Which Half David by Mark W. Sasse

AMAZON UK
AMAZON US

A compelling story of a man who falls off his good-missionary pedestal. Correction: an utterly compelling story. Tobin Matthews and his wife, Jane, live in Sulu, an island (fictitious) in southeast Asia. Revered for his actions when he plays an instrumental part in closing down a dreadful band of human traffickers and for defending the rights of a group of Sulu tribesmen, he is the man of the island, a man who can do no wrong. But when his ex-lover, Kendra, turns up, this saint, this saviour, falls under her evil seductress ways. Far from turning the other cheek, Tobin’s actions rock his marriage, his beliefs and strength of character.

The story is a modern-day version of the biblical King David. A bit lost on me…I’m not religious or a Christian and haven’t read the Bible. This didn’t matter, as it was still a page-turner as you accompany Tobin in his struggles to fight temptation in his will-he/won’t-he battle. Tobin, despite wobbling off his pedestal, and Kendra (bitch is too nice a word for her) are both very strong characters in their own way, but beautifully balanced by the soft, gentle, patient, perhaps even a little flaky, Jane and Kendra’s almost puppy-dog-like, ineffective, bumbling, slightly wimpish husband. But, pay very special attention to both of these…

And excellent story, written with Sasse’s usual flair, that's intense, passionate and peppered with some I-never-expected-that little surprises.


See also:
Beauty Rising
If Love is a Crime: A Christmas Story
Love Story for a Nation
The Reach of the Banyan Tree 
The Recluse Storyteller

How Santa became Santa Claus by Jennifer Longe

I didn’t like this, I’m afraid. It was a very, very short story, about someone called Nicholas who became St Nicholas and I suppose, as the title suggests, Santa Claus. 

As far as I'm concerned, Santa Claus is a fat jolly chap from the North Pole with rosy cheeks, a nice white beard and a pretty dynamic team of bionic reindeers who get him all around the world on a very special night. St Nicholas is St Nicholas with his own history, and I don’t think he would have known what to do with Dancer and Prancer any more than Santa would have known what to do with an angel.

There was an unnecessary anecdote at the end of the book (if you can call it that, it’s only a few pages long), in which I was told I can be sure ‘There is a God’. Not necessarily my point of view, and I was also informed that Christmas presents don’t always come wrapped in ‘shinning’ paper. That wasn’t the worst of the errors. 

This isn’t a £1.93 ebook. However, it could sit in a book of Christmas short stories happily enough, but it needs a revamp and a very thorough edit.

Conquering Your Goliaths - A Parable Of The Five Stones by Kathryn Jones

I found this a very hard short story to read – you need to be spiritual, Christian, God-fearing to appreciate it.  I am none of those things.  So for those of you that are, you will probably enjoy this short parable, you’ll understand the message, and in all likelihood learn something from it. So, look away now.

It just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Ms Virginia Bean loses her job at the local doughnut factory.  She lives alone and hasn’t had much excitement in the love department either.  ‘God’ gives her direction and challenges her with the gift of 5 stones each representing something different and to which she then looks to help her find a new job, new skills, and new friends.  I thought this was totally unrealistic, and ultimately, Virginia thoroughly irritated me, because she couldn’t take a positive step without running it past ‘God’ or looking to the stones for ‘guidance’.   Why ‘God’ had to throw in a bit of tragedy to help her to her path of employment and fulfilment, I just couldn’t see, and of course, not being very conversant with the bible, the significance of the parable was lost on me.

The story is short and to the point and reasonably well written.  I can see that there would be an audience for it who I’m sure will enjoy it.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of my top reads.

Silent Night - A Christmas Story by Dennis Canfield

When the author of this short story very kindly considered me to review it, I was a little apprehensive - Christian fiction is not a genre I read.  However, I succumbed to his powers of persuasion and was pleasantly surprised.

It’s a very poignant and touching tale, set in Austria just after the Napoleonic era, of a young man who it seems has had all those he holds most dear to him taken tragically away.  His most recent loss is the final straw, which breaks not the camel’s back, but his faith in God.  Such is his grief and distrust, he turns his back on his family, friends and life, until a near-fatal illness brings a very special person into his life, one old and wise.   She is instrumental in helping him understand, rationalise, realise that good does come out of bad, but most importantly in persuading him to try and not be distracted by the questions which faith in God cannot always answer.

My reluctance to read this was driven mainly by the fact that I am not a religious person and would find it hard to relate.  However, I chose a philosophical approach.  Either way, whether this was a story to show that God does indeed move in mysterious ways or whether it was to make you ponder about the good and bad in the world, it was compelling, nicely written, well detailed and perfectly structured.  There was perhaps a message, even for people like me.  Anger and the inability to comprehend what has unjustly been taken from you is wasted energy:  use the short time we have in this life to enjoy what you have been privileged to have been given.

I’m glad that I was persuaded to spend a very pleasant couple of hours reading this book.