… Life After War …

BOOK REVIEW

I also posted this review on Amazon.com

I haven’t blogged for almost a year, however, I am going to review not just one book, but a series.

On my Kindle, I have read the first four books in the “Life After War” series by Angela White.  These books deal with America after a nuclear / chemical / biological war.

 

Book One: “The Survivors” immediately hooked me.  Within the first few pages the characters start coming to life with a vibrance normally reserved for later chapters.  They are individuals, each with a story to tell, who interact with the others in unique ways.  You can’t really see how all of them will come together as the story progresses, but rest assured “all will be revealed”.

Book Two: “On The Road” continues to follow the story lines as they converge.  Like most of us, each of these characters carry their personal EMOTIONAL baggage … revealing each item, working through it, then throwing it away on the side of the road.  They each also discover talents they didn’t know they had or refused to acknowledge.

Book Three: “Safe Haven” where the stories begin to converge.  The charismatic leader.  The Marine who becomes his second in command.  The lady who is determined to find her son.  The other Marine who didn’t know he had a son.  The hard-as-nails cop with the heart-of-gold.  The slaver from south of the border determined to conquer America and populate it with his bastard children.  They all have deep, dark secrets they don’t want revealed to the light of day.

Book Four: “Adrians Eagles”.  We now get a glimmer of what the future may hold.  The characters aren’t just filling out, they are growing.  With each passing day some of them find an amazing inner strength that helps them do what’s right inspite of, or because of, the possible consequences.

I believe I may have become a thorn in Angela’s side.  I have been bugging her about …..

you guessed it:

Book Five:  (not named, as of this writing).

Angela:  What are you doing wasting time reading this … get to work!  :-D

Dream or Reality?

Sitting here without a thought in my head.  Not one that can be published, anyway.

            I re-read my last blog and it was really scattered.  I’ll try to make this one less so.

            I look at the people around me, that I don’t like, and I realize how similar I am to them.  I see me in some of the things that I don’t like about them.  OK, a lot of things.

I’m the dreamer who is suddenly forced to awaken.  I’m torn between trying to go back to the dream (usually not possible) or getting up and doing something in the reality (sometimes not desirable).  Often it’s difficult determining which is the dream and which is reality.

            Perhaps a dream state is more natural.  Our bodies produce a chemical which helps us go to sleep, but does not do anything to help us wake up … thus, we have alarm clocks.  Isn’t it interesting that the term “alarm” is used?  Alarm = send a warning / generate fear / cause a “fight or flight” response.

            Sometimes I feel like George Bailey during the first part of It’s A Wonderful Life.  I’ve often thought that title should have ended with a question mark.  Have I significantly affected anyone’s life?  I don’t know.

* I never finished college.

* Courtesy of Uncle Sam, I participated in a war … but I didn’t do anything particularily significant or heroic.

I pray that God has forgiven me for the part I played in that conflict.

* I never saved anyone’s life … that I’m aware of.

* I was an auto mechanic for many years, but never did anything notable.

* I have been doing smog inspections for 36 years and can’t even remember the vast majority of the 75,000+ tests I’ve personally done.  Recently, because of events and research, I’ve come to the conclusion that even all the tests I’ve done are totally insignificant … the program is not about cleaner air, it’s about politics (by now you know my opinion on that subject) and money.  The people who control politics and money don’t care whether we can breathe, only that we continue to pay a multitude of taxes and government “fees”.

* I never built anything lasting.

* I participated, am participating, in a wonderful marriage.  I believe that had more to do with a very loving and tolerant woman than anything I did.  I still love her very much.

* I had a Tax Preparation buisness for a few years, but, that is history.  Mostly due to the economic downturn, proliferation of home PCs, government fees, software and the fact that it isn’t fun or profitable any more.

* The past few years of medical bills I’m sure have helped a couple of doctors and health insurance executives take trips to the Bahamas … is that significant? … I doubt it. <G>

* I’ve been an Ordained Minister for several years.  I’ve never done anything with it … maybe I should?  At the time I got ordained, it was free and I did it just for a lark (online - Universal Life Church).  I can do the same things other ministers can do;  preside at marriages, funerals, baptisms, etc.  NO circumcisions (reserved for a Rabbi with training).  That’s OK by me.

And Moses said:  “Lord … let me see if I’ve got this straight.  The arabs get all the oil and we get to cut a half inch off our what”?

            The other day I told a customer about Earth being the Insane Asylum of the Universe.  He asked me if I knew this because I had been to other planets and seen the difference?

I said:  “Yes, and I told someone about it.  That’s why they put me here.” <G>

Gotta Go Now.