The Treasure Map, Tyler Scott Hess

Although it's a good book for any season, The Treasure Map will be a great read for Christmas break, and a great Christmas gift. I read a pre-release copy, and my review is as unbiased as it can be when I totally enjoyed the story.

The book opens with a deceiving lack of intensity, and all I can say without spoilers is: WELL PLAYED.

In an unexpected way, I related to both story threads. First, the safety and structure of a loving home, then the horrifying opposite – a world with all its freedoms stripped away. Although it’s fiction, the two contrasting voices strike a nerve with both the loving world we want and the dystopian world we fear. I’ve never lived that ugly world, but I’ve certainly spent time with people who hated my faith, and it’s not hard to imagine what the world would be like if they were in charge. Thank God this is fiction, but it’s not unreal. Read it, and you’ll see what I mean.

I appreciated that for all the suspenseful moments, there was a comforting balance of coziness, and a refreshing absence of graphic violence. Some wild moments yes, but no gratuitous gore. Even in the darkest shadows of the story, we hear a voice of warning mixed with hope, victory, and power. It’s a great message to the Faithful to stay strong, and be watchful. We aren’t defeated yet!

The Keeper's Crown, Nathan Maki

Although The Keeper’s Crown is fiction, I believe with all my heart that it captures the spirit of the First Century Christians, and their struggles against the fierce world they lived in. You will feel the power of the Truth they held dear and you will bristle at the intensity of the opposition they faced. For Christians, this is our history and our identity.

The setup is that Quintus is on a hero’s journey of sorts, but you can kiss clichés goodbye because the Kingdom of Heaven doesn’t work that way. (Side note: Have some sympathy Tylenol ready because Quintus and others will get hurt 4,000 times. Some content is not for kids or people with blood pressure problems.) He and Jael are both reaching for hope in their own way, but are living out a complicated brokenness as victims of a barbaric society as well as their own mistakes. Their story covers much ground on the theme of belief. We can know about Jesus, but what will we do about Him? Will we surrender? And what then…?

The Apostle Paul is one of my favorite people in all of history, and I was not one iota disappointed in his portrayal. I spent the first half of the book looking for him around every corner, when I probably should have relaxed and enjoyed the plot. Once he appears, he’s everything I imagined him to be. While we can’t unlock all the mysteries of who he was for sure, this is a beautiful and balanced look at a man who shaped words and ideas that live on in us today. Avoiding spoilers, I’ll just say Paul’s words take on a revived meaning in the context of his life story.

I hesitate to pass judgment, but in case you’re wondering – the time period, places, and people groups are shown vividly through excellent research. “Well-researched” is only a complement if the facts don’t overshadow the story, and in this case it’s all a perfect fit. The characters, their surroundings, and the events all blend together so smoothly into a singular message that as an aspiring writer myself I am challenged: This is what historical fiction is for. It speaks for both the living and the dead, memorializing their stories and challenging us to run the race with the same passion.

Among other golden qualities, I think my favorite fact about this book is that I did not guess the ending. I was off by eighty thousand miles. I read the last page with a mixture of emotions that I don’t think I’ve ever felt before, which is a sure sign of a unique story, well-told, and powerful far beyond the pages.

Read it, and get a friend reading it quickly because you will not want to experience this one alone.