Review: Theodora's Children (Tales Of Hope #2) by Rick Nau

Theodora's Children(Tales Of Hope #2)

by Rick Nau

Gretchen is her name. She’s the heroine of the story. Some people call her Gretch the Wretch. Not a very nice thing to say about someone, especially if they suffer from a loneliness so intense it could blow the roof off the sky. Certainly she’s not the only person in the world who’s felt this way. You might have felt this way yourself. Or you might feel this way at this very moment, just as Gretchen felt at the beginning of her story. This isn’t to say she’s not a wonderful person. If you get to know her, you’ll find out how wonderful she is. If you don’t, you’ll never know.

My Take:

Jesse takes his great-grandchildren Daph and Josh to the lake each Sunday to enjoy time together and tell them a story. This time the story is concerning a rich daughter named Gretchen who, while showered with everything her heart could imagine, longs for a brother to share her life, fortune, and adventures with.

The brother she longs for is the only present she asks her parents for, but as the years slip by, she cannot understand why they cannot, or will not, answer this request. Sequestered on a sprawling estate with a multitude of staff to wait on her, there is not a single child anywhere she can play with. Until the day she is rescued from a fire by a mysterious child on the estate that nobody believes exists.

Did Gretchen imagine the child who rescued her from death? Was it the brother her parents would never give her? Or is she losing her mind, as her counselors believe?

Content:

Drug Content:

G - None.

Violence:

PG - Children are imprisoned, and there is an execution planned. There is a dangerous chase through a mountain pass. Kidnapping, imprisonment, and betrayal are all present, though no real violence, blood or death occurs.

Language:

G - squeaky clean.

Adult Content:

G - This is a kids' book. Not even kissing occurs here.

Christian content:

For most of the book there is very little content that goes beyond moral lessons and classic fairy tale oblique references to wisdom. But approaching the climax of the story the bible plays rather heavily, and the gospel message is clearly presented. Loyalty, self-sacrifice, and generosity are set against pride, malevolence, betrayal, and avarice. Good and evil are crisply defined with little gray area involved.

Final analysis:

Theodora's Children is a story within a story. And while the outer story with Jesse and his great-grandchildren held little to captivate me, the inner story, after some groundwork, was riveting. Slow to get started, the book gained traction a quarter of the way through, and was a page-turner throughout the remainder. Compelling, enthralling, and meaningful, Theodora's Children is a nice book to read aloud to kids ages 6-13. The setting is realistic, the action gripping, the characters well-defined. Five stars!

About the Author:

I remember writing my first story (a play) when I was eleven. A boy was digging in his backyard when he uncovered a tiny, silvery rock that could make you float through the air whenever you touched it. That story was written for a wonderful teacher who encouraged all of us to be creative.

Then, after a brief hiatus of fifteen years, I discovered an old typewriter that my mother had used in high school. Inspired by Jack Kerouac, I began banging away on it until I produced my first novel.

My favorite writers? Conrad, Hugo, London (the early years), Stevenson, Lewis, Dahl, Dumas, Kipling, Cooper, Hammett, Melville, Michener, Twain, O’Brian, Wilde, Bunyan, Kerouac and others. Whenever I open one of their books, it's like opening the wardrobe door that leads to Narnia. 

Review: The Agora Files by Adam Oster

The Agora Files

by 

Adam Oster

When dying alone on the hot sands of the Mohave Desert, Cyrus has no regrets. He loves a challenge. Being tasked with running from San Francisco to Boston in fifteen days, while the United States government and a host of bounty hunters hunt for him, sounds like fun. Being at death's door only a day into his trip doesn't faze him either. It's when he's joined by fellow runner Eve, bringing new emotions to the surface, his confidence cracks.

My Take:

Cyrus Rhodes is about to reach the AoA, the Age of Accountability. For a teen, that is usually good news, but for Cyrus, it means his days as a Runner for the Agora are coming to a close. And that's a shame, because he's the best runner they've ever had. While running contraband could get you executed by the US Government, kids under the AoA are exempt, which is why the Agora use them.With only a few weeks left before his birthday, he gets a lucrative opportunity, one last run, a cross-country footrace against time to deliver a package from San Francisco to Boston. In fifteen days, on foot.

Even for an ultra-marathon athlete like Cyrus, that's not going to be very likely. Assisted by his brother The Geek, who acts as GPS and DJ for Cyrus via some very high-tech equipment, and the surprise help of Eve, a runner from his past, he just might make it. But little does he know that the package is something critical for the Rebellion. Something that might trigger the overthrow of the government. Frankly, he really couldn't care, he's just in this for the money. But when the oppressive US Government learns of this race, they throw everything they have at stopping him.

Armed with only a taser and an incredible amount of self-confidence, Cyrus pits himself against a multitude of bounty hunters and the US military to deliver the package on time, all while wondering whether he is racing to his death. And whether the package should be delivered at all.

Content:

Drug Content:

PG - There is one scene where Cyrus races through Reno, and there are many drug addicts and homeless laying in the street grabbing for him. No real discussion of drug use, though there is a brief mention that Cyrus has run drugs as well as guns.

Violence:

PG - There is quite a bit of gunfire in a few scenes, and in one scene tanks and turret mounted machine guns are deployed. An airstrike occurs. A bullet or shrapnel injures a person. A few people are tasered.

Language:

PG - very light sprinkling.

Adult Content:

PG - There's some love interest between the two runners, but it's tame.   

Christian content:

Nada. There is a bit of struggle in the main character with right and wrong, and a character arc, where he begins as a free spirit, an arrogant self-centered opportunist with no moral compass, but reaches a point where he actually seems to care about this impossible task he's been given. Loyalty and self-sacrifice, redemption and perseverance are broad-brush themes. The dystopian regime of the US presented some of the evils of absolute power and the intrusive nature of a corrupt but powerful government. This hints, but doesn't say, that mankind is basically evil.

Final analysis:

While I found the idea of a cross-country footrace to deliver a package a hard theme to suspend my disbelief over, especially given the fact that encrypted messages and documents can be sent instantaneously anywhere in the world, the concept presented challenges and obstacles that kept my interest, while the sarcastic wit of the main character kept me in stitches as often as not.

Fast-paced and entertaining, with a little romantic angst thrown in, The Agora Files would be a fun frolic for anyone who has ever been into running, or just looking for an adventure. Five Stars!

About the Author:
Adam Oster hates writing bios. If you ever find him working on an auto-biography, you'll know he's finally been taken over by some sort of memoir-loving group of pod people.

That being said...here's a little bit of information about him.

Originally hailing from Columbia, SC, Adam lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with his gorgeous wife and three adorable kids. He spends a lot of his time trying to figure out what part of this world he'd like to visit next.

When he's not traveling or writing books, he's working a rather mundane desk job, dreaming up further tales of adventure.

His favorite activity is to explore, whether it's his current hometown, or anywhere else he happens to end up. When he's not exploring, he often finds himself enjoying stories in whatever form he can find them, through television, movies, books, comic books, and video games.