The Keeper

(A Murphy Shepherd novel)

By: Charles Martin

Dakota County Library hardcover 412 pages plus discussion questions

Published: 2025

Genre: Christian adventure fiction, realistic

This is the fourth book in the series and I think I've read enough of these now. I didn't get it done before book club six days ago. I kind of had to force myself to finish it. Martin is a talented author and there is plenty of action, but it just seemed to be so much of a rehash of the previous books and in need of some concise editing.

Page 2: "Not every prisoner wants to be rescued. Some prefer chains to freedom, darkness to light."

In thinking of Frank and Bones and their final encounter in the previous book, Shepherd recognizes that some people choose their bondage.

Page 35: "The question that had kept me awake all night was simple: What would happen now? In my experience, evil people with power usually want more power, and they are willing to commit whatever evil is needed to get more of it. Evil is the currency. Power the prize."

This reality makes me feel sick. I recognize the truth of it but I prefer to live in the light. I'm 100% okay with not being a powerful person. I'd rather experience the power of God working through my weakness. 

Page 64: "'One day soon, you're going to encounter people in prison. Often the bars that hold them will be of their own making. It's one thing to unlock someone's prison door; it's another thing entirely to loose the chains that bind their heart.'"

Bones' wisdom to Murphy Shepherd in the guise of "priesting."

Page 65: "'You do realize that the human body needs sleep.' He shook his head. 'Overrated.'"

This is the biggest disagreement I have with Bones' character. Sleep is important! And there are lots of Scriptures about God giving us rest. We need sleep for our physical and mental health. Sleep deprivation is NOT a good part of training and teaching.

Page 143: "Proving that love is and always has been the most powerful weapon in this universe or any other."

Yes! Love is powerful. And it makes life worth living.

Page 153 is where I finally just got sick of all the gun and bullet talk. Blah blah blah. This series definitely glorifies love of guns. I wonder if Martin has many male (or female) readers who appreciate this? I am not a gun lover and I got to the point where I skim-read these parts. (I hardly ever skim-read in novels!)

Page 161: "A name establishes a record. Drives a stake in the ground. Shouts across the stratosphere, 'I'm here! I matter! I'm not invisible!'"

I agree. Names are important. That's why I try really hard to learn people's names and use them properly. As a substitute teacher, I've definitely messed up plenty of times!

Page 178: "'Love is an amazing thing. It takes the brokenness, the scars, the pain, the darkness, everything, and makes it all new.'"

I love the emphasis on the importance of love. This is a flashback to Murphy's rescue of Casey. Her story, along with her marriage to Camp, are one of the main story strands in this book.

Page 244: "While my mind couldn't tell, my gut had no doubt."

Murph is reflecting on his conversations with Maynard and his gut feeling that something was very off. Sometimes you really do need to trust your gut!

Page 259: "But one name had not been etched into my back. It had been written deeper. Seared into my soul. Why? Because it was the most important. Because of his name, all the other names mattered; without his, none mattered. I loved and was able to love because he loved me. Period. I could take credit for nothing."

I fully expected him to reference Jesus! Silly me. Of course Murphy was referring to Bones. It took me awhile to realize that Bones is an allegory for Jesus.

Page 293: "I thought how it was easy to love someone who loved you back. But it was much tougher when they were evil."

So true. It's easy to love lovable people. I have a few folks in my life that I struggle to tolerate, much less love . . . I'm so glad God is still working on my heart.

I wasn't shocked by the ending because Martin had left more than enough clues. I actually did a little skim-reading through the wedding ceremony and scene after with Shepherd and Summer. I may or may not read book five in the series when it comes out.

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The Last Exchange

by Charles Martin

Dakota County Library hardcover 353 pages

Published: 2023

Genre: realistic action, mystery

I didn't tag this as Christian fiction, because that seemed a bit tenuous in this novel. Our book club has read a lot of Charles Martin books and I know he's a believer, but God didn't seem to feature very prominently in this book.

The main characters include Maybe Joe Sue, a frog-turned-princess character whose early life cycling through foster homes brought her into connection with a movie producer who helped her become a superstar; Kelly MacThomas Pockets, an ex-Scottish forces soldier and protector of the Queen; Syd, a skanky superstar married to Joe; and Amber, a high school dropout turned makeup artist turned Joe's best friend and surrogate.

Fertility issues were one main theme of this book, as well as selflessness, drug addiction, hope, and integrity. One of the discussion questions was about allegory . . . but none of us really saw that. (Discussion was last night. We had a delightful conversation.)

Page 149: "'If someone intends you harm, then they're saying by their actions, "I value me more than you." Or "I want what you have and I intend to take it." For whatever reason, they've come to the selfish conclusion that they matter more. That in their sick and twisted mind, they have more right to be here. To take something from you, whether your body or your possessions, simply because they want it.'"

Pockets is definitely my favorite character. He is a wise protector and counselor to Joe.

Page 161: "'One thing is true of all of us: nobody has their stuff together. Not presidents. Not paupers. Not soldiers. Not actors.' He glanced at her. 'We are all a mess. And no amount of money, and no amount of drugs, changes that. When you're broken, life is about finding the beauty in the mess.'"

The "beauty in the mess" theme came up quite a lot. It's interesting in a time period where "social influencers" make their lives look so effortlessly perfect that this message would have so much impact.

Page 170: "She smirked. 'Are all you Brits like this?'

'I'm Scottish, mum.'

She tested him. 'Same thing.'

He shook his head. 'No mum. Not by a long shot.'"

This type of repartee came up a few times. Pockets made me laugh!

Page 171 had some funny alliteration, again courtesy of Pockets: "I pray for the grace to remain armed with righteous restraint and not regress into retrograde reciprocity, or responsive revulsion rising out of an unrighteous rescue."

Page 261: "But if you press me, love is what makes us who we are. Hope is how we express us. Hope is love with legs."

This language (and the idea of love and hope being such an integral part of who we are) made me happy. This is my favorite quote from the book.

Page 320 - the letter from Joe read in court. This had less impact on me because I learned about it at our discussion and then finished reading the last fifty pages after I got home from book club. Bad time management on my part!

Page 329: "He said he wanted the viewers to know that 'husbands who love their wives do what is required because that's what love does.' Then he clasped a cross hanging around his neck, something he'd taken to lately for its strength, and talked about how 'greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.'"

Syd is such an awful character! ***Spoiler alert!*** Not only are his words and actions orchestrated to gain sympathy, he was actively working to prevent Joe holding on to her pregnancies. The trauma of her miscarriages was entirely his fault! What a complete jerk. Pockets, on the other hand, really did have the attitude of laying his life down for his friends.

Page 339: "'How far would any of you go for someone you love? Really? How far? If someone took your wife, daughter, husband, or son, how far is too far? Where's your limit? Where does love stop you?' I looked at Joe then back at all of them. 'Is there anything you wouldn't do?'"

The courtroom scene did get a little over-the-top, but I really like Pockets anyhow! Even replacing Syd's "sample" with his own was fine with me because Syd was so awful.

 

Page 341: "There's only one thing in this universe or any other that cuts through prison bars and sets us free from the prisons in which we live. And that thing is the truth. Without it, there is no freedom."

 

 Pockets rocked this book. And yes, the truth shall set you free. But Martin doesn't name the Truth. He avoids swearing, shares that Pockets' dad was a preacher, and hints at faith in Christ, but this is basically a clean action story with a hint of suspense.

The Record Keeper

by Charles Martin

A Murphy Shepherd Novel

Scott County Library hardcover 288 pages

Published: 2022

Genre: Christian realistic fiction

 

This trilogy is action-packed and intense, dealing with commando-style rescuers going for the victims of sexual trafficking. We had a good book club discussion on Monday night. And some different opinions about the meaning of the ending! 

 

Page 9 - "I, as much as anyone, knew that hope is what feeds us. It's the currency of mankind. The fuel of the soul. Without it, we wither and die."

 

This is something I agree with wholeheartedly! Hope is so powerful and necessary. One of my favorite t-shirts from Feed My Starving Children has a nautical theme and the saying "Hope is an anchor for the soul."

 

Page 62 - "We didn't know who we were, and more importantly, we didn't know whose we were - forever proving that identity precedes purpose. You can't know who you are until you've settled whose you are."

 

Identity is a strong theme in this book. Knowing "whose" you are - the power of knowing I am a child of God has made all the difference in my life!

 

Page 137 - "From the first page, I knew you were the one. Maybe the only one. I would have given anything to publish you, and yet you were so easy on me. In all my professional life, I have loved nothing more than giving your beautiful, innocent, powerful words to the world. To this day I don't know how you do it. How you string them together and suck us all in."

 

In this scene, David Bishop / Murph Shepherd's agent is gushing over him. It made me giggle, thinking of Charles Martin having a conversation with his editor about this. 

 

Page 171 - "'Round here, you don't think about it much when you're young, but as you age, you start to thinking that the end is closer than the beginning, and one thing all us old guys think about a good bit is who's going to lay us to rest. A friend, or just some guy sent to dig a hole?'"

Oh my! This scene with Clay and Murph at the prison cemetery is so powerful. Life and death, aging and eternity . . . big things to think about.

Page 208 - "Of course. I'm a woman. You're a man. I swear, sometimes you're dumb as a bag of hammers."

Angel is such a great character! Her "bag of hammers" comment made me laugh.

Page 219 - "'Your training is officially over. Congratulations. You've graduated.'"

I don't want to put a spoiler here, but this conversation between Bones and Murphy . . . ah.

Page 229 - "A sow can reproduce three times a year and birth eight or more piglets each time, proving to me that they're just overgrown rats."

Again, a little levity helped balance the incredibly intense content and action. He has just described the violence the pigs wreak on the island. 

"Then Bones." - I am curious about what Martin is writing next.

The Letter Keeper

by Charles Martin

Libby eBook 500+ pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian adventure fiction

This was an intense sequel to The Water Keeper . . . and it has an ending that makes you wish book three were already published!

Chapter 1: "But in my experience, she could either deal with the trauma now or wait until it festered and the residue spilled out her chest."

He's referring to Chris, a young woman he's just rescued from a predator. I think this resonated with me because I've seen people try to stuff or ignore emotional trauma . . . and that doesn't end well for them. It makes me sad when people try to pretend to be okay and they're not.

Chapter 4: "The first casualty at the altar of betrayal was trust. Which meant I was questioning everything."

This is an interesting line . . . Murphy could be referring to Bones or to Summer. Betrayal is such a strong word, but trust being a casualty makes sense.

Chapter 9: "I am putting something in your hand that, left alone, is harmless. But the moment you put your hand on it, it becomes something that breathes fire and deals both life and death. We're not playing with crayons, and this is not a video game."

Murphy is showing Ellie how to handle guns. She wants to be "tough" like her dad.

Chapter 10: "If that summer taught me anything, it was this: girls need their father. Period."

I wish I'd been able to participate in book club on this one. I'm sure the conversation would have been amazing. Dads are very important. But some single moms have done some absolutely powerful parenting . . . and some dads are destructive.

Chapter 14: "...there is something more valuable than money. Although you will have to dig deep to find it."

Part of Bones' graduation letter to Murphy. The "back story" telling that Murphy did for Ellie was really more about his life than Marie's life. It was interesting, though. I think if you hadn't read The Water Keeper first, this book would be less enjoyable / understandable.

Chapter 15: "I want to tell each of them they are Mona Lisa. Priceless. Beautiful and worth celebrating." / "I'll never understand what happens in a man, or sometimes a woman - although it's mostly men - to cause them to think they have the right to own another human. To force another member of the human race, made in the image of God, to do what they don't want to and wouldn't in ten million years. All for money." / "Darkness can't stand light. And it has no counter for it."

All of these jumped out at me. I think of the phrase "man's inhumanity to man" from a war movie. Sex trafficking depraves and deprives humans of dignity and self-worth. Although Martin is an excellent author, something about this topic just curdles my blood.

Chapter 20: "'If you were your enemy, would you want this to be published?' Her face revealed she'd never had this thought. I continued, 'If I were your enemy, I wouldn't want the world to know this. I'd want to keep it hidden. Want you to keep your mouth shut. Want to make you afraid that no one ever will or could love you after they'd read it. But truth is, I could never make you as afraid of me as I would be of your words. So I vote we hack off your enemy and publish this thing in as many countries as we can.'"

Murphy is trying to encourage Casey, but it was clear that her story's publicity would have a down side . . . and it did.

Chapter 22: "Once pure and unadulterated, the voice of hope is now muted by all the stuff we've crammed on top of it." 

It's hard to hold on to innocence and purity as you get older. Life brings lots of opportunities for disappointment, cynicism, and negativity.

Chapter 22: "The difference between what she heard and what I intended, or even what I thought I said, is evidence that the stuff in the pipe is real. That what we breathe in and what we breathe out can actually alter the words that are spoken so they fit a false narrative. But pain, like fear, is a liar. And it has but one lie: This love is too good to be true, and even if it were true, you don't deserve it."

This made me think of the song, "Fear is a Liar." So true!

Chapter 25: "Was her pain deeper than our love?"

 

When Murphy asks this about Casey, I think he knows the answer is yes. Yes, her pain is deeper.

Chapter 29: "'We can help their bodies, but it's their spirits that will need piecing back together.' He nodded. 'And love, the real kind, the kind that walks into hell and says me-for-you, is the only thing in this universe or any other that does that.'" / "Stripped bare, the human soul has one real desire: to know and be known." / "This is the thirst of the human soul, and only one thing satisfies it: to be accepted in the knowing."

 

I wonder what a non-Christian reader comes away with from reading this book. To me, these sentences point back to God and His redeeming love.

 

Chapter 34: "It's one of their deepest wounds - those they thought they could trust turned out not to be trustworthy."

It's a sucker punch to the gut when children's own parents or guardians traffic or abuse them. I cannot fathom this, though I know it happens.

Chapter 39: "'Will you let us call you Daughter?'"

I bawled. Probably my favorite part of the book. But Gunner (the dog) is still my favorite character. Then Clay.

Now I have to wait for book three to come out. The "reveal" on the bad guy . . . ooh. Really wish I could have been at book club!

The Water Keeper

 by Charles Martin

Dakota County Library hardcover 339 pages

genre: Christian fiction

published: 2020

We had a great discussion on Monday night. Charles Martin is a fantastic author! He wrote about human trafficking without it getting graphic or lurid. It was gripping, though, and absolutely intense.

I tabbed a bunch of pages but I don't really feel like enumerating my reactions right now. Perhaps I'll just leave some general feedback and throw away all the post-it notes.

I was surprised and a bit disappointed that the only time I cried was when Gunner went overboard. A dog? That makes me cry but not these young women being victimized? Perhaps it was because I felt as though I got to know and care about Gunner as a character. We don't really get to know Angel, Casey, or the other girls that way. I felt better when Jean (at book club) also said she cried at Gunner parts!

Recurring themes: the needs of the one (sheep) outweigh the needs of the 99, redemption is possible for anyone, water and its properties (cleansing, healing, etc.), human trafficking and slavery, blood, identity, belonging, love, hope, sacrifice.

Martin is absolutely masterful with using the English language effectively. I love how Amanda (book club) said that his words "feel good to (her) brain." I love that Murph had the names of all the girls and women he'd gone looking for tattooed onto his back. He knew their stories and "carried" them with him. In addition to Gunner, I loved Clay!

I loved when Summer was talking about the books she was enjoying. "'There are a lot of women out there who think we're just forever stuck on the island of misfit toys, and yet here's a writer who causes us to think that maybe someone might love us despite the scars and the baggage. Someone who knows what I'm thinking enough to finish my sentences. And what's more, would know how to fix my coffee if we were stranded on an island. Someone who' - she waved her hand through the air in front of her - 'protects me from the world that wants to hurt me.'" 

Oh! I marked page 7 because that was the first place I cried! How does a book suck you in and make you care enough to cry when you're in the fist ten pages?! I guess the Gunner part wasn't the only place I cried.

I liked when I got confirmation about some dots I had connected . . . but don't want to write any spoilers here.

I looked to see if Charles Martin did any interviews or indicated what he thought about the Jeffery Epstein trial, but couldn't find anything. Not that it matters. I just thought about people like that when I read this book - wealthy, evil, using young girls for personal pleasure . . . 

Send Down the Rain

by Charles Martin
Hennepin County Library hardcover 331 pages
genre: Christian fiction, relationships

Martin is a gripping storyteller! That said, he is very subtle about the faith aspect of his communication. I'm not sure if that's intentional to draw in readers who are not Christians, or if he doesn't see his writing as a platform for sharing his faith.

The blurb on the back would have helped me better understand the opening of this story! (I read it after I read the book.) Main characters are Joseph (Jo-Jo) and Allie, with Bobby, Jake, Suzy, Catalina, and others playing supporting roles.

We'll have a lively discussion on Monday, I'm sure! There are a lot of topics going on in this book - the Vietnam War, broken families, abuse, human trafficking, double lives, illegal immigrants, secrets, . . . he definitely wrote a powerful story.

Page 233 - "Long time ago, a friend gave me a gift I can never repay. The longer I live out the reality of that gift, the more I come to understand the enormity of what I owe and what is required to wipe the slate." (The message of grace . . . )

Page 258 - "Anger, rage . . . they're as real as you and me. They don't have bodies like us, but they live . . . live in us. Take up residence in our soul."

Page 270 - At the start of Chapter 39, the first overt mention of any "God-thing" is from Psalm 84:7 "They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion." Frankly, I didn't see how this was particularly fitting for this part of the story . . . but I'll probably be enlightened in our discussion.

Page 299 - The title reference! "'Watch over my boy . . . all the days of his life . . . and let him live to see the rain.' She closed her eyes. 'Send down the rain.'" Again, I'm eager for our discussion of the book. Joseph's mother prayed this for him after their conversation before he left for the war.

Page 312 - "I'd seen what evil could do. Evil never gave itself for anyone. It takes what it doesn't own. Holds your head under the water. Rips your head off your neck and dangles it from the city wall. Evil dominates. Controls. Eradicates. Evil is a sniveling punk, and if you let it inside you then you spew hatred, which is just another name for the poison we drink hoping it'll hurt someone else."

Page 320 - sweet passage. "The place where the tears come from is full again."

Page 325 - Epilogue "As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools."

Page 329 - "'Thank . . . you.' The words were separated by pain and they were long and hard in coming. The empty tequila bottle bobbed in the distance. Glass reflecting sunlight. A diamond floating on the surface of the world. 'For giving me what I needed.' He swallowed and dug his hand into the package. 'And not what I deserved.'" Yes! This is how God loves us, by giving us what we need instead of what we deserve.

To be honest, a lot of this book was predictable. But it was very well-written and intense in parts. My favorite was Catalina and her children and how Jo-Jo interacted with them.

Water from My Heart

by Charles Martin
Carver County Library hardcover 363 pages
genre: Christian fiction, adventure, romance
*Spoiler alert - some of the excerpts toward the end give away plot points.*

I didn't love the first half of this book. Charlie Finn is a drug runner who keeps people at arm's length. The chapters alternating between his past and his present just serve to make him less likable in his old work (playing poker while at Harvard and high finance with Marshall) as well as the evils of being a drug runner in the Miami area.

But halfway through the book, he gets violently ill (from fresh salsa) in Nicaragua. He meets Pauline and her daughter Isabella. And the story gets better and better from there until the end. So worth the read! I wish the author had focused (and/or the editor deleted liberally) the negative and repetitive first half.

page 144 - When he asks Pauline how she can stand to help people when they have so little going for them. "When I first traveled to the States to study, I was struck by how everyone I encountered spent their days working feverishly to make enough money to buy a better tomorrow. Here, people are content - they buy what they need today and leave tomorrow to God." So true! Our culture seems to be busy busy busy going somewhere and it's all about having money and control. But none of us can control our futures.

page 186 - This was just a giggle to me. Charles Martin doesn't come across as a strong Christian author. But this sentence caught my attention. "What I didn't realize at the time was that my half-fast proposal . . . " At first I thought it was a typo, then I realized he didn't want to use the vernacular. I had to read "half-fast" a few times before I realized it was a deliberate choice to avoid swearing!

page 216 - The first encounter with the title - "Aqua de mi corazon" - "Water from my heart" I loved the story of her father and digging the well.

page 242 - Charlie describing the emotional release that can come from crying. "The proof lies in the source. They did not fall from my head. They poured up and out of my heart."

page 270 - "I might not be in league with other evil men, but over my life, I'd looked away, gone on my merry way, done nothing to prevent or hinder - or rescue. While not an active instigator, I'd been passive. An accomplice even. That passivity had only served to multiply. Maybe that was the toughest thought to swallow. The effect of my life had been to multiply evil, not fight it. Not eradicate it." When we talk about our legacy at church, I think about what I want to achieve. What really matters. I couldn't live with myself if I felt that the effect of my life had been to multiply evil.

page 296 - This is when he talks to the bones of Alejandro Santiago Martinez and his wife, down in the well. He had already given her mother's locket to Pauline. Moving, touching. I like this scene. It's like a confessional.

page 306 - When the water is rising and he is stuck. "The sin of my life had been and remained indifference, and in that instant, I was indifferent to my own death."

page 311 - When Zaul asked Charlie to teach him how to do wood working. "For growing up with such privilege, there was a lot Zaul had not done. Evidence that money did not buy experience." I think this is so true of a lot of privileged kids! Some of my students have so little experience with chores, yard work, or other life experiences that middle class and poorer kids have to do!

page 314 - "I realized that Leena shined a light everywhere she went. She was a walking headlight. A coming train. A rising sun. Unafraid, she walked into the darkness, and when she did, the darkness rolled back as a scroll." I want to be a woman who shines light into the darkness! I love this imagery.

page 315 - I can so relate to this! Charlie is agonizing over his role in the closure of the Cinco Padres Coffee . . . and "Get it off my chest and dump it on hers under the guise of being truthful when in reality I just wanted to make myself feel better?" Sometimes, it's hard to know what your motives are in telling someone the truth. If it will hurt them, you have to weigh carefully what to say and how to say it. "Like gasoline in a Styrofoam cup, it was eating me from the inside out."

page 322-3 - Wow. Almost to the end of the book and we learn about a momentous, life-changing day in Charlie's life when he was seven or eight years old. That would have helped to make his character and personality traits a bit more logical for readers like me. I don't usually like a book if I don't like the protagonist. This one took me a while to warm up to!

page 344 - Makes me think of Sunday's sermon on hope. "I'd been letting the pain of my past dictate the hope and promise of my future. . . . If she was right and hope was the currency of love, then I'd been broke a long time."

page 359 - author's notes at the end were really interesting! I'm glad Marin included them. "Indifference is the curse of this age. We need to hear that. Indifference is evil, and it could not be further from the heart of God."

page 361 - LOVED this part about the real-life man named Moises and the faith he lives. I love the report of signs and wonders in his community in Nicaragua. "With a budget of zero, Moises has planted seven or eight churches and invests his time, encouragement, and leadership in some thirty more. He gives when he has nothing - which is all the time."

Yep. This was a really wonderful book!

Edible: an adventure into the world of eating insects and the last great hope to save the planet

by Daniella Martin
Hennepin County Library hardcover 247 pages
genre: non-fiction, entomophagy (insect eating)

This was interesting and well-written, but didn't convince me to change my dietary habits. Eating bugs makes sense since they are plentiful, nutritious, and easy to harvest. Until they become easily available, I'm not going to go out of my way to access them. The only bugs for food I've seen have been insanely expensive. I am not interested in harvesting my own for food.

page 49 - in talking about prehistoric humans - "Despite the fact that women were providing a daily stream of protein, insects were less valued culturally, of course, than the giant mammoth kill that fed the whole tribe for a month and got all the hunters laid like crazy. Seriously, coming in from the bush dragging a giant dead animal made you the caveman version of Jon Bon Jovi crossed with Bear Grylls - rock star, killer, provider. Those cavewomen couldn't get their leather panties off fast enough, even while their own daily drudgery was overlooked as less culturally valuable."

page 83 - the section where she talks about her friend trying to get rid of slugs without being cruel . . . was a bit much for me. How is letting them drown in beer - "at least they will die happy" - any better than driving them out into the country and letting them go? (Yes, her friend actually did that until she realized that she was altering the ecosystem in the countryside by adding more slugs to it.) I am completely okay with squishing bugs that I don't want in my space.

page 135 - eating the huge Japanese hornet larva that grow into an adult hornet which "reach well over an inch long and has a quarter-inch stinger with venom so potent it can dissolve human flesh." Her willingness to try different insects around the world was admirable in the name of research but reminded me of the guy who had a tv show about eating disgusting things.

page 145 - I actually liked the part where she was in Thailand in a store she describes as a "Thai Costco" (even though it's not actually a Costco store). She tears up at the frozen food aisle - "Nestled between the ostrich patties and the crocodile filets is a small but solid section of frozen insects in one-kilogram bags. Fat white sago palm grubs stacked together like wontons, frosty crickets, potato string-like bamboo worms, and nutlike silkworm pupae. Just sitting there, like it's normal. I stand there and stare for a while. Some people fly thousands of miles to see the Taj Mahal, Chichen Itza, or the Sistine Chapel. I, apparently, had flown this far to stand gaping at the frozen food aisle."

If and when we actually get to the point of them being this easily accessible in America, I might be willing to eat insects. A lot of her points actually make sense.

I have to admit that I ran out of time and skipped pages 192-225 (essential list of edible insects) and 227-247 (recipe section). This is due at the library and cannot be renewed because it's on hold. I won't get it again later . . . 

Thunder and Rain

by Charles Martin
Hennepin County Library hardcover 367 pages
genre: Christian fiction, adventure

Tyler Steele is a third generation Texas Ranger who pretty much sees life in black and white. The story of his life is engaging and I enjoyed it for the most part. There was a little too much gun-love, Texas-love, and Ranger-love for me . . . but it was balanced out with a great cast of characters (I love Georgia and Dumps!) and his love for Andie as well as for Samantha created a lot of tension. Brodie and Hope were great kid characters, but Hope's journal often sounded much, much, much too mature and reflective for a ten-year-old.

A Dog's Life: the Autobiography of a Stray

by Ann M. Martin
Dakota County Library, audioCDs, 4 hours
read by Wendy Dillon
genre: YA animal story

Oh my. This was kind of painful. So much potential, but it falls short. The majority of the people in this story are either stupid or mean. The dog's telling of the story lacks personal depth - everything, whether good or evil, seems to be kept at arm's length. I'm not sure what kind of reader might enjoy this story. I didn't. The Susan and Addy portion toward the end was the best, especially when Susan ditched Mrs. Oliver.

The Mountain Between Us

by Charles Martin
Hennepin County Library audioCDs, 10 hours
read by George Newbern
genre: "Women's Fiction" - chicklit?

Dr. Ben Payne & reporter Ashley Knox end up taking a charter flight together to avoid a storm that will snow them into Salt Lake City. The pilot has a heart attack and the two passengers are stranded in the mountains with severe injuries. As they fight for their lives, Ben's relationship with his wife Rachel is unfolded in a series of tape recordings that he makes for her.

This was disappointing to me since I really love Martin's other books that I've read. It comes to close to Nicholas Sparks' style and his stuff is way too maudlin for me. I liked Grover (the pilot) and some of the survival stuff. But on a relationship level, I thought this book was a big disappointment.

The Dead Don't Dance

by Charles Martin
Dakota County, paperback, 315 pages

Martin is quickly becoming my favorite author. This book, his first, isn't quite as striking as the other two of his that I've read, but it's quite good.

Dylan Styles seems to have it all - a home, good friends, a lovely wife, and a first child on the way. But his son's birth tears his world apart as the baby dies and his wife bleeds so heavily that she almost dies. With her in a vegetative state, his life goes into a tailspin. His friend Amos tries to help him get back on track, but it's one of his students, Amanda, who really impacts him and motivates his turnaround.

At first, this novel reminded me of Johnny Gospel. It has the corn fields, pickup trucks, and aimless wandering by a man in grief. But ultimately, this story and its characters shine through in their transition from brokenness to newness. Good stuff!

The title comes from a line on page 102: "You can't go where the river goes. Rivers do life, and the dead don't dance." It's further elaborated upon at the end of the book where the line "I now lived in a world where the dead danced" comes after a major turning point in the narrator's life.

Wrapped in Rain

subtitled "A Novel of Coming Home"
by Charles Martin
Hennepin County, paperback, 317 pages

Tucker and Matthew have different mothers, but the same abusive father. Their only saving grace growing up was Miss Ella Rain, a God-fearing, Bible-quoting, tiny black woman with a heart filled with love. This novel was quite different from the first one of Martin's that I read, but it was just as enjoyable. Tucker and "Mutt" reacted to their father's cruelty in different ways, but both were traumatized dramatically. I especially loved Mutt's ability to fix things and Tucker's gentle way with Katie's son Jase. I also loved Ella's powerful faith! The Judge was a wonderful character, too.

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin

Carver County Library, paperback, 336 pages

Book club meets tonight and now I understand why everyone's been asking, "Have you read it yet?!" This was really good! The question of why Reese was trying to hide out was answered well. Emma's back story was doled out in small portions. Annie, Cindy, Davis, Charlie, Termite, Sal Cohen, . . . they were all memorable characters. The ending surprised me a bit (with a twist before the expected conclusion). I loved it when Charlie produced one last letter from Emma. This was a beautiful book. One I'd consider purchasing and owning. I will also put his other titles on my "to read" list.

Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin

Carver County Library, hardcover, 276 pages

This is one of those books that I really should NOT have forced myself to finish. I picked it up about two months ago because it looked intriguing. The subtitle is "An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved."

It really is about Beethoven's hair.

Specifically, a chunk of it that Ferdinand Hiller cut from the composer's corpse soon after he died. This book chronicles the chunk of hair and has more to say about Hiller and his family than it does about Ludwig van Beethoven. The parts that do actually talk about Beethoven make him sound like a hideous human being, rude and self-absorbed. He was chronically ill and incredibly selfish.

Yet the author clearly reveres the composer, including descriptions like this: "the greatest composer Europe ever had known." Mozart who? This book's intended audience seems to be people who already adore the composer and want to know more. For me, it was a turnoff. Now I wish I didn't know more about him . . .

My favorite part was when the author wrote about the work of one of the modern-day scientists who tested the hair. This scientist has done chemical analysis on the hair of prison inmates (and their non-violent siblings), looking for differences in the chemical makeup. Some of his findings sound very interesting for learning more about how chemicals affect behavior.

It was also interesting that they conclude that Beethoven's many documented illnesses were most likely due to lead poisoning. Overall, though, I wish I'd returned it to the library unread a month and a half ago.