A Nation Under Judgment by Richard Capriola

A Nation Under Judgment  

by Richard Capriola

About the Book:

A Nation Under Judgment defines wisdom as "the ability to see things from God's point of view." It reviews our nations social polices, including hunger, poverty, the environment, marriage, homelessness as well as others, from a Scriptural point of view. It empowers readers to consider if our nation is moving away from being One Nation Under God.

LINK to PAPERBACK

Richard Capriola spent many years as a hospital chaplain. He completed four years of Clinical Pastoral Education in preparation for becoming a chaplain. In addition to his pastoral care experience, he has served as a ministry outreach leader for a Midwestern church and has been a mental health counselor at both a regional crisis center and psychiatric hospital.

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REVIEW: MR. MERCEDES by STEPHEN KING

Horror master Stephen King returns - and his tense, on-the-edge new thriller, Mr. Mercedes, pits an ex-cop against a sociopath scheming to murder thousands. He comes up with an unlikely hero with an unlikely allies while painting a chilling portrait of a killer in a story that is tautly written, and a plot that swerves around without any sense of predictability. Comparatively, his latest turns out to be a quick read with around 400 pages only, and that too without any sight-and-sound of the supernatural beings that usually populated his earlier novels.

While Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King is void of the supernatural elements with which most readers have identified him, horror is still an integral part of the story as it is immediately played out in the opening sequences of the novel. In an unnamed mid-western city in April 2009, a man driving a stolen gray Mercedes SL500 plowed into a field of predawn crowd of job-seekers lured by the promise of "1000 jobs guaranteed" waiting to enter a job fair at the City Center, leaving behind a pile of dead bodies besides injuring more than a dozen. Two motor patrol cops found the Mercedes an hour after the killings. Soon it was traced to an aging wealthy widow Olivia Trelawney, who several months later committed suicide. But the person who stole the car and massacred the people could not be traced, and the case remained unsolved. It came to be known as the City Center Massacre and the perpetrator was nicknamed the Mercedes Killer/Mr.Mercedes.

After retiring from the force, Detective Kermit "Bill" Hodges is still haunted by several cases which he couldn't solve, especially the case of the Mercedes Killer. But as fate would have it, he receives a lengthy mocking letter of nearly two-thousand words from a man claiming to be the Mercedes Killer, who wrote: When I "put the pedal to the metal" and drove poor Mrs. Olivia Trelawney's Mercedes at that crowd of people, I had the biggest "h-----n" of my life! And was my heart beating 200 a minute? It was enough to propel Hodges to give another shot at finding the killer and bring him to justice.

Tucked away in a small corner of the city is a house where a twenty-something Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother, Deborah. On the surface he's like any normal guy, working at the local electronics shop and also driving the neighborhood ice-cream truck. But beneath the skin, he's an entirely different person. Buoyed by his earlier success, he's now planning something bigger, preparing to unleash a devastation that would not only kill and maim human beings but the psyche and spirit of the city itself. Hodges followed up the letter to a social networking site Under Debbie's Blue Umbrella with the help of a net savvy black teenager, Jerome Robinson. And he must act quickly and learn to stay a step ahead of the killer if he is to find and stop him in time.

Mr. Mercedes may not be one of King's best books, but that shouldn't take away anything as it is still very much an enjoyable one with edge-of-the-seat suspense, drama, intrigue and action. The storyline is well-conceived and the plot twists make it a real thrill ride. The characters are well-developed and most readers will remember them for a long time, especially Janelle Patterson, Olivia Trelawney's sister, who wants Mr. Mercedes punished for causing her sister's suicide and Janelle's mentally ill niece, Holly. Stephen King outshines himself every time he created a new monster. He paints a chilling and disturbing picture of Brady Hartsfield and his mother, probing his mind and why he did what he did. Mr. Mercedes is a hardhearted detective story which lovers of suspense thriller will greatly enjoy.

#Received a review copy of the book from Hachette India.

Uncovering Cobbogoth by Hannah L. Clark

Uncovering Cobbogoth by Hannah L. Clark Norah Lukens needs to uncover the truth about the fabled lost city of Cobbogoth. After her archaeologist uncle’s murder, Norah is asked to translate his old research journal for evidence and discovers that his murder was a cover-up for something far more sinister. When she turns to neighbor and only friend James Riley for help, she realizes that not only is their bitter-sweet past haunting her every step, but James is keeping dangerous secrets. Can Norah discover what they are before its too late to share her own.

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Praise for Uncovering Cobbogoth

"With a fascinating protagonist in Norah Lukens, a fully realized, never before seen fantasy world, and a fast paced, compelling story, Uncovering Cobbogoth establishes Hannah L. Clark as a major new voice in American fiction. The richness of the story and the scope of the world she's created screams for a film adaptation. This is a fantasy novel for everyone, even readers not usually drawn to the genre. Highly, highly recommended!" -Bryce Clark, author of Red Shirt Kids

"This book takes you on a wonderful ride, bringing myth and legend to life. The characters are full and flawed, with a sweet romance woven through the adventure." - Annette K. Larsen, author of Just Ella

"Uncovering Cobbogoth is an Icelandic tale that will appeal to many Harry Potter series fans […] For those who’ve missed the Harry Potter world, here’s a pretty good alternative!" - Sharon Haddock, For the Deseret News

"This isn't a typical YA fantasy/scifi/para story like the multitude of vampire or witch or werewolf or mermaid themes that fill bookshelves in stores currently. When after a couple of chapters it became apparent that this wasn't yet another entry into the aforementioned themes, I was downright giddy. And then to find out there wasn't a standard issue love triangle? I wanted to find the author and buy her dinner." -Radar626, Amazon reviewer

"A friend of mine recommended this book […] I checked it out and I was so pleased! I love this book. I can't wait to read the next one [...] and I am encouraging my daughter to read it as well. If you like fantasy with a little mix of science this book is perfect. I had such a hard time putting this book down just so I could deal with real life and working on promoting my own book. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book." -Pamela Hall, author

Excerpt 

The Legend of the Cobbogothians is really where Uncovering Cobbogoth begins. For as long as Norah can remember, her Uncle Jack has been obsessed with the mythical people. He became an archeologist and world famous Myth-chaser because of the Cobbogothian legends he heard while visiting his Granddad Aegissida’s farm in Iceland.

The Legend of the Cobbogothians

Long ago, at the beginning of time, a peculiar race ruled the earth. They found favor in the eyes of the gods and received great gifts of knowledge and power at their hands. These gifts made them elementalists—masters of earth, wind, fire, water, metal, wood and space. The elementalists thenceforth became rulers of the earth and sky. With this power came corruption, and the elementalists soon forgot their patron gods. Instead, they turned to worshipping themselves and their own creations. This angered the gods, and in their wrath, the vowed to bring an icy end to the prideful race. Rumors of the looming destruction were heralded throughout the land, and a final invitation was issued to the elementalists to renounce their fallen ways. Yet only a few heard and heeded. Among them was a man named Cobbogoth. Being a wise and humble servant of the gods, he believed the warnings and led all who would listen deep into the bowels of the earth to wait out the approaching storm. When the day of destruction was come and the wrath of the gods rained down, the race of elementalists was wiped away, and then came the dawning of a violent and frigid ide age. It is said that Cobbogoth’s posterity still lives beneath our feet, waiting to rise and rule the earth and sky once more. Sigurd Jorgensson Icelandic Bard, 1045 AD   *Translated from the original Old Norse by Dr. Jack A. Lukens of Harvard University, April 1975

    

Author Hannah L. Clark
Hannah L. Clark lives with her husband and their son in the Rocky Mountains. She has always known she would be a storyteller. In 2006 she graduated from Utah Valley University with a bachelor’s degree in English and immediately began writing Uncovering Cobbogoth, the first book in a seven book series based on Clark's mythological brain-child, the Icelandic Legend of the Cobbogothians. Clark loves her family, running, mythology, laughing, soulful bluegrass music, road-trips, studying alternative medicine, retro hairdos, and growing things. Like her heroine Norah, she also kind of believes trees have souls, but must clarify (for her parents' sakes) that she was not raised by hippies.
 

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God, Where Are You?

I don’t believe that there is person on the planet who has not asked, “God, where are you? Can you hear me?” at one time or another.

Many would most likely agree that we ask questions of this nature quite often. For those of us who pray do you sometimes feel as if God is answering every other prayer in the entire universe with the exception of yours? Why does God sometimes feel so far away?  When life becomes bitter it’s easy to give up on God. It is easy to believe that God does not love us or desire the best for us. I mean, if he did love us would he allow such awful things to sometimes happen? Would he allow us to cry out for change until we become worn and yet it seems as if no change is in sight? Would God allow homeless people to sleep under bridges or young children to be abused? Would the God who loves us so much allow catastrophe and calamity to hit our land? Would there really be no jobs and a growing unemployment line if God was really there?

We all have pondered these thoughts. So what do you do? Do you give up on a God who promises latter rain? Do you give up on a God who has declared in his word that we all have an expected end? Do we give up on a God who has a proven record of bringing forth restoration? Do we throw away a God who has promised to provide wellsprings in the midst of our desert experiences? Do we cave in and quit because we can’t always see God in our situations. The answer is absolutely not. You must keep talking to God; he’s on the other end of the line. You must believe that He rewards those of us who seek him with diligence. You must continue praying! Yes prayer changes things but most importantly prayer changes us! Keep pacing the floors as you make your petitions known to Him. Even if there’s no trace of God you must know that he’s there.

Can you see air? No. Yet as we exhale we immediately inhale again knowing that there is an invisible substance that encompasses us and as we take it in, it sustains life. We must view God in like manner.  He’s there even when you can’t see him. Like oxygen, He will sustain you. Don’t give up. When everything in you is saying “I quit” you must ask the Guarder of Life for strength. God will miraculously grace you to make it through yet another day.  Stand on His promises.  Pick up the Word of God and find a scripture to reference. You don’t have to overwhelm yourself with the entire Bible. Find one promise to stand on and keep reminding God of what he said he would do for you. Before you know it your deliverance will have come. You will then look back and realize that perhaps God was actually there all along.

Blessings!

Dr. Kellie Lane

Author of “When God is Silent”

Author Bio:

Kellie Lane, a native of Lexington, MS is a passionate orator and writer of God's spoken word. She is an author, motivational speaker, and professional life coach. Kellie has dedicated her life to the work of encouraging others to reach their maximum potential in Christ. Her message to the world is " Don't give up, push, pray, and persist " until you reach the point of breakthrough. In addition to writing and speaking, Kellie serves our nation's veterans a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Author Links - The link for any or all of the following...

Website: Kellielane.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellieeLane

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/When-God-Silent-Kellie-Lane/dp/1621366774

Twitter: @kellieelane

Good reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7353361.Kellie_Lane

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kellie-lane/90/361/315

Book Genre: self- help/inspirational,spiritual growth

Publisher: Creation House

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Buy: Amazon | Christian Books | BN | BooksAMillion

Book trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwWN1werEvs

Book Description: "When God is Silent” confirms through scripture that God indeed hears the cries of

his elect and the broken hearted. The book explains to the reader why he or she may be waiting on the answers to their prayers and how to endure in a season of silence. It also reveals how to recognize "God's answer" if he chooses to answer differently than what we anticipate. The take home message is “ Never Give up! Even if God is not talking he’s still listening”. We must learn to “push, pray, and persist” until we reach the point of breakthrough. God desires to give only the best to his children. We must understand this.

Excerpt:

Introduction

I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You yourself are the answer.

—C. S. Lewis

If you’re reading this book, more than likely you are in what is called a pressed place; a place of waiting. Does it seem as if God has forgotten about you? Has everyone else around you begun to celebrate their miracles, yet you are still crying yourself to sleep at night? Are you feeling a

sense of weariness and emptiness? Have you been praying and crying out to God day in and out and still you see no change? Have you found yourself wondering if God has gone on vacation? Have you been contemplating that perhaps what you are believing God for is not in His will? Well if this describes you, congratulations! You are next in line for a miracle. I decree and declare defeat is not your portion; victory is your portion. Receive it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

What the enemy wants us to believe is that God will never answer our prayers. The kingdom of darkness works overtime as we get closer to our breakthroughs. Satan and

His generals know that if he can get us to lose our focus, we will not be in position when the fullness of time comes and we will miss the blessing. We must know without a doubt that God is faithful and never fails. We must be certain that even if God is not talking, He’s still listening.

For it is written:

But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

—Psalm 66:19