Fatherless

Fatherless

by Dr. James Dobson & Kurt Bruner

About the book (from the publisher):

The year is 2042, and a long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson - a formerly award-winning journalist seeking to revive a flagging career - is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in a ominous conspiracy. Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. As the engrossing plot of 
Fatherless enfolds, Julia will face choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world. In the dystopian tradition of books like 1984, Brave New World, and The Hunger Games, Fatherless vividly imagines a future in which present-day trends come to sinister fruition. 

My take:

Insert huge white space representing the inability to express exactly how I feel after reading this book. Does "horrified" cover it? Not really, because I feel that is speaking too lightly. Does "outraged" explain my feelings? It may, but it still seems to barely cover the surface of the reaction I had up on reading the last page. "Speechless" is what I was for a good 5 minutes, I suppose. I grieved for the fictional families in the book who may someday be real. As soon as I said to myself,"What a relief this isn't a true story," I knew that with the direction this country is headed, especially with the daily unrepentant murders of unborn babies, it could very well be a true story in the future. Our country very well could encourage the elderly and those with disabilities - those who some consider "debits," as the book states - to end their lives. As I went to turn the last page on my Kindle after reading the last sentence, I figured the story would continue for a few more pages. It ended very abruptly, opening the doorway for another book. Then I saw that the next book, Childless, comes out in the Fall of 2013 and the third book, Godless, comes out in May 2014.

I am very eager to read the next books in this series. Even though I have been aware of the downward turn our country has been taking, I feel this book helped open my eyes to the incredible evil of which we are capable. It will help me to be able to pray against these things more clearly. Thank you, Dr. Dobson and Kurt Bruner, for writing this series. 

I give this book a "5." I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about the direction our country is taking, and also to those who would like to know how to pray more directly about these issues.

About the authors:

Dr. James Dobson is the Founder and President of Family Talk, a non-profit organization that produces his radio program, "Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson." He is the author of more than 30 books dedicated to the preservation of the family. He has been active in governmental affairs and has advised three U.S. presidents on family matters. Dr. Dobson is married to Shirley and they have two grown children, Danae and Ryan, and two grandchildren. The Dobsons reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Kurt Bruner serves as Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Lake Pointe Church and on the adjunct faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary. A graduate of Talbot Seminary and former Vice President with Focus on the Family, Kurt led the teams creating films, magazines, books, and radio drama. As President of HomePointe, Inc., he helps local church leaders create an ongoing culture of intentional families. Kurt is the best-selling author of more than a dozen books. Kurt and his wife Olivia have four children and live in Rockwall, Texas.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Hachette Book Group/Faith Words through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Deadline

Deadline

by Randy Alcorn

Jake Woods, Gregory "Doc" Lowell, and Finney "Finn" Keels have all been best friends since they were young boys. Having grown up together and then fought in the Vietnam War together, they were as close as friends could be. The following is a description from the back cover of the book:

Doc's shoulder jammed into Jake as he swerved the Suburban sharply to the right, cut between a telephone pole and a billboard, then careened into a ten-foot-high embankment. Sometime between the sound of Doc's last cry and the sickening crunch of bent metal from the car's first roll, Jake lost consciousness. The last sensation he felt was of being crushed between the two men he had known since childhood. When tragedy strikes those closest to him, award-winning journalist Jake Woods must draw upon all his resources to uncover the truth about their suspicious accident. Soon he finds himself swept up in a murder investigation that is both complex and dangerous. Unaware of the threat to his own life, Jake is drawn in deeper and deeper as he desperately searches for answers to the immediate mystery at hand and - ultimately - the deeper meaning of his own existence. Deadline is a dramatic and vivid novel of substance, filled with hope and perspective for every reader who longs to feel purpose in life. 

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure I had the interest to get drawn into such an "involved" book. When I say "involved," I mean I thought it was going to have several offshoots in the story line that would make it hard to stay focused. I was right about the offshoots, but I was wrong about not being interested. I knew I had loved Alcorn's Safely Home when I read it last year (see my review here), and wanted to see if I would feel the same way about other books of his. I definitely loved this book. I loved seeing Jake's character change throughout the book, and enjoyed the descriptions of what Alcorn thought Heaven might be like. There were times when I felt the Heaven storyline was detracting a bit from Jake's story (I will be honest - I really wanted to find out what was happening to Jake and kind of skimmed at times through the Heaven parts). While the Heaven parts were interesting, it seemed like they would be better suited for another book.

However, overall, I loved this book. The parts I really enjoyed were Jake's conflicts in the world of journalism, and political correctness. I didn't realize it when I first started reading, but this book was actually written in 1994. I thought that might make it a bit dated, but surprisingly, it was very true to the times we are living in. I had to chuckle a bit at the references to a "car phone." But the abortion, homosexuality, and politically correct debates were right on target. I am definitely looking forward to reading Alcorn's other books in the series, Deception and Dominion. This book easily gets 5 stars.


About the author:

Randy Alcorn is the best-selling author of Heaven, with more than 500,000 copies sold. His novels include Dominion, Deception, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin's Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner Safely Home. He has written numerous non-fiction books as well, including The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. A former pastor, Randy is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries. He and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and five grandsons.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."