----- Introduction -----
A Man Called Blessed works very well as the sequel to Dekker and Bright’s previous book Blessed Child. What’s even more surprising to me is that it stands equally as a good work of fiction on its own. Since past events are mentioned infrequently and don’t play a large part in the story, you don’t feel as though your missing a large portion of the plot or backstory.
This time around we’re introduced to a large cast of new characters. Jason, Leiah, and Caleb are the only three people to return from Blessed Child. Rebecca Soloman is the new main character, and is Caleb’s love interest. Actually Caleb is more her love interest, but she first has to abort her mission to kill him. Yes, it does get complicated. Essentially the monastery where Caleb grew up was actually the resting place for the original Ark of the Covenant that was lost to Israel forever. David Ben Soloman (Rebecca’s dad) is an influential member of the Knesset, and the founder of the Temple restoration group. It is their goal to remove the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the Dome of the Rock and turn Islam’s third holiest site into the new Jewish Temple. Only the discovery of the one true Ark of the Covenant could possibly re-unite Israel enough to force the rebuilding of the Temple. Abu Ismael is the Syrian general set against any encroachment on the Dome of the Rock-Temple Mount area. As secret plans often do, a spy slips the information to the Syrian’s that the Soloman’s are planning a raid to retake the Ark and bring it to Jerusalem. As expected, all hell breaks lose as both sides take no chances and attempt to control the Ark.
----- Is This a Must Read? -----
A Man Called Blessed is an interesting book from the standpoint of Christian fiction. It takes a few of the established tenants of Jewish religion and throws them out the door. Standing firmly on the ground of Christianity is Caleb, who claims the Almighty God does not rest in a golden box, but in the hearts of his children. He also casts aside religion as superficial, and simply says you must “walk in the kingdom”. This stirs up quite a few established religious figures in the book, as it would in real life. I can’t help but remember that Jesus managed to dump a few tables and rile the priests when he walked the earth, so I did enjoy this part of the book.
The action content is noticeably higher than the first book, and much more satisfying. Obviously Dekker had his way with some of the combat scenes, since they were quite realistic. Bill Bright also intervened in a few of them, and resolved the battle by spiritual means instead of mortal combat. This was interesting since it showed some people cannot be persuaded spiritually, and the only course of action is physical violence.
The romantic aspect is also noticeably more evolved than in Blessed Child, which is a good thing. Each partner takes turns advancing towards the other and being rejected. This creates an interesting emotional contest of wills, and the end is quite satisfying.
I recommend this book to anyone that like the first book, or is looking for an “End Times” or Middle-Eastern drama. The verbal artistry is quite good, and you can visualize the deserts and hills the story takes place in. Better than Blessed Child but not Dekker or Bright’s best work, this rates a rock solid four stars.
Thanks for reading,
Openroad
This review is part of the Lean-n-Mean 2 write-off.
http://www.epinions.com/content_3600982148#ow
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