Will did it again

Will Patching is without exaggeration one of the best authors I know.
His writing skills are exceptional, his novels have psychological depth and always bring in some mostly unknown well-researched facts and are incredibly suspenseful.

The Hack was Will Patching's first novel. Since I read it nearly two years ago I've been waiting for the sequel.

In the meantime Will published his Remorseless Trilogy - three outstanding thrillers about psychopaths - that made the waiting bearable.

Finally Will send me an ARC of The Hunter!

Yes, this book is as explosive as dynamite! All his books are full of action, but this one tops them all. It left me breathless.

Hunter is a dangerous but fascinating man. Kate is a journalist seeking the truth investigating on an island in Thailand where slavery and human trafficking thrive and billionaires act like they own the world.

Yes, it's a novel and the fruit of Will's unstoppable imagination, but the disturbing thing about this novel is that these things happen in the world we live in. There still is slavery and humans are sold like objects. I highly recommend visiting Will Patching's blog thehacknovel to learn more about the inspiration for this story and to read The Hack - it's for free for a short period.

Exceptionally entertaining Oriental tale

Israel and Iran, hot spot in the Middle East, enemies since ancient times, threats on both sides, deep hatred and disrespect, that's our common perception when we think about these two countries.

On the other hand these are two of the oldest countries with great history and impact on the world beyond description.

And they both have a great tradition: storytelling. 

This week I discovered a book written in this captivating tradition. This oriental tale is an extraordinary gem that's expertly woven like a Persian carpet - and carpets play a major role.

A young Israeli soldier with PTSD in his obsessive search of a specific carpet travels with a stolen Canadian passport to Iran and finds himself entangled between Mossad and the Iranian Intelligence Service.

This novel is full of compassion for Daniel with his PTSD, intrigues, suspense, love, friendships and a wonderful description of Iranian sites that made me want to visit this country, irony and lovable relatable characters - on both sides.

Although this novel is written by an Israeli it's not biased or one-sided. On the contrary, the author doesn't glorify ore judge neither government, there are critical hints, but his focus is on his characters. And as a reader you can't help but feel for them - even for those of the Iranian Intelligence Service.



Highly entertaining!






       

Praise the Lord in Farsi

َAll these songs I've tried to translate. Not as easy as it may seem. Obviously my newest hobby is learning Persian and because I'm trying to do so mainly with worship songs my vocabulary is quite limited.
At least I can now praise the Lord in Farsi - and there's nothing more important we can do with our voice.

Gaslighting

It's been a while since I posted last time. Of course I've been reading, but nothing blew me away like the beta-read of the third part of Will Patching's Remorseless Trilogy.

I had been waiting impatiently for this one. But knowing that Will's a perfectionist and truly one of the best writers I've had the pleasure reading, it was worth waiting for:

Suspense glueing me to the pages, heart beating faster than normal, empathizing with the characters, fearing for them - I knew there wouldn't be an easy happy ending. Will doesn't spare his flawed heroes.

.

I had no idea what Gaslighting means before reading this book. The novel includes perfectly both meanings: manipulation and emotional abuse as well as arson using a Molotov cocktail to ignite a flammable compound.

As in Remorseless and Multilated Will's villain is a psychopath of the worst kind, cruel, selfish, insensitive, frighteningly intelligent, cold and heartless - although he's just a 16-year-old kid.

That, of course, arouses the question: Is he born as a psychopath, is it in his DNA? Or did he become like this because of the traumatic experiences told in Remorseless? Nature vs. nurture. In this case both come together and the result is devastating.

Why do I love the thrill of his books? It's not that I like to see with my inner eyes all the cruelty he's conjuring, sometimes I'm glad it's not a movie, but I love that his characters are real and three-dimensional who think, act and speak like real persons.

Gaslighting will be launched at the end of June - but read Remorseless first, the kindle version is currently free on amazon!

Translation as a blessing

My review on goodreads

A friend asked me if could do a translation because he had no time to do it. He hadn't read the book, but he told me that it was an autobiography of a muslim who had become christian.

I had been asking God for two years to give me the opportunity to translate a christian book, and although I knew that this might be his answer to my prayers, I didn't expect much.

I've read and heard many testimonies of conversions, some interesting, a few amazing, many quite boring.

After three weeks I received a first draft of a translation of the first chapter. After the first page I thought: this is going to be boring. Either the translation was poorly done or the author didn't know how to write. I decided to make the best of it.

The book is no literary masterpiece. But that's not important. Nethertheless it drew me in. His experiences are extraordinary and show in a simple way how great our God really is!

I just couldn't stop working on it. I have a job, my household, my family. I estmate that it would take me 4 weeks - I finished the translation within 10 days like on eagle's wings. I didn't get tired at all.
I feel so blessed that God gave me this opportunity!

Now, of course, I hope that this German version will soon be published and I pray that it will be read by many believers and not-yet-believers.

For believers it is a great encouragement: our God is working just as He was thousands of years ago, He is faithful and true to His word, He hasn't changed, His overflowing love and grace are the same now and forever.

Who wouldn't like to have a real conversation with Jesus standing in his room? Who wouldn't want to pray and see immediate healings? But are we ready to follow Him wherever He sends us? Are we ready to obey whatever He says? Would we endure persecution? And do we really appreciate what He has done for us? Quite often we take for granted His protection, His forgiveness and His love.

For Christians who grew up in a christian family and never doubted Jesus' sacrifice for us it's easy to forget what a gift His forgiveness really is, what it means to have certainty of salvation.

How many like him are out there who need to find the Heavenly Father they are seeking and to learn about His forgiveness and His love?

Are we ready to tell them?