’m certain you’ll like it, just like we did.

Question: Do you enjoy suspense fiction? If so, have you read either of Zachary Bartels’ books? If so, what did you think? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you are interested in reading The Last Con, by Zachary Bartels, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle. You can also purchase Bartels’ first book, Playing Saint.

I received this book free from Harper Collins Christian Publishing as part of their BookLook Bloggers review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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Book Review – The Fold by Peter Clines

The Fold, by Peter ClinesOne of my favorite genres has always been science fiction. Some of the best novels I have ever read fall into this category. Sci-fi has always intrigued me.

When I received the opportunity to read and review The Fold, by Peter Clines, I wasn’t all that excited, to be honest. It was science fiction, and I love the genre, but I usually stick to the tried and true authors that I know and love. Most of the time, a new author just doesn’t cut it.

So I wasn’t too thrilled. And The Fold sat on my shelf for a few weeks. A couple of nights ago, I picked it up and began to read it. It is a fact paced novel, and before I knew it, I was a hundred pages in. The story line kind of grabs you and suck you in. Before you know it, you are hooked.

As I read, I was somewhat engaged by The Fold. Not completely, but enough. The book was both a hit and a miss for me. Let me give the areas it was a hit first.

As mentioned, the story line was good. The plot was well-developed and the characters were portrayed in detail. Convincingly so. And due to the nature of the inter-dimensional science fiction plot, when something in a character’s profile shifted, it was ok, because it fit the story line.

In that regard, The Fold was fun and easy to read, and difficult to put down.

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Book Review – Lethal Beauty by Lis Wiehl

Lethal BeautyI am quickly becoming a big fan of Lis Wiehl. I have read a few of Wiehl’s books, mostly featuring the character of Mia Quinn. I have enjoyed each novel that I have read.

Lethal Beauty is the latest in the Mia Quinn series. In this story, Wiehl takes on some pretty heavy social topics in the midst of the narrative, dealing with human trafficking and performance enhancing drugs.

Spinning a tale as only Lis Weihl can do, Lethal Beauty approaches these important topics and explores them in the confines of the story, but allows the reader to realize that these are real life issues, and not just fantasy.

Lethal Beauty addresses these issues, and while there are no easy answers to social problems such as these, Wiehl manages to present the dangers clearly and establishes a moral high ground that must be taken, both within the story and in reality.

That is perhaps my favorite aspect of Wiehl as an author. She is unafraid to take on the big, important issues and look at them clearly, from a Christian worldview. Because of this, Wiehl is quickly becoming a favorite author.

I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Lethal Beauty, or one of Wiehl’s other novels, A Matter Of Trust and A Deadly Business. Though all three of these feature Mia Quinn as a main character, each of them stands alone as a story. And each of them is well written.

Grab a copy and read it. I know you’ll enjoy it.

Question: Have you read any of Lis Wiehl’s work? What did you think of it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you are interested in reading Lethal Beauty, by Lis Wiehl, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle. You can also purchase the first two Mia Quinn novels, A Matter Of Trust, and A Deadly Business.

I received this book free from Harper Collins Christian Publishing as part of their BookLook Bloggers review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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Book Review – How To Tie A Tie

How To Tie A TieI am a sucker for a good looking necktie. The problem is, I only wear one a few times a year. But I love the look of a nice shirt and tie.

When I was a kid, my dad taught me how to tie a tie. He taught me how to tie a small knot, what he called a Half Windsor. He never taught me how to tie any other knots. He probably didn’t know any others. So I went through life tying the Half Windsor all the time.

A few years ago, a friend showed me how to tie a Full Windsor knot. I was hooked. That knot was symmetrical and very snappy looking. That’s the knot I use now every time I tie a necktie.

When I received a copy of How To Tie A Tie, by Ryan Tristan Jin, my first though was, “How can there be an entire book about this?” But I was surprised and amazed at the variety of styles and the information that was out there on how to tie a necktie and make it look as good as it possibly can.

Jin begins with the fundamentals, such as fabric choices and matching ties to the rest of your clothes. From there, he moves to tying classic knots, to easy knots, and then finally to some bold looking knots. Some of these I may never use, but it’s good information to have handy in case I do.

The final two chapters cover such things as collar styles, cuff links and jackets, along with information about such wardrobe details. He also covers some final accessories, like pocket squares, watches and shoes.

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Book Review – The Expats by Chris Pavone

The Expats by Chris PavoneI am a fan of clandestine fiction. I love Tom Clancy and other, similar stories. So when I saw The Expats, by Chris Pavone, I thought it looked pretty intriguing and decided to read it.

I was not impressed.

The story line was excellent. The plot and character development were really creative, but this story had several flaws, that, to me, seem fatal.

First of all, I had a difficult time reading the novel, simply because of the multiple occurrences of gratuitous sex. Within the first fifty pages, there were four separate times when Pavone added implicit sexual content. Each of these were completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story. Nothing at all. But at least they were implicit, and weren’t too descriptive.

However, by the end of the book, what had been implicit became explicit. The descriptions became graphic and remained completely unnecessary to the plot. Frankly, I was disgusted, and seriously contemplated setting the book aside and not finishing it.

I should have done just that. Because the remainder of the book, especially the last few pages where all the loose ends were tied up, seemed rushed and disjointed. I wondered if I were reading a Hardy Boys mystery, or watching a Scooby Doo episode, where, at the end, the bad guys tell all the explanations of why they did what they did.

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Book Review – Breaker’s Reef by Terri Blackstock

Breakers ReefA couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to read and review River’s Edge, by Terri Blackstock. This was the third in her Cape Refuge series. Before I read it, I decided to go back and find the first two novels and read them first. I was glad I did. This series is an excellent set of stories.

After River’s Edge, I was given a copy of the fourth book in this series, Breaker’s Reef. In many ways, this is the best of the four.

The first couple of books were sort of on the amateurish side, although still very good. But with River’s Edge, and especially with Breaker’s Reef, Backstock’s ability to weave a tale of suspense has really been refined.

The story is set in the by now familiar setting of Cape Refuge, a small island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. Shortly after the events settle down from the previous stories, another murder happens. But this story unwinds in ways completely unlike the previous ones, and twists and turns in unexpected ways.

With all of the familiar faces from the rest of the series, Breaker’s Reef takes the story of Cape Refuge to the next level. Events occur that the reader has suspected from the very beginning, and others occur that are a complete surprise. It’s hard to expand on that without providing something of a spoiler.

Breaker’s Reef is an excellent part of Terri Blackstock’s bibliography, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, with the rest of the series. I highly encourage you to pick up a copy and read it, along with Cape Refuge, Southern Storm, and River’s Edge. You’ll be glad you did.

Question: Have you read any of the Cape Refuge series? If so, what did you think of it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you are interested in reading Breaker’s Reef, by Terri Blackstock, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle. You can also purchase the first two books in the series bundled together for Kindle, and the third book in the series in print or for Kindle.

I received this book free from Harper Collins Christian Publishing as part of their BookLook Bloggers review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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Book Review – Confound The Critics by Bodie Hodge

Confound The CriticsOne of my favorite topics to read about is apologetics, especially as it pertains to biblical truth found in the early chapters of Genesis. As a minister, I frequently hear arguments and disagreements about what the Bible says about our origins.

So I was very interested to read Bodie Hodge’s book, Confound The Critics: Answers For Attacks On Biblical Truths. However, I was not all that impressed with this book.

Don’t get me wrong. The material presented here is good material, and provides some great information for debates on the topic of creation and our origins. However, I was expecting a book that presented such information in a logical and precise manner.

Instead, Confound The Critics is a series of emails and replies that Answers In Genesis has received and responded to from people who object to the truth found in Genesis, and people who need help defending their faith in God’s Word.

There are more than forty different emails presented, as written, from people who visited the AIG website. Bodie Hodge has included his replies to these emails, and that is what the book consists of. It’s not what I was expecting, and was somewhat disappointing.

Overall, the information is useful, but the format wasn’t. And while I found several pieces of this to be enlightening and potentially useful, this isn’t a book that will see much use in my personal library. That’s unfortunate, because it had the potential to be an extremely beneficial resource.

Unless you enjoy reading correspondence, I would not suggest that you read Confound The Critics. There are better ways to gather the information to answer such critics, in a more organized manner.

Question: Have you held discussions about origins with skeptics or critics? If so, how do you prepare? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you are interested in reading the Confound The Critics, by Bodie Hodge, you can purchase it at Amazon.com in either print or for Kindle.

I received this book free from New Leaf Press/Master Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.