A very
special book reviewer at THE WASHINGTON TIMES has served up a fantastic review
of Ray Keating’s THE
RIVER: A PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT NOVEL. Like Stephen Grant, this reviewer, Kenneth V.
Blanchard, was with the CIA and is now a pastor.
Blanchard
writes: “How do you handle being a former CIA adrenaline junkie turned pastor?
Ray Keating's latest novel, ‘The River,’ takes you on an intriguing summer ride
from Langley to the Vatican with Stephen Grant, a former CIA agent who leaves
his intelligence career behind and becomes a pastor of St. Mary's Lutheran
Church on East Long Island. Mr. Keating's storytelling is so lifelike that I
almost thought I had worked with him when I was at Langley. Like the fictitious
pastor, I actually spent 20 years working for the U.S. intelligence community,
and once I started reading ‘The River,’ I had to keep reading because it was so
well-crafted and easy to follow and because it depicted a personal struggle
that I knew all too well. I simply could not put it down.”
Blanchard
adds: “What Ian Fleming's 007 series has probably done for ex-MI-6 agents and
Tom Clancy has done for retired CIA officers, Mr. Keating has done for the
minority of former CIA agents who have served their country by working in the
intelligence community, but now wish to serve God.”
In addition,
he points out: “‘The River’ takes us to the core of moral principle; that is
the battle between good versus evil, right versus wrong and the differences
between one's past and present lives, leaving the reader in deep reflection
about the blurred lines that inspire inner conflict in anyone who has a past
that they must reconcile with… Mr. Keating also allows you to discover how each
of his characters tick in a style and tone reminiscent of some of the best
loved books of all time. The details and descriptions of ‘The River’ brought me
back into the secret corridors of the agency.”
Blanchard
concludes: “Many spy-novel authors try to appeal to members of the intelligence
community as well as the average American looking for a little international
intrigue and James Bond excitement. With Mr. Keating's Pastor Grant, he has
touched upon a small fraternity within the intelligence community of those who
have wanted to serve both God and country — but necessarily in that order.”
Read the full
review at
THE RIVER: A PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT
NOVEL is available
from Amazon.com at
And don’t
forget about the first three PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT NOVELS…
WARRIOR MONK: A PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT
NOVEL has earned an average Amazon.com reviewer rating of 4.3 stars out of 5,
and was ranked as a Top 10 book on a WORLD magazine June 2013 list.
ROOT OF ALL EVIL? A PASTOR STEPHEN
GRANT NOVEL has earned an average Amazon.com reviewer rating of 4.6 stars out
of 5.
AN ADVENT FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: A
PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT NOVEL has earned an average Amazon.com reviewer rating of
4.4 stars out of 5.
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