A Homicide Detective investigates the Gospels

Cold Case Christianity A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels J. Warner Wallace, Pub. David C. Cook When I first began reading this book about the truth claims of Jesus I began to wonder if it wasn’t rather morbid. The illustrations are taken from the files of a homicide detective so naturally they involve dead bodies. But I have to admit Det. Wallace pulled it off. It works. In fact, I used one of his illustrations in a presentation I did for a youth group and I had no problem getting one of the guys to play dead as we investigated the cause--Natural, accidental, suicide or homicide. It was a good way to get the young people to begin looking at the evidence for the Gospels. Wallace’s presentation on evidence is very helpful. He uses the California Judicial Code as a basis for establishing the merits of a case. i.e. chain of evidence, the reliability of witnesses and applies this to the Gospel record. Were the disciples reliable witnesses? Do the Gospels pass the test of accurate reporting? I found this book to be a very readable presentation of the evidence for Jesus Christ and that his story was accurately presented. In fact the evidence was so convincing it brought Det. Wallace to faith in Christ. The appendices are a good resource for further reading and corroboration for those who want to do more research. I appreciated the opportunity to preview the book before publication and I gave it 4 stars.

A Hero’s Throne by Ross Lawhead Book 2 of The Ancient Earth Trilogy Published by Thomas Nelson Fantasy Literature is probably my favorite genre so the theme of A Hero’s Throne fits right into my favorite category. Calling it fantasy literature assumes, of course, that I don’t really believe there is another realm under the country of England, a land inhabited by dragons, giants and those smelly creatures, the yfelgopes. (Word check, please add this word to my dictionary.) It is into this word that Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds were taken eight years before the events of Book 2. They left this underworld with a feeling of betrayal that hangs over them through this latest adventure back to Nidergeard, the destroyed capital city. Their mission, as they see it, is to return to this city, find the Carnyx which will signal for help, then free the city. They are accompanied by their two companions from the previous mission, Ecgbryt and Alex as well as an older companion Vivienne. Once again the story has many twists and turns without any final resolution. The resolution will come in the third volume I hope because Book 2 ends with a lot of details still left hanging. The fact that I read the book in about 10 days speaks for the ability of the writer to hold my attention. However, as with the first book I got lost in some of the detailed descriptions. One thing I would have appreciated would be a summary of the first book as a refresher and introduction to the continuing adventures of Freya and Daniel. I will look forward to the third book in the series and hopefully I will get a copy for review as I did the first two.