New Book Alert: A Festive Juxtaposition by Paul R. Stanton; The Devil Takes a Holiday (So Do Formatting and Editing)

 New Book Alert: A Festive Juxtaposition by Paul R. Stanton; The Devil Takes a Holiday (So Do Formatting and Editing)

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Come on, even Satan can’t be the Odious Spinner of Lies, Prince of the Power of the Air, Leader of All That is Evil, Tempter, Ruler of Hell, and King of the Bottomless Pit forever. Every once in a while the Dude from Down Under (not Australia) needs to take a break and why not during the Christmas season?  In Paul R. Stanton’s dark comedic satire, A Festive Juxtaposition, that is exactly what he does. This book is a brilliant concept and idea that is mostly carried out rather well, but is unfortunately hampered by bad formatting and some technical issues that could have been resolved with better editing and proofreading. 

The Devil materializes out of thin air at 6:27 PM Greenwich Mean Time at Charing Cross Station. He forgoes the usual pitchfork, cape, horns, red skin, cloven hoofs, and scent of sulfur effect. Instead he takes the name Nick and opts to dress like a normal  Londoner: nice suit, quiet demeanor, unassuming behavior, the guy you might say hello to but then forget about a few minutes later. Since this is his time off, he just intends to enjoy a holiday stroll while actually (gasp) doing good for some desperate Londerners and punishing a few bad ones.  He gets involved in the lives of those that he calls “The Dispossessed” and changes their lives in many ways. It’s sort of like Touched By A Devil (minus the unfortunate implications of the title). 

Stanton has a gift for darkly comic writing that questions the Reader’s assumptions about religion, God, the Devil, and the concepts of good and evil. In some ways, A Festive Juxtaposition is very similar to Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett with its all too human demonic protagonist and its biting commentary on religion. The Devil is written very similarly to Crowley, the demon from Good Omens. He is a very slick sardonic figure who has grown to like humanity to the point of actually wanting to help them out of the messes in which they are in. In fact, he even challenges the remoteness of God by wondering how a seemingly loving deity can be standoffish towards the people that he created and not doing anything to help them on Earth. After all, the Devil may be (incredibly and completely) flawed but at least he’s there. He sees the suffering and tries his best (and admittedly worst) to provide some form of aid and comfort. 

The Dispossessed are the usual grab bag of city dwellers from all walks of life and all in need of some help or a sympathetic ear towards their problems: addicts, the lovelorn, mentally ill, the suicidal, career criminals, people who are doubting their faiths and beliefs. These are people who are in need of help right away and help comes from the strangest of sources. 

The formula from each story is the saame. A human is in some kind of trouble or desperately needs something. They meet a strange man who seems to know more about themselves than they do. He assists or offers them advice on their particular predicament, sometimes providing the means for the solution. The person is left trying to decide whether to take that offer. The epilogue then catches up to that person to say whether they  took the initiative and how it changed their lives for better or worse. 

There's Nigel, a young stubborn runaway whom the Devil has to use some tough love and all caps to get him to go home to his parents and make him realize that whatever disagreement that he has with his pater and mater familias can't be as bad as sleeping on the streets and dying from hypothermia. 

Nick also helps May, another young runaway, by posing as a private detective who had been hired by May’s parents. He even presents letters from her mother and stepfather to complete the effect.

There's Old Meg, a former prostitute who has lost her looks and charisma. She also seems to recognize “Nick” but it is purposely open for debate whether she knows that he's the Devil, thinks he's a former client, or doesn't really recognize him at all and just thinks that she does. Either way, Nick is enough of a gentleman to send her to better surroundings.

The Professor is a former academic whose career was ruined by a sex scandal and has fallen into the bottle ever since. He gets into an intellectual debate with the Horned One over the existence of God and source of Creation before he receives a potential answer to his crisis.

Nick isn't there just to help others. He's also there to mete out punishment to those with evil intent and do not have the excuse of saying “the Devil made them do it.” People like Ed, Barry, and Razors, a trio that like to rob and harm others just for the lulz. They realize too late that robbing the Devil is not a good idea. In one of the darkest and most humorous dialogues in the book, after the trio ask who the Devil Nick is, he gives a sinister grin and tells them to turn their question into a declaration, reverse “are” and “you,”  put them at the head of the sentence, drop “who,” and then they will have their answer.

Next on Nick's Nice List are Lucy and Dominic, a pair of addicts who desperately need to get Dominic to a hospital. Nick helps them while putting Laz, a soulless career criminal with a penchant for hallucinogens and taking advantage of the troubled couple, on his Naughty List.

Miriam is a domestic abuse survivor who is in the process of getting herself and her beloved dog Tigger evicted. Maybe, that mysterious slightly demonic representative from her husband's law firm can help. Unfortunately, the news is not what Miriam suspected and may only make her life worse.

While Nick spends much time with the impoverished, even the more economically advantaged need diabolical intervention. His latest mortal is Michael Asquith, a well dressed man caught up in a conundrum. He is engaged but during a night of drunkenness, he had an affair and now is debating whether to tell his fiancee and end the engagement or live a lie. All of this is figured out by the Devil’s talent for deductive reasoning. (Sherlock Holmes had to learn it from somebody. Why not the Prince of well not Darkness but slightly Charcoal Gray?)

To prove that the Devil can be a good sport, he even lends a claw to a member of the Rival team by helping Rev. Adrian Noble. Noble’s church has been closed, left desolate, and is in the process of renovation. His church is low on funding and parishioners and Noble is hovering towards despair and doubts in his faith. Even the Devil is willing to forego an ancient rivalry to help a truly good man.

After messing with time travel and getting the better of a DoomSayer on the street, Nick encounters the final Dispossessed: Peggy, an anxious sad woman. Posing as a police officer, Nick questions her about her possible involvement in the death of a young woman. Peggy is confused and frightened about this line of questioning, but it becomes clear that this conversation is more personal than she thought.

14 lost souls. 14 lonely people in dire need of help and some lessons that they need to learn. Help comes in the form of a devil of an aid. 

This book is a wonderful concept and weaves the various diverse characters with the Devil making the book a fascinating ensemble. However, what could be a perfect work is seriously hampered by poor editing and formatting. Words are spelled differently sometimes within a few paragraphs. Passive voice is used over active voice and creates too many filler words (“had seen” instead of “saw.”) 

The worst issue is the formatting. The text is pushed upwards right underneath the cover, putting the pages out of order from the table of contents. There are little sprigs of holly that were probably intended to be paragraph breaks but some of them are inserted in the middle of sentences and even words. This makes the narrative visually confusing and deters from an otherwise potentially great story.

A Festive Juxtaposition is mechanically flawed, but the concept and themes are brilliant and challenges what we think that we know about God, The Devil, Good, Evil, and Mankind.

New Book Alert: The Email From God by Neil Stevenson; Talk To Text Style Highlights Immediacy in This Science Fiction Message From The Future

New Book Alert: The Email From God by Neil Stevenson; Talk To Text Style Highlights Immediacy in This Science Fiction Message From The Future

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If all of Earth gets an email from God then we will know that we all screwed up big time.

That's the premise behind The Email From God by Neil Stevenson, a Science Fiction novel in which a small group of people from the future send an important email from God to the past to create a better world and beat the secret society determined to stop it.

Brother and sister, Fahim and Amina Graham both work at CERN in 2046 and have a very ambitious plan. In 2023, the entire world, I mean everybody in the entire world, received an email from God telling Earth that humanity messed up and caused mass environmental destruction, endless wars, socioeconomic collapse, hate crimes, and terrorist acts. However, there is time to turn it around before it's too late. So God sends a list of 23 Commandments to follow. The Commandments include ways of saving the environment, improving the economy, obtaining good mental and physical health, and ending violence and prejudice.

Oh and if anyone has trouble with that, then they get hit with a massive headache. Not fatal but just enough to let everyone know that the deity means business. 

That's all well and good. Everything begins to improve.  To make sure of this positive outcome, Fahim, Amina, and their respective husbands Mattheo and Dorje create Hindsight which contains uploads of the email, news articles about the email and subsequent events tied to it, and instructions on how to implement these plans. Then they will send these uploads on a nanochip through a wormhole into the past for Readers of God's email to create this new and better future.

Unfortunately, not everyone is excited about this prospect. The Illuminati is still around (because we can't have a good Science Fiction conspiracy novel without a certain infamous organization). They have a plan to destroy the email, kill God's message, in effect kill God, and create a dystopian society in which they will emerge as rulers.

What is particularly brilliant about this novel is its writing style. There have been other works written mostly or almost entirely in email or text form, e by Matt Beaumont, The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot, Love Virtually by Daniel Glattaur, ttyl by Lauren Myracle, When You Read This by Mary Adkins among others. This is not a new format but in this context, it particularly works.

The Talk to Text Style throughout this book exacerbates the characters' sense of urgency and immediacy. They have an important message to share and need to get it sent. They are aware that they are constantly being observed and monitored by Illuminati members (some of whom they work for) and have to make sure that their uploads and God's email are properly uploaded. We don't have time for setting description, interior monologues, and other literary tropes. These protagonists are in a rush.

There are some suspenseful moments throughout the book in which the style really helps. For example, in one chapter two characters text each other and then a third enters the chat. It becomes clear that this person is not friendly and at odds with their plans. The two protagonists instantly switch to typical office chat and small talk.

A few other chapters feature the main characters listening in on the Illuminati's plans and becoming sickened by them. It's a heart thumping moment which reveals what could be lost in their current and former lives if they should fail.

The different fonts and writing styles are jarring at first but allow us to realize who is who, even giving us insights into their characters. Amina's font is very soft and curvy, like someone who weighs out her words and considers what to write. She writes long elegant phrases and summaries letting the world know what she, Fahim, and the others are doing so they can be heard and understood. She only stops once in a while to drop a casual informal reprimand to her brother revealing their close, loving, and teasing nature. She is the one chosen to write about and deliver the message.

In contrast, Fahim's font is short, dark, and concise. It is filled with grammatical errors and lower case nouns like someone in a hurry who doesn't have the time or interest to correct his writing. He is also prone to swearing and speaking out of turn showing his pride, quickness to anger, and impatience. However, he also writes in scientific terms and theories revealing his genius in the fields of science and physics. He is the one chosen to create the Hindsight program and the nanochip.

Rather than be a pessimistic book about the future, The Email From God shows a chance of hope. We don't have to turn Earth into a dystopia out of Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, and Atwood. We have options and choices. Instead of creating the worst, we can make a clear plan to make the world better. 

Weekly Reader: Towards That Which is Beautiful by Marian O'Shea Wernicke; Beautiful Spiritual Novel About The Different Ways to Serve Others and Share Faith

 Weekly Reader: Toward That Which is Beautiful by Marian O'Shea Wernicke; Beautiful Spiritual Novel About The Different Ways to Serve Others and Share Faith

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The title of  Marian O'Shea Wernicke's novel, Toward That Which is Beautiful lives up to its name. Actually, it can't be heading towards what is beautiful when the whole book is beautiful. It's a beautiful spiritual journey about a nun contemplating her vows and learning what it truly means to serve her God and helping others and herself.

When we first meet Sister Mary Katherine, she is fleeing a convent in Santa Catalina, Peru as though running away. She is leaving her convent and her duties as a nun behind. Tellingly while others call her Sister or "madrecita," the third person narrator refers to her as Kate. This little reveal already shows that Kate is a woman going through internal conflicts between her vocation as a nun and her feelings as a woman.

As Kate escapes, temporarily seeking asylum in the home of Peter Grinnell, an anthropologist, we are given flashbacks to Kate's life in St. Louis, Missouri, her calling, and work in the convent. It also introduces us to Father Tom Lynch, a handsome priest from Ireland and among the many reasons that caused Kate to question her faith and get out of town.

The most remarkable aspects of this book are Wernicke's attention to setting and character. I am from the St. Louis area and I love books that are set there that go into great detail about the city. Kate attended school in University City and college at St. Louis University. One of my personal favorite passages is when Wernicke described a date in which she and a boyfriend visited Forest Park and the Muny, the outdoor summer theater in Forest Park which actually has limited free seating for audience members. Going to the Muny is an annual summer tradition for many, including myself, and it's fun to relive it in fiction.

Peru itself is described in all of its natural beauty and struggles. The mountains in which newcomers suffer altitude sickness because of the high elevation are present. There is also the presence of the country's many problems such as poverty and political strife. The conflicts are revealed by the many locals who take coca to soothe their hunger and make them forget their troubles. 

Probably, the most beautiful setting is the one which gave the book its title. During her escape, Kate visits Achirana, a canal that brings fresh water from the highlands to the desert area around Ica in Peru. According to legend, it was created because the Incan ruler, Pachacutec, fell in love with a woman from Ica. She first spurned his advances but when he promised to do any favor for her, she told him to build a canal that would bring water to the Ican desert. Achirana literally means "that which flows cleanly toward that which is beautiful." 

Achirana is a perfect metaphor for Kate and her struggles with her faith and responsibilities. Like the woman in the story, she wants to create beauty around her by helping others. However, while the woman in the story is able to help others with the gift of water, she is also satisfying her personal self as well. She decides to marry a man who by honoring his promise also shows his dedication to others.  She can balance both her responsibility to her kingdom and to herself.

Kate unfortunately struggles with that dilemma, even before she falls in love with Father Tom. While in her novitiate training, Kate weighs what she likes about being in the convent with what she doesn't. She enjoys the fellowship with the other nuns and the spiritual closeness to God during Mass. But she questions many of the stricter policies such as silence and whether retaining a life of solitude is something for her.

This doubt continues during her time in Peru. She teaches English to the young people but wonders if her lessons are enough since she speaks little Spanish and almost none of Aymara, the indigenous language. She wonders if teaching the students a new language and bringing them closer to God through good works is enough when their bellies are empty, addiction is plentiful, leaders change because of political infighting, and their futures will be one filled with hard work, poverty, and hardship. 

She isn't the only one who feels this way. The convent forbids the nuns and priests from becoming involved with local politics but people like Father Tom do. He takes Kate among the Aymara to see what life is like outside of the convent. He is very knowledgeable about Peru's political situation and is in favor of revolutionaries who want to take the country back. This commitment to caring for locals beyond their spiritual salvation is a draw to Kate. 

Kate also has to struggle with her personal and emotional sides as well. One of the nuns leaves before she does and Kate finds that she left to get married. Her feelings towards Father Tom increase especially after she reads a love letter meant for her. The two don't do more than kiss, but the connection is enough to increase Kate's doubts.

While the romance between Kate and Tom is a factor, it is important to remember that it is not the only, or even the main reason for Kate's escape. Yes, Father Tom is the catalyst but she had issues with her convent life before she ever met him. 

Ironically, it is during her escape is when she feels the strongest connection to spirituality.

Outside of the convent walls, she meets various locals, vacationers, academics, revolutionaries, and other people. She also sees the natural beauty around her. Here is where she feels God's love in the water, trees, mountains, in kind loving people, in lovers, and children. He doesn't just exist behind walls.

Kate wonders if the secluded life of a nun is enough. Is she running towards a life with God or running away from life? In being a nun, is she only promoting her religion and not actually helping anyone? Are there other ways to serve God while holding to the important values without denying one's own pleasure? Can she live a life for others, develop friendships and relationships, and still maintain a spiritual nature? 

Toward That Which is Beautiful is about the journey that someone takes when they believe that they know what their spiritual path should be. They then realize that path could change and that they could find personal happiness and still feel close to their faith. In fact, finding the right path can be the most beautiful and spiritually filling act of all.

Weekly Reader: The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum by Alexandra Lane; Suspenseful and Fantastic Faith Based Dark Supernatural Fantasy (and My Views on Faith Based and Conservative Literature)

 

Weekly Reader: The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum by Alexandra Lane; Suspenseful and Fantastic Faith Based Dark Supernatural Fantasy (and My Views on Faith Based and Conservative Literature)

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: This is the second of four Faith Based works that I am doing closely together so I feel that I must make a true confession.

I am not a Christian, regular Readers of my blog know that. But it is worth repeating. 

I grew up in a Christian household and was figuratively beaten over the head with scare tactics about Hell, The Rapture, The Last Days, and "You must be saved or suffer the consequences of burning in the Lake of Fire."

 I was a kid who already had Depression and Anxiety. I was undiagnosed until my first year of college. The religious threats only made my fears worse and I often suffered untold psychological stress including nightmares, trauma, crying jags, mood swings, and other negative emotions over whether I was saved or "saved enough." I replaced what I was told was God's love with God's Judgement.

As if the fear factor wasn't enough, by the time I reached high school, I developed some very strong political opinions which were very different from what I was being indoctrinated with from the pulpit. The views I heard were often racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and were forceful towards who "Good Christians" were supposed to vote for, much of it was espoused by people that my family knew for years. (This was during the '90's when religion and politics were becoming intertwined only to tighten ever further.) 

When I entered college, I realized that since I no longer lived with my parents, then I needed to find a spiritual/philosophical path that was more in line with what I believed and made me feel accepted and welcomed. I realized that I no longer wanted to be a part of a religion that speaks more of judgement and exclusion rather than acceptance and understanding, that has to guilt trip, scare, proselytize, or browbeat a person into joining. In 2002, I became and still remain a Solitary Wiccan. 

Now where does this leave the books that I read and review,

you may ask. Well, I consider myself open minded and accepting of many paths. The various myths and legends share many common tropes, themes, names, and characters and parallel many scientific occurrences so much that they are all telling the same stories. They just use different words to describe them. If you accept me and others then I have no problems with you. 

I am an avid reader of History and certainly understand that religion definitely has its place in history, for good and bad. Many schisms, debates, and wars were and still are fought over different religions, many times the same religion but different denominations. Many people used religion as a standard for their society's rules and regulations or at least allowed their people to have freedom of and from religion. So of course, religion has its place in Historical Fiction and Nonfiction.

For modern times, that can vary depending on book, author, and intent. I find that I can enjoy a religious book if it is well written. I have reviewed a few for this blog including An Elegant Facade by Kristi Ann Hunter, Amora by Grant Halloran, Unraveled and Made Whole Again by Deanna Wood Priddy, and most recently The Book of Uriel by Elyse Hoffman. If a book is well written from a storytelling point of view and a character is fully focused without just being a mouthpiece for the author to insert their religious or political views. If they aren't seen as this perfect model of paragon and virtue because they accepted their faith and all the liberal or disagreeing characters aren't cardboard, then I will read the book. I may even like it, even if the author and I have very different views. 

However, the religious books and works that I don't like are the ones that try to force a conversion out of the Reader. If the character converts after a hard life and this is seen as an individual choice, then that's fine. However, if  every character is either practically forced to convert or become a one dimensional villain shilling for the evil "Atheist/Pagan/Other Religion" antagonists then that is just poor writing. If the author then ends the book by turning their words to the Reader and orders them that they must be saved too or suffer God's wrath, then I'm sorry. I will hate it. Works like that include Jack Chick Tracts, Pure Flix films, or the Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

For one thing, the author doesn't trust the Reader to make their own connection so it treats them like they're stupid. For another thing, that religion may have worked for the creator but like it or not, it may not work for everyone else. People do not need to be indoctrinated to make decisions. They are smart enough and should be allowed to find their own path in life without someone forcing them down their road.

The other reason is more personal. It takes me back to that anxious and depressed young woman who was constantly being scared and verbally chastised by adults who seemed to care more about injecting fear and judgement into their young listeners,viewers, or readers than whether their tactics were actually working. (News flash: They didn't and still don't.) I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels that way. 

On a similar note, since religion and politics are so interconnected these days, I am going to mention one more thing. There are certain recent Conservative political books, not just nonfiction but novels, and even children's books, that promote certain views that I absolutely cannot and will not condone and refuse to review. I won't even name them in this review so they don't get any more publicity than they already have. Regular Readers of this blog and my social media accounts like Facebook know what those titles are or can take a good guess.

 Call me "woke," a "snowflake," or whatever the latest name is which has no real meaning except to show that rhetoric hasn't changed beyond schoolyard taunting that you want. I know what I believe and where I stand. To be truthful, I don't think that I could in good conscience give  a fair, unbalanced, and unbiased review. Normally, I try and say "This book is not for me but Readers who like this type of thing will….." But  I draw the line somewhere. 

You may ask me and I might read it. (Don't worry, I don't charge until after the review airs). But now that you know who I am, what I believe, and how I feel, it's on you whether to ask me for a review. There are other bloggers and reviewers that might be more inclined towards that perspective and you are free to check them out. I am just letting you know.

Okay now that confession is over. On with the review.

As I mentioned before, if a religious book is well written with good characters and is the type that can genuinely be read by more than just the choir in which the author preaches, then it actually is a good experience. Thankfully, Alexandra Lane's The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum is that type of book. 

You might wish to think of it as Left Behind: The Correction. In everything that the LaHaye and Jenkins' Best Selling Millennialist Tribulation period series failed at, Lane excels. Like them, she writes a Supernatural Dark Fantasy about the end of days from a Biblical perspective. She hits the high points that these types of works often include: natural disasters, angels, demons, a sinister charismatic figure who has a direct line to Hell (not Michigan) AKA The Antichrist, divine miracles, Biblical prophecy, The Mark of the Beast the whole bit. The type of stuff Readers of the Book of Revelation watch and repeatedly debate on. 

However, Lane makes it a decent well written book with interesting characters, genuine suspense, and adds other touches to these works that focus more on friendship and human compassion rather than fire and brimstone.

In Capers, North Carolina, Noigel Braddock,a new Tech CEO, has moved in. He is handsome, charming, charismatic, but there is something….off about him. Local pastor, Frank Wright feels this as a distinct chill fills him whenever he sees the man or his tinted black car. The realtor, Allison Kennedy feels this when he asks if his new neighbors, Drs. Charles and Katy Leonardis have had their baby…yet. 

Okay the Leonardis are public figures. Charles is a medical researcher on diabetes and Katy is a well respected psychologist. Allison reasons that Braddock might know about them.

But their fertility problems are hardly a matter of public record and why is this his business anyway? The CEO's hypnotic stare with solid black eyes that emit pure evil are enough to freeze Allison in her tracks, but a good sales commission steadies her hand. She sells the house feeling vaguely like she made a deal with the Devil, before she gets the Hell (pun not intended) out of town.

Meanwhile, true to Braddock's question, Katy Leonardis learns that after over a decade of trying, she is pregnant. She gives birth to a son named Charles Leonardis Jr. However, he is an unusual boy to say the least. After he is born, his parents are stricken by his strange teal colored eyes that seem intuitive and wise, like he can see right through anyone who is looking at him. Because of his strange eye color, he is nicknamed Teal. As Teal grows, many strange things happen around him. He talks to an angel that only he can see. When he is still a child, a sick little girl touches him and is miraculously healed. Other people such as  a terminally ill woman are also healed by his touch. Others see Teal in their dreams and call him "Donum dei," Gift from God.

On the other end of the spectrum, strange bad things seem to happen around Braddock. His girlfriend, Chris leaves her husband and daughter and is reduced to an anorexic abused alcoholic mess for years. A local pharmacist who invests in Braddock's company fills his sadistic urges by molesting and killing young girls. In fact, crime goes up in Capers with several murders, domestic violence reports, and missing family members reported, all by people associated with Braddock.

It becomes clear that Teal Leonardis and Noigel Braddock are on opposite sides of the struggle between good and evil. Soon these two polar opposites will have to use all of their abilities, human and supernatural, to face each other in a final showdown.

What makes this book stand out is Teal himself. He has great awesome powers and is a selfless kid slowly becoming aware of his role in this supernatural war. However, he is also a regular kid. He argues and disagrees with his parents. One of the more dramatic confrontations between parents and child occurs after the illness of the family dog. Teal argues with his mom and dad, refuses to accept the dog's inevitable death (Teal can heal but can't bring the dead back to life), and refuses for a time to bond with the new pup that they later get.

Teal also grows into a typical adolescent with typical adolescent friends and interests. He and his best friends James, I.Q., and Stilts hang out and talk about-what else will hormonal heterosexual teen boys talk about but-girls. They also protect Teal from the dangers around him.

 Also, Teal goes through two major relationships in the book. Unfortunately, he does not break cleanly with Carry, Chris's unstable daughter, to date James's sister, Bree. James behaves like a teenager acting on impulse and does not think about the consequences.

There are some strong spiritual passages spread throughout the book that are pretty suspenseful. One is when Braddock sends a legion of demons through Capers to hunt and kill everyone around. Teal orders the residents to go in their houses, lock the doors, and don't even look outside through the windows. The few that do suffer gruesome fates.

 It's true sometimes what you don't see is as terrifying as what you do. Most of the night, Caper's residents are treated to hoofsteps climbing over roofs, glowing eyes peering inside the windows like searchlights, and the tortured screams of those who were unfortunate enough to be caught outside.

What is particularly nice about the book is that even though the book is very Christian based, there is no over emphasis on doctrine. No one gets "saved" and they don't discuss punishment in Hell. It's clearly the Revelation inspired version of the end of the world but it is written like a situation you would find in secular horror films like The Exorcist or The Omen.

In fact, the Christian characters are not concerned with beating other characters and Readers over the head with the religious talk of salvation. Instead, they let their actions do the talking.

 Katy's sister, Marlene had a troubled past in which someone helped her get clean. She does the same for another character that changes them for the better.

Another time, Teal and his friends help a family during a natural disaster. The Christian characters are the type that you wish would exist in real life, buy don't always: Kind, giving, and committed to helping all people, even those not in their religious spectrum, not preaching to, shunning, and excluding them. 

The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum may be based on Christian literature but there is enough in there for any Reader.