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BOOK REVIEW: By The Sword
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by: Jeremiah McNabb Dancing Word Reviewer
Title: By The Sword Author: Mike Yorkey and Rick Myatt Publisher: Broadman & Holman Publishers ISBN: 0-8054-4073-9 Genre: Inspirational/Thriller
It’s hard to get in, and even harder to get out. Iran is an unfriendly place to its own people but it’s even more of a nightmare if you believe that a Jew named Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins. In this new novel by Mike Yorkey and Rick Myatt, Iran just got much worse.
A mysterious cadre of Muslim soldiers is on the move, killing anyone who doesn’t convert to Islam at the barrel of their AK-47s. Amber Robbins, a Middle East correspondent, moves in to uncover what she thinks could be a government conspiracy. There’s plenty of information if she can get to it, but the tight-fisted Iranian government guards their secrets with deadly force.
Because Islam and its constituents have been so newsworthy since 2001, I expected to find a novel full of turban-wearing zealots, the stereotypical image of a Muslim. When, instead, I found a cast of characters with depth, it was more than a pleasant surprise. I could get angry with some and sympathize with others.
Even though my experience with this Middle East religion is rare at best, I can still say with confidence that Yorkey and Myatt’s characters are not the typical cardboard cut-out camel herders.
Author Mike Yorkey is no stranger to print. In addition to several dozen works non-fiction, he also worked for a Christian magazine for over a decade. Rick Myatt seems to have a rich knowledge in fields related to this novel. While such experience is excellent for crafting a novel’s background, it seems that it will take more than one novel to shift out of the expositional mode the genre required.
At times, the immense detail is rewarding, but when it pops up, unbidden, in Amber’s dialogue, it becomes a distraction. If you’re telling a reader what weapons a helicopter is outfitted with, that’s necessary element. On the other hand, no one needs to know how a restaurant makes their signature dish, or the word-origin of its name, before they eat it.
To the authors, I say this: You’ve written a great story, so don’t give me time to slip out of it.
With several invitations to Christ throughout the novel, there’s no question as to the mission behind these words. Yorkie and Myatt want the literary world to know who Christ really is, and they manage to do so with realism, rather than a sugar-coating. A candied gospel is unfair to those embrace it and an insult to those who have died for it. It is very good to know that these authors understand that fact completely.
By The Sword is the breakout novel by Mike Yorkey and Rick Myatt. Adrenaline mixes well with a gospel message under the collective pens of these two authors. This, I suspect, is just the beginning of an excellent series.
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