Blog Tour Review of The Devil's Garden by Brady Christianson

Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Format Read: PDF
Release Date: November 11, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon   MyBookOrders   Barnes & Noble

Book Blurb (from the author):

A Marine’s past is never far behind him, but sometimes it’s a lot closer than he thinks . . .

After years of enjoying the soft, quiet, civilian, family life, former Recon Marine Brandon Colson still has a large price on his head…only his family doesn’t know it. That is, until a heavily armed squad of terrorists breaks into his house and tries to kill him and his family.

After swiftly dispatching the would-be assassins, Colson realizes the ghosts from his past have somehow managed to come back to haunt him. His worst nightmare has come true. His identity—a secret until now—has been mysteriously compromised. Something he did years ago, while on a recon mission during his tour of service, has kept anger burning in the hearts of powerful Arab adversaries. And the men who attacked his house are simply an omen of what is to come.

With his family in hiding, Colson and local detective Sam Collier set out to locate and neutralize the remainder of the terrorist cell. It’s a race against time, and the plot they uncover along the way defies all expectation.

Their fates in the balance until the last second, the two men must fight for their lives as they navigate a trail littered with bloodshed and revenge that leads straight to hell on earth: The Devil’s Garden.

Quote: 

"Tell me, Doctor," Brandon chided with dislike dripping from the title, "do you believe in God?"

"Of course not," the doctor admitted.

"Now, how is it that I knew that?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't like me because I don't believe in God?"

"No, I'm trying to tell you that you are a fool. Not that it would matter to an educated man such as yourself."

"Are you calling me a fool because I don't share your beliefs?"

"Negative. I am calling you a fool because the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. You are a fool because you are not even at the beginning of the road that leads to wisdom and life, yet you think you can cure people out of your ignorance."

Reviewed By:  Bea

Bea's Thoughts: 

Our past is never really behind us; whether we made a mistake or did something that someone else disagreed with, often the consequences reach out to hit us sometime in the future. Actions that Colson committed as a Marine lead to he and his family being in danger.

I had a hard time warming up to Colson; he was arrogant, condescending, rude, a know-it-all, constantly shoved his religion down people's throats and was offensive to people who dared to disagree with him.
And he was supposed to be the good guy! Some of his actions I could understand, even if I disagreed while others I just can't condone. Be warned, there is lots of violence and Christianson doesn't hesitate to get gory. Also, I'm not into weapons so my eyes would glaze over at the loving descriptions and I'd skim to the end of the descriptions.
 
I have mixed feelings about the book. The story was okay and at times I was caught up in it but the attitude and all of the proselytizing were grating and obnoxious. It's one of those books you need to read for yourself; some will love it while others will not. The story alternated between engrossing and boring; the flashbacks were overly long though they mostly added to the story. There's some humor in the story which I appreciated and I did enjoy Colson's relationships with his former Marine comrade Dain and local detective Collier. He was as rude to them as he was to everyone else but he's also loyal to a fault.  I'd have liked to see more of Colson's wife and kids; they were not well-fleshed out but were important to Colson and drove some of the action. The action is decent and Christianson's expertise shines through. I was bothered by Colson's attitude towards people of differing beliefs. To be honest, if I'd realized the book was basically a sales pitch for Christianity in the guise of a thriller, I'd have passed on it. For me, the emphasis on Christianity and Colson's overall attitude (which may or may not the reflect the author's beliefs) pretty much overshadowed the rest of the story for me. Your mileage may vary. You could say that Christianson did an excellent job writing Colson since he evoked such a strong response in me.



I received a PDF from Tribute Books for review.

You can follow the blog tour by checking thus schedule: http://the-devils-garden.blogspot.com/