Tuesday, April 19, 2011

CSFF: The Strange Man

The Strange Man_NEW2A gripping supernatural thriller, The Strange Man takes place in Greensboro, a town whose dark history has unleashed the wrath of a powerful and vengeful demon. The first of a series, this volume features Dras, the immature, washout son of a local pastor, who  has fallen away from his faith. When the demon threatens his best friend, Dras realizes what he’s been missing in his seemingly carefree lifestyle. But can he convince Rosalyn of the truth before she becomes the demon’s next victim?

Greg Mitchell weaves a tale full of suspense that grabs hold and doesn’t let go until the very last page. Overall, I really enjoyed it. The bogeyman was creepy, just as he should be. The characters were convincing, though some may have been a bit stereotypical. And Mr. Mitchell is a fine writer. However, I did come away from the book feeling a bit unsatisfied. Part of that may be the cliffhanger ending, which left me unsure of what exactly just happened – and wanting to know what comes next! But I think it was a little more than just that.

I found myself slightly disturbed throughout the book at the ease with which the demon was able to affect the physical world – namely, in committing murders. I’ve heard this book compared to Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness, but unless my memory deceives me – which it might, it’s been a while – the mechanism from that book involved demons working through people, without crossing the physical barrier. I guess that’s more how I imagine spiritual warfare to work (not that I’m an expert or anything). So a demon who is able to cross the physical barrier into our world and murder people bothers me a bit.

But, like I said, I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to anyone looking for some good suspense without all the baggage that normally goes along with the mainstream horror genre.

Check out the rest of the tour: Noah Arsenault - Red Bissell - Kathy Brasby - Grace Bridges - Beckie Burnham - CSFF Blog Tour - Amber French - Tori Greene - Katie Hart - Bruce Hennigan Timothy Hicks - Jason Joyner - Carol Keen - Inae Kyo - Emily LaVigne - Shannon McDermott - Matt Mikalatos - Rebecca LuElla Miller - Gavin Patchett - Andrea Schultz - Kathleen Smith - Donna Swanson - Jessica Thomas - Steve Trower - Fred Warren - Dona Watson - Phyllis Wheeler

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

One

1st 1

On March 30, this little beauty turned one.

 

1st 2

Since it was during the week (and I wasn’t prepared), we celebrated with a little bit of ice cream instead of cake.

 

1st 3

At first she wasn’t sure what to do.

 

1st 4

But she had ideas. Mom had to intervene at this point to give some assistance.

 

1st 5

Veronica is an expert at ice cream eating, and so lent a good example.

 

1st 6

Somewhere in the middle of ice cream eating, Jacinta received a birthday phone call. Yay!

 

1st 7

Then it was back to business.

 

1st 9

There were lots of nooks and crannies to be excavated.

 

1st 10

Then, this last weekend, we had a little party at the neighborhood park. Jacinta got to try her hand at some actual birthday cake.

 

1st 11

She was a pro. She knew just where to put it.

“Look what I have! Cake!”

 

1st 8

I can’t believe my little baby is one. Happy Birthday, Jacinta!