James David Jordan

This is the story of the Parst family. David Parst was a minister in O’Fallon, MO who seemed to have everything and then he threw it away in one night. He committed adultery. The husband of the woman he had a one night stand with commits suicide on David’s church steps.

What follows is the effect that one act had on his entire family for the rest of their lives. His wife - didn’t want to divorce him but couldn’t live with him. Shortly after their separation she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His son, Jack, who at 12 learns of his father’s affair in the middle of a church service where his father is giving the sermon and then sees the dead man on the front steps of the church. He is sure that the failure of his family, the man’s death and then his mother’s disease is all his father’s fault. Can he ever forgive him? David, himself, has failed God, his family and himself. Is there forgiveness?

Something That Lasts is an excellent, well written story. It tells of the strong faith in God that Sarah and David have that carry them through more than 30 years of challenges and struggles as well as good times. Realistically it also shows the bitterness Jack carries with him towards God and his father.

The third part of the book is about Jack’s life with Katie his wife and their son. It is about their tragedy and the pit that Jack falls into after losing his son. This part of the book is very emotional but also very inspirational. It is a long struggle but with his family’s love and faith Jack climbs his way out of the pit of despair he has fallen into.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.
… (mais)

Wow! Talk about gripping you by the throat and not letting go. That's how I felt when I read Forsaken. I did not want to put this book down. In fact, as I was working at my HOS job one evening at a local theme park, I had the book in my hand and one of the make-up artists asked me about it since she had seen me reading it on numerous occasions. After I finished reading the book, I passed it on to her, and she passed it on to her mom when she finished reading it--it's THAT good! (Did I mention that neither is a Christian, so I've been getting a few questions too?!)

If you like suspense thrillers, you'll be hooked by James David Jordan's writing. The subjects of loneliness, unconditional love, and crisis of faith are portrayed with reality as the characters are faced with seemingly impossible situations. You'll be sucked in as you first meet Taylor and her father on her birthday camping trip. You'll also weep for Simon as he must make a horrible choice to save his daughter Kacey from her terrorist kidnappers.

Forsaken by James David Jordan is a must have! You will not be disappointed.… (mais)

I enjoyed this book. Sure, it was simple (not too many, if any unexpected plot twists), but sometimes that’s just what a person needs: an easy-breezy, straightforward path from point A to point b without the distraction of having to exert any intellectual effort.

The relationships felt flat, but considering this was book #2, and I didn’t read book #1, I found that easy to forgive; perhaps I missed something in the first story that would have filled-out the dynamics. On the up-side, there’s plenty of growth-potential here: Where will the relationship between Taylor and her FBI pal go? Is romance looming? How will Taylor’s relationship with her mom develop? Or will it?

I’m planning on back-tracking to read the first book, and if I stumble upon a book #3 at some point down the road, I’ll read that too. My biggest disappointment with the story was that I seemed to know who the villain was before the main characters did. I’m hoping Jordan’s other books will offer me the same light reading experience, but with a touch more suspense or surprise.… (mais)

The best word to describe this book is Bland. It wasn't bad, it was just weak. On the one hand, it was a quick read, on the other, it'll be quickly forgotten.

Double Cross is full of hard to believe two-dimensional characters, a mystery less interesting than those found in the Sunday papers, and a lead with no charisma. Characters and locations are introduced with a sense of deus ex machina, and having played their part, exit the stage until needed again. As such, they are more readily identifiable by the parts they play than the names - the crazy estranged mother, the dead father, the sister/protectee, the FBI contact, the policeman, the character who only exists so the lead can go on a date and 20 more pages can be filled, the character you don't meet until halfway through the book who turns out to have done it - but you don't care by then, the heroine who has a troubled past but somehow has the perfect background for this situation. Lastly, the incredibly small glaze of Christianity that he spoons onto the characters at opportune moments comes across as forced, and to me does a disservice both to those who want an expression of faith in their stories (for not having enough, or having it properly integrated), and to those who don't (for it being shoehorned in and distracting from the story).

Now, admittedly, this is the second novel in this series, so there might be more for people who have read the first novel, but if the first novel is stronger, and therefore somewhat necessary to reading this book (which is a wholly separate storyline and not a sequel per se), then shame on the author for not doing a better job of introducing the new readers to the richer world.

Overall, I felt no empathy for any of the characters, no hook into the mystery, and no compulsion to keep going. I had no difficulty putting the book down whenever I came to the end of one of the very short chapters.

But if you want an entirely forgettable book that you can read in its entirety on your next plane ride, you could do worse than Double Cross.… (mais)