What I've been reading #9

This is a pro reading zone. 

Out of the Black by Lee Doty

This is truly a unique book in my experience.  To even decide which genre it is is a little dicey.  To look at the picture on the book you might think that it was definitely Science Fiction, which is a contributing genre, however; it probably is the biggest part Fantasy.  In addition to the Science Fiction, Horror, Martial Arts and Detective genre's it has a little bit of chaste romance in it and action throughout.  The story includes humans a few years in the future as well as a race of people whose lives are lengthened because of their participation in something that maybe we can only call magic.  The story teams up some humans and wizards to fight against evil that is attacking our world through drugs that in essence change humans into demons.  There is lots of blood and guts in this story, but through it all a group tries to do the right things for the right reasons.  Lee Doty is an LDS author and this is his first book.  I would say if you want a mind numbing action fantasy book that makes you feel good in the end, that this is the book for you. 

Escape From the World Trade Center by Leslie Haskin

Leslie Haskin started out as a very successful financial play maker on the 35th floor and ended up a minister due to her ordeal at the World Trade Center.  An ordeal it was.  She intersperses her renewed religious insights along the way with some scripture (some of which is very well chosen) which emphasizes her points.  From the initial shock to the confusion and initial inaction after escaping the building to the total disbelief when the buildings collapsed.  It helps you get a feel for what the experience is like.  And although the reading of it will not cause PTSD the living through it clearly did for her and many hundreds of others.  A brief but enlightening read. 

Long After Dark by Todd Robert Petersen

I read about this book, a variety of short stories about the Mormon experience, on another blog and it was available for a nice price for Kindle so I thought I would give it a try.  I wasn't very far into it before I was reading from it to my wife and it brought tears to my eyes.  Sometimes unexpected, other times hoped for, it is a very thought provoking book that attempts to include Mormon experience from various parts of the world.  The stories range in length from very short, a page or so, to the last story that is a novella and takes up about 40% of the book or so.  Many of the stories are very insightful and a couple others didn't do a lot for me--but that is often the nature of books of short stories.  At any rate I highly recommend this book.  But you must be warned about the novella at the end of the book.  I started reading it and was amazed how different than the other stories it was.  I wondered if I should stop reading, how could this same author write this.  I didn't think that the author who had written the other one's, some spiritually uplifting, could write this, but he sure did.  I persevered having trusted him from the short stories and let me just say that the cognitive doubting is part of the point of the story and you will be happily surprised at how it leads to a very satisfying and thought provoking story.  This book was a really great read, I enjoyed it so much that I bought a novel he had available as well and will be reading it next. 

The Rift by Todd Robert Petersen

About half way through reading Long After Dark, I wanted to get something else by this author and went right into this book after completing the last.  This was a very interesting book.  At first I thought it was going to be a book about an elderly man and his wife living in a small largely Mormon town, but then his wife died.  The main character is a very interesting fellow.  He had a small part in one of the short stories in the previous book I read.  He is retired and lives his life doing things around his property that need doing, but he also makes it a point almost daily to help some of the people in town that he recognizes need helping.  He is LDS and his help isn't limited only to those that are members of the church.  He is an excellent example of charity as he sees what needs done and does it.  This includes physical outside labor and support and encouragement as well.  One thing though, is that he has a feud with the current Bishop.  That leads to some interesting moments, especially after the Bishop's daughter returns to town after running off.  A very enjoyable look at a man's life who seems to be determined to do what is right by his reckoning no matter who gets in the way, even the Bishop. 

Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.John Locke