I, Saul by Jerry Jenkins and John MacDonald Review

Having shied away from the Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins series "Left Behind" when it first came out, not because of the subject matter or the story but because the grammar at the beginning was like reading Harlequin romances (bad); I hesitated to request this title. I was however delightfully surprised by both the story, the quality of the research and the matured writing style of this book. This time Mr. Jenkins has teamed with a Bible scholar and together they bring a very real and truthful feel to a fiction mystery.
A discovery has been made in Rome, the prison where the Apostle Paul was held until his execution is being excavated. A member of the Vatican staff visits the ruins and finds a roll of parchment placed in a crevice beneath a wall , he sneaks it from the sight and upon discovering what it might be, he hides it in a safe place giving a clue to a friend as to its whereabouts. He is murdered and now the friend is in danger because the antiquities police think he knows where the manuscript is. The friend, a local tour guide, calls his friend in the United States to come help him get out of danger and retrieve the artifact. This begins a rollercoaster thrill ride of the two alluding police, alluding the antiquities policeman who is working for himself and hopes to sell the artifact on the black market, alluding his girlfriends father who also has eyes on the prize and staying alive to find the artifact and bring it to world attention.
The artifact is presumed to be a parchment written by the Apostle Paul recounting his life that has never been see or read in over two-thousand years.
The story goes from present day to Paul's time and back again explaining how the parchment came to be, why it was found where it was and telling the story of Paul's life from before his conversion to his death. The Biblical references are base on the facts in the Bible and the story of Paul's life is embellished from the known facts referenced in the Bible.
The life of Paul comes alive on the pages and is a most enjoyable read. The contemporary mystery is well documented and researched and has a very believable feel to reality today. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will look forward to others by these authors.

Homer Hickam's book "Cresent" a review

Being the 2nd in a series for teens written by acclaimed author Homer Hickam (Author of "Rocket Boys" from which the movie "October Sky" was based) this book is a fresh look at the teens of the not too distant future on the Moon. Mining rights have been established on the moon and whole businesses are growing up on the moon to support the industry. People sign on to go to the moon for work - sometimes for adventure, sometimes just for a job and sometimes because they are no longer welcomed on earth. Rivalry abounds not just from earthbound politics and countries who want the riches of the Moon for themselves, but among the leaders of the various mining camps and towns on the moon. There are constant skirmishes and battles to keep what's yours. Crowhoppers, genetically bred soldiers are sent from earth to fight for whichever faction they are being paid by. Their motto their mantra is "to live is death , to die is life."  Mostly they live to fight and die honorably. The miners are constricted to fight against them in battles. Thus Crater, a likeable teen, inventor, miner is not in the mine working but in a skirmish over a convoy when they are attacked by Crowhoppers. Infiltrating the under ground tube the Crowhoppers were living in, Crater finds a lone Crowhopper and for some reason feels for it and captures it instead of killing it. He returns to base with it and finds out it is a girl - rare among crowhoppers. His prisoner causes quite a stir since none of the people of Moontown are going to trust it they all just want it dead. Crater insist that it be given a chance. Her name is Cresent and she is a very hard worker. Crater's adoptive mom, who is the exiled Queen of England, Q-bess takes the girl in and helps her learn how to live among humans. This is very hard for Cresent to do since everyone but Crater and Q-bess want her dead. Here insues the adventures of Crater and Cresent. This is a delighful story that will leave you wanting the more that is to come. Though written for teens and should be totally enjoyed by them since it is a space love story of sorts, it was a delightfully relaxing tale for adults. I thoroughly enjoyed the book , highly recommend it and can hardly wait for the next in the series. It has everything Battles, love story,jealousy, history, treasures and a few ghost as well.

I earned this Seal of approval

                                                                                     I am a Professional Reader!!!!!!
 Finally after over 40 years of working and volunteering in public libraries and it took Netgalleys to give me the recognition I have deserved!
Actually I am proud to read and review books for publishers through NetGalley but I have been professionally reading and reviewing books since 1996 when I joined the review team at School Library Journal and more recently at Library Journal. While it all is professional the pay is free access to books. Nothing could be better than that to an avid reader like myself. So thank you to NetGalley for making an official reader of me. Bring on the books...!!!!!