Evolving in Monkey Town

Rachel Held Evans

Zondervan

softcover, 400 pages, $14.99

978-0-310-29399-6

Anyone who knows American history or has seen the movie Inherit the Wind will be familiar with the names Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan and the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, a famous court case on creationism in which they played a part.

In Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions, Evans, a twentysomething journalist, shares her journey of growing up in Dayton, Tenn., where the case took place. The book brings readers into Evans' home, where she grew up with her theologian father and spent her halcyon days at Christian schools, including Bryan College—named after William Jennings Bryan. She introduces readers to people who've crossed her path—from "Matt the Apologist" to Zarmina, a Muslim woman—and shares her journey from fundamentalism through doubt and eventually to faith.

Evans' autobiographical account is an important contribution to the dialogue between church and culture. Her writing is lucid, witty and trenchant, and her transparency will appeal to seekers. Evolving in Monkey Town gives readers permission to live and even rest in uncertainty and doubt.

—Brian Smith McCallum

23 Questions About Hell

Bill Wiese

Charisma House (Strang Book Group)

softcover with DVD, 160 pages, $15.99

978-1-616-38027-4

Wiese follows up his New York Times best-selling 23 Minutes in Hell with 23 Questions About Hell: Everything You Want—And Need—To Know! The author says he was once sent to the place of the damned for 23 minutes, and he offers lessons learned from that experience on a DVD that comes with the book.

In 23 Questions, he addresses common and not so common concerns, one per chapter, using the Scriptures to explain why God created such a place, what it's like and who goes there. The first chapter goes to the root of all of the questions, asking, Isn't God mean for making hell? Other such inquiries also delve into God's character, one asking whether He would be unloving to not allow a "good person" to enter heaven.

Wiese combats the views that hell is metaphorical and not a real place, and that anyone who goes there is annihilated and not left to suffer eternally. With the heart of a prophet and the love of an evangelist, he leads unbelievers to pray the sinner's prayer, urging them to take hell seriously and make the choice to go to heaven.

—Christine D. Johnson

Gotta Have It!

Gregory L. Jantz with Ann McMurray

David C. Cook

softcover, 272 pages, $14.99

978-1-434-76624-3

Author and founder of A Place of Hope Counseling Center, Jantz offers a way to freedom from the "excessities" of life—whether food, alcohol, exercise or any other stronghold used to cushion life's blows—in Gotta Have It! Freedom From Wanting Everything Right Here, Right Now. He argues that often what is considered a necessity isn't at all, and it inevitably crowds out those things that are, cheating individuals of a free and full life.

Helping readers understand what is a necessity and what is a desire, he offers them opportunity to question their motives and the whys and wherefores of the not-so-healthy things that have crept into their lives. Through questions, application exercises as well as the cases of his patients, he sheds light on how to break free into God's way to a life of abundance, patience, endurance, wisdom and hope.

This book is helpful for anyone who is ready to take honest inventory of his or her life and with the help of God, truly live.

—Heidi L. Ippolito

The Outsider Interviews

Jim Henderson, Todd Hunter and Craig Spinks

Baker Books (Baker Publishing Group)

hardcover with DVD, 208 pages, $24.99

978-0-801-01345-4

Inspired by Barna Group President David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons' 2007 book UnChristian, three men set out to conduct interviews with young adults who don't consider themselves Christians to find out how they perceive believers and the church.

Henderson, Hunter and Spinks filmed interviews in four cities, giving their reflections on what was said in The Outsider Interviews: A New Generation Speaks on Christianity. Mainly, their aim is to instruct the church on how culture has changed, how Christianity is now perceived and how such perceptions have created the need for a change in how believers connect with "outsiders."

The authors want readers to really listen to unbelievers without becoming defensive, in order to be more effective communicators. They caution Christians not to perceive all hostility as persecution, realizing that outsiders have seen Christianity misrepresented and are reacting to that.

The Outsider Interviews is challenging to read and sure to cause a variety of responses, both negative and positive. A DVD of the interviews accompanies the book.

—Deborah L. Delk

The Power of a Praying Life

Stormie Omartian

Harvest House Publishers

hardcover, 256 pages, $13.99

978-0-736-92688-1

Adding to her best-selling "The Power of a Praying ... " series, Omartian presents a new classic in The Power of a Praying Life: Finding the Freedom, Wholeness, and True Success God Has for You. From beginning a ministry in music and exercise to spanning a career writing 50 books, Omartian shares insights learned in times of joy and pain.

Her book reads quietly and confidently, offering healing to readers who have questions about prayer. She shares scripture and insights in different sections that explain the significance of God's will in the life of the Christian, how to know the enemy, God's holiness, His love and the power of prayer and fasting.

As in previous classics on prayer, Omartian aims to teach once more the basic principles that need to be retaught in this generation in regard to prayer.

This well-written book should teach, disciple and build faith in the hearts of all who read it.

—Jennifer Toth

Back on Murder

J. Mark Bertrand

Bethany House (Baker Publishing Group)

softcover, 384 pages, $14.99

978-0-764-20637-5

Back on Murder: A Roland March Mystery is an engaging crime novel taking readers on assignment with Houston's best homicide detective.

Detective March believes he is on his way out of the force because his peers trivialize his accomplishments—until he observes evidence at a major crime scene. Determined to find the victim and regain the respect he once held, he pursues his gut instinct to connect the victim with a missing, high-profile teen girl.

Because of his rogue decision, he is taken off the murder case and put on the task force to find the missing teen. Refusing to give up on solving the murder case, March finds himself cracking an internal cover-up when a fellow officer approaches him with answers to the case.

Bertrand captures a realistic view of a homicide detective's life, from the paperwork to life-threatening situations. Readers will relate to the struggles of his characters, their faltering faith and success.

—Nicole Anderson

Danger Close

William G. Boykin and Tom Morrisey

Fidelis Books (B&H Publishing Group)

hardcover, 336 pages, $24.99

978-0-805-44955-6

Author Boykin and retired Lieutenant General Morrisey explore the Islamist threat in the terrorist thriller Danger Close,which imagines an Al Qaeda intent on trumping itself with a more deadly attack on America.

After a successful tour in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Blake Crenshaw accepts a secret assignment from the CIA's counterterrorism chief. He switches places with an Anglo recruited into Al Qaeda by Muslim clerics in prison. Under this identity, he joins a D.C. sleeper cell and travels via London to a Pakistani training camp. There he learns of a nuclear device provided by North Korea for detonation near the Capitol and must escape before Predator drones take out the camp.

Throughout his ordeal, Blake, a devout Christian, must reconcile his faith with the life of deception and violence he must lead for a greater good—adding a dimension of spirituality often missing from espionage thrillers. In addition, the authors' attention to detail, particularly with military hardware, makes the story chillingly plausible.

—John Leatherman

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