Vanished, by Joseph Finder

St. Martin's Press, 2009. 388 pgs.

I started this book yesterday and finished it today. Overall I'd say it was very enjoyable. Not his best book (I liked Paranoia and Company Man the best), but one that will certainly provide the reader with several hours of entertainment.

The story opens with a married couple, Roger and Lauren Heller on a date, when they get attacked, and Lauren wakes up in the hospital and Roger disappears. Their son, Gabe, enlists the help of Roger's brother, Nick, who is an former special forces man working for a company specializing in corporate espionage. Nick reminded of me of a good guy version of Kurt from Killer Instinct.

From other reviews on Amazon.com I understand that this is to be the first book in a new series, though I did not see anything in the book specifically stating that.

Buying a Book New or Waiting for it Used...

I generally always purchase most of the fiction books I read used. You can save a lot of money that way - especially if you read a lot as I do. Take a John Grisham book for example - buying it brand new when it is released will cost you about $20. If you wait a year you can get it for under $1 used from Amazon.com.

There are, however, a few specific authors that I have decided to buy their books as soon as they are released. If you really like an author, wouldn't you want to support him so that he writes more books? Right now I really enjoy books by Joseph Finder, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, and Nelson DeMille. Books by these authors I usually pre-order so that I can get them ASAP. The price really isn't too bad, either - I just got Joseph Finder's Vanished for $16 shipped from Walmart.

The Normal Christian Life, by Watchman Nee

Published by Tyndale, 1977. 294 pages.

I picked this book up several months ago when a friend had me order it for her husband, and I got myself one as well. I only just recently got around to reading it.

I have to say that this book will probably end up near the top of my list of books that every Christian must read.

You could say that The Normal Christian Life is a pretty much a commentary on Romans (particularly chapters 6, 7, and 8). The exposition and application of Biblical truth in this book is amazing. Nee also includes a number of excellent illustrations.

One of the beginning chapters talk about being "in Christ" and Nee gave the perfect illustration:

"I took up a small book and put a piece of paper into it..." 'Now look carefully. I take a piece of paper. It has an identity of its own, quite separate from this book. Having no special purpose for it at the moment I put it into the book. Now I do something with the book. I mail it to Shanghai. I do not mail the paper, but the paper has been put into the book. Then where is the paper? Can the book go to Shanghai and the paper remain here? Can the paper have a separate destiny from the book? No! Where the book goes the paper goes. If I drop the book in the river the paper goes, too... Whatever experience the book goes through the paper goes through with it, for it is still in the book." (pgs. 36, 37).

He goes on to say:

We were crucified with Christ was crucified, for God put us there in him. That we died in Christ is not merely a doctrinal position, it is an eternal and indisputable fact." (pg. 37).

Near the end of the book Nee talks about "wasting" your life on God. That is based on the disciples' reaction to Mary pouring out expensive perfume to anoint Jesus Christ - they all said that she wasted it, whereas she should have sold it and given the money to the poor. But the idea was that she was giving her best to the Lord. Is it possible to give too much to God? Not possible. Nee points out that waste is giving more than necessary. If something costs $1 and you give $2, then you just wasted $1. You are giving something too much for something too little. Is it possible to give God more than necessary? Absolutely not.

I would highly recommend this book to every believer. I was able to get another 12 books that Nee has written, and with a very good discount. I look forward to diving into those soon.

Search the Scriptures

Edited by Alan M. Stibbs. IVP, 2004. 6th edition. 519 pages. Link.

Search the Scriptures is an absolute must have for every Christian's library. I have been using it for several weeks now and I have loved it. It is designed to take you through the entire Bible over the course of three years.

At first, I thought that was too long of a time frame, and that I would do 3 lessons a day in order to do it in 1 year, but I soon found out that you really need to give a 1/2 hour (or more) to each lesson to get the most out of it.


Here is a sample lesson:

STUDY 3 Isaiah 5
1. Compare Isaiah's song of the vineyard with Christ's parable of the wicked husbandmen (Mark 12:1-9) and the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9). Note the differences, and then work out the one great lesson taught in all three passages. How can it be applied to our lives today? Cf. John 15:8.

2. Make a list of the six 'Woes' in verses 8-24, finding twentieth-century words to describe each sin denounced.

Note: Verse 14. 'Grave' or 'Sheol" (Greek 'Hades') is the place where all the dead go. It is depicted as a dim and shadowry underworld.

The lessons will have you read 1-4 chapters, and then there will be 2 or 3 study questions along with some notes on the verses.

I have a notebook in which I write out the questions from the lesson and then answer them. This is the most time-consuming part of the study, but I think it's also the most profitable part. I also have found that by going at such a slow and steady pace I tend to remember a lot more of the lesson.

The book also contains a 5 page introduction entitled "Suggestions on Method of Study" that was really helpful as well, not just for using this book but for Bible study in general. The order of the studies rotate between New Testament and the Old, and larger books are broken up into smaller sections. For example, the book begins with studies on Luke 1:1-9:56, then Genesis 1-26, then Luke 9:57-19:28, then back to Genesis 27-50, and back to Luke 19:29-24:53. The idea is to get variety in there, though you can do them in the canonical order if you like (and there's a chart for that).

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to have better devotions and who wants to know their Bible better.

Terminal Freeze, by Lincoln Child

I had pre-ordered this book and forgot all about it until it showed up in my mailbox. I started it on my lunch break at work, and it was supposed to last me a whole week, but I ended up taking it home and finishing it that night :-)

The setting is a huge military facility in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. A group of scientists are doing studies on global warming when they come across a large creature frozen in ice. A large media crew (which subsidized the scientific expedition) comes to make a documentary about it. The creature thaws and is still alive, and terrorizes the base.

Terminal Freeze borrows from The Relic and Deep Storm. The creature was created supposedly for the same reason as the monster in The Relic - when a population becomes too large and it needs to be reduced. The creature is just like the creature from The Relic - very strong, intelligent, and fast. The chase at the end is similar as well (although in Terminal Freeze, the "bait" doesn't survive). On Deep Storm, the scientists were stuck in a large government facility deep under water. In Terminal Freeze, the scientists were stuck in a large government facility 1/2 under ice.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It didn't creep me out nearly as much as The Relic did, but it did keep me on edge.

White Shark, by Peter Benchley

Published by Random House, 1994. 324 pages. Link.

The main characters in the book are Simon Chase (marine biologist), Tall Man (his assistant), Max (Chase's son), and Amanda (visiting marine biologist). Chase has his own institute on a private island on the East coast. Tall Man is a muscular Indian who helps Chase. Interestingly, Benchley wrote that the town has happy to have the institute because of all the jobs created doing things like putting in plumbing and such, and all the jobs created in town to service the institute, yet it would appear that there are only 2 employees - Tall Man and an older lady who lived on the island before the institute bought it. Dr. Amanda Macy is paying the institute $10,000 a month for three months for its help, and since Chase thinks this is just wonderful because he can now pay his employees and stay solvent it would appear the the institute is very small (and unlikely to support many, if any, jobs in town). I understand this is all fiction, but I wish Benchley would have made the details fit together - it makes for a much better story.

The beginning of White Shark really make you think Peter Benchley is a die-hard environmentalist - Chase and Tall Man go on and on about how people are killing all the sharks, etc. When someone is trying to catch a shark, they take matters into their own hands and Chase jumps in the water to free the shark.

I won't spoil the plot for you if you decide to read it, but I must say that I was dissapointed by it. The "monster" was strange and not believable. The actions of the characters were too predictable. And the details didn't really add up. I did like the nautical setting (and this, combined with the fact that I had nothing else to read at the time) was why I kept reading.

Book Review: The New York Times Complete Guide to Personal Investing

By Gary L. Klott. Times Books, 1987. 612 pages. Link.

I was given this book a few weeks ago, and though I haven't read the whole thing (nor do I plan to), it does contain some interesting and helpful information. Obviously, the information about taxes and such is dated, but there is still a lot of helpful information.

He includes very brief overviews of the different kinds of standard investments - such as bonds, stocks, bank accounts, etc. But perhaps more useful is the common sense material on other "instruments" such as Antiques, Art, Baseball Cards, Coins, Gems, Stamps, Wines, etc. If you've ever considered purchasing any of those items as an investment, you will want to read about it in this book. I collected baseball cards as a kid, and wanted to strike it rich by getting some real valuable cards. The book makes me glad that this fad never lasted - "Most cards sell for less than one dollar. Only a couple of hundred cards sell for more than $10." You also need to consider the fact that the price you pay a dealer for a card is going to be much higher than what you'd be able to sell the card for. Interestingly, though you would have to pay tax on the profit if you sold a card, if you swapped cards there would be no tax.

For each of those categories he points out some of the advantages and disadvantages, gives you tips on what to watch out for, and tells you how to go about investing if you decided that's for you.

The book currently sells on Amazon.com for 1¢ used (plus $3.99 shipping), though you might just want to see if your local library has it.