Family, Faith, and Fridays: The Force- Book Review and Book Basket Giveaway!

Books? Did you mention books? I happen to have a few, read a few and maybe even covet a few! It is a personal thing...I love books! So if someone asks me to read one and review, my answer is usually YES!

Being a homeschooling mom though, most of what I read and review is curriculum so I was very excited to be asked to review a Christian Thriller for a change. Let me just be honest right up front, this is NOT my usual reading genre. I am a wimp and have been know to creep myself out with thrillers and not finish them, but I decided to take a chance with The Force, written by mother daughter team Alexandra and Joyce Swann. Hey, it is good to get out of your comfort zone, right?!

While The Force (358 pages!) is a stand alone book, it is actually the sequel to The Fourth Kingdom. Because I am a "do things in order" kind of gal, I HAD to read that one first. Loved it. A tale of mystery centered around cloning, The Fourth Kingdom introduces young brothers Jarrod and Joshua Sinclair. There are a lot of historical references that made me go back and do a little research of my own. My recommendation- read it! The Fourth Kingdom held me in suspense and I stayed up late the second night of reading to finish it. So glad I did!

The Force finds the Sinclair brothers years later, again in the middle of a cloning mystery, this time on an international level. With the help of a retired Christian detective, the brothers try to capture their childhood nemesis, Josef, and tie him to the recent murders of Hollywood look alikes. Little do they know that the investigation will take them down an even darker path of evil and the seeking of ultimate world power.

Man, did I mention this genre is out of my comfort zone? While I did enjoy the story, I have to admit it creeped me out more than once. Well written and obviously well researched, the themes of cloning and someone seeking to alter the human race to be able to rule it are pretty deep, and often disturbing subjects. The Force has its share of violence which made me uncomfortable at times but is written within the boundaries of good taste. This is not a book for wimps nor is it light reading by any stretch of the imagination. Be ready to pay attention and reread several sections for clarity- I did!

And what about the Christian part of it? The Sinclair brothers as well as detective Fred Kowalski are unashamedly Christian. From the prayers they say to the values they hold dear you never question who their loyalty is to. Amidst a world being taken over by the evil they hold fast to their beliefs.

"...the devil is not powerful; all power belongs to God and to Jesus. The devil uses force, but he has no power." "As long as you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you, the devil can never defeat you, and you never need fear him. One day God will call you to take a stand against the forces of Satan. When that day comes, remember this: Whenever power and force collide, power always wins the fight." (ii, iii, The Force)

This is one of the things that kept me reading- the thought provoking wordage. I loved that the authors made me stop and think, to evaluate what I believe and what I know to be true. To me, to be able to more deeply evaluate a book beyond just the story line and words on a page is a sign of good writing.

If you like books like the Left Behind series or things written by Frank Peretti, this is one you will want to add to your to read list! Just remember that I warned you- be ready to be creeped out! But to be challenged as well!

The Force is available for $12.95 at Amazon, and for the Kindle for $4.99.

About the authors-

Joyce and Alexandra Swann are mother and daughter. Joyce homeschooled her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees. She is a well-known author and speaker on the subject of homeschooling. For nearly a decade she was a popular columnist for "Practical Homeschooling Magazine". She now blogs regularly on parenting, homeschooling, and Christian lifestyle issues.

Joyce and Alexandra have co-authored two other novels, The Fourth Kingdom and The Twelfth Juror, both of which were published in 2010. Joyce’s personal story of her experiences raising and educating her family is chronicled in Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother, published in February of 2011. Her novel, The Warrior, which tells the story of one woman’s ten year prayer vigil for a man she has never met, was released in May of 2012. She is also the author of two children’s books, Tales of Pig Isle and The McAloons, which began as stories that she told to entertain her grandchildren.

Alexandra is author of No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned me a Master’s Degree at Age Sixteen and Writing for Today. She has been self-employed for over fourteen years and was the 2011 Chairwoman of the Board of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She writes a regular blog, Paying for Protection, about the consequences of over-regulation and over-reaching government. Her novel The Planner, which is the prequel to The Chosen, was published in June of 2012.

And to get you started on your path to reading- a super fun giveaway!

We are excited to help Frontier 2000 Media celebrate the release of The Force by Alexandra and Joyce Swann with a super cool giveaway for book lovers! Two prizes will be awarded, one containing 11 awesome books and the other with five books. Total value of this giveaway is $185! Woohoo!

We would like to thank the following authors for their generous donations to these giveaways! Be sure to stop by their websites to say thank you!

William Struse
Tricia Goyer
Sarah Sundin
Eisley Jacobs
Gwen Toliver
Carey Jane Clark

To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. Two winners will be selected and announced by noon ET on November 25, 2013. U.S. residents age 18 and older only please. Other Terms and Conditions can be found in the Rafflecopter.