A spiritual journey in poetry from despair to hope

How the Demons Leave: Escape from the Unseen Dungeons by Peter Okonkwo is book two in a three-book series. I enjoyed book 1, A Cry for Mercy: Escape from the Unseen Dungeons, voiced from the perspective of a narrator struggling under spiritual bondage. The front end of How the Demons Leave is a lament for justice with a heart-wrenching prayer for help as the narrator struggles with failures of life that have tormented him for years, accompanied by feelings of injustice at the lack of rewards for his hard work.

 

 

The narrative changes when he moves toward faith as a resolution to his torment and recognizes he is under the influence of spiritual forces out to destroy his life. When he “runs to the Savior of the world, […] the only man who can save me,” the tone changes to seeking answers. He asks, “How can I be delivered from this long-time curse?”

 

His spiritual journey leads him to the answer. “You must be born again.”

 

 

A Cry for Mercy

 

Okonkwo’s thought-provoking poetry looks at the role of faith as a cure for spiritual blindness. When the narrator gains spiritual sight, he understands how demons influenced his life, robbed him of success, and left him stranded in stagnation and hardship. When God answers his prayer, he feels a proverbial weight lifted and witnesses an angel loosening chains from his body and deliverance from the demons of stagnation.

 

In chapter one, the narrator of How the Demons Leave starts in deep despair and pessimism. This book chronicles his spiritual journey and discusses struggles with lack of success, hopelessness, injustice, and morality as he deals with contradictions and impulses that God uses to draw him to faith. This book is easy to read, and I recommend it to people looking for encouragement amid discouraging circumstances. The one thing I did not like about the book is that the narrator’s thoughts at one point sounded like the prosperity gospel promoting a name-it-claim-it philosophy that distorts the truth and embraces the false teaching that our thoughts control reality, instead of praising the power of God for his renewed mind and way of thinking. 

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

About the Author Peter Okonkwo

Peter Okonkwo is a Nigerian writer, fatalist, publisher, editor, literary critic, spiritual philosopher, soon–to–be–novelist of Etean’s Destiny, and a certified orator from the Friendship Leadership Institute of Nigeria.

He is the author of six poetry collections: Ecstasy of the Dead; Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom; Whose Fault, Kismet or Impediment? and Escape from the Unseen Dungeons book series, (A Cry for Mercy, How the Demons Leave, and I Saw the Light)

Peter is gifted with the aptitude to explore and demystify certain difficult life issues through his thought–provoking, raw–arresting transcendent poetry. His works has been featured in notable literary magazines and newspaper, including the Australian Plumwood Mountain Journal, The Lagos Review, Ngiga Review, Hope Newspaper, among many others.

Peter is the host of the P. English Literature YouTube channel, where he reviews books and conducts interviews with authors around the world. His show has featured over 250 literature works from authors across the globe

 

 

Romance with a fresh air feel of farm life & falling in love

The Hired Hand by Diane Ziomek is book one in a box set series. It features Rachel, a twenty-six-year-old widow working to keep her dream alive on the farm she and her husband built from the ground up. But she can’t do it alone. With the work of haying season more than she can handle, she places an ad for a hired hand. When Chad answers her help wanted ad, he checks all the boxes on her list. He knows his stuff, from caring for the animals to how to operate the equipment. As a bonus, he is handsome and polite, and they work well together. When their attraction becomes obvious, Rachel lets her guard down. As perfect as it all seems, she questions whether it is love or her desires pulling her along. All seems ideal as the budding romance heads to something more serious. Then unexpected complications from the past catch up with them to snuff out the flame.

                             The Hired Hand by Diane Ziomek

BookHookup Review: The Hired Hand

The Hired Hand delivers an absorbing plot that keeps the pages turning with flawless worldbuilding drawing you into that fresh air feel of farm life, falling in love, and characters that are likable and believable. I wish the author had further developed the storyline with more subplots, but it did supply a romantic focus throughline that hooked me.

I recommend this engaging romance to readers of Chic Lit, contemporary romance, second-chance romance, or a good story with a strong female protagonist. BUT I say all this with one caveat. This book does contain mature content. Think PG13.

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer, and I received The Hired Hand as a free review copy and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

About Author Diane Ziomek

Diane Ziomek was born in 1968 and spent most of her childhood on the family farm. She loved the outdoors and spent as much time outside as she could; choosing it over television more often than not. Her love of reading also came at an early age.

Her passion for reading turned to dreams of writing, and in 2010 she began writing online. After dreaming about being a writer for at least two decades she began researching her options and found self-publishing was the most feasible option for her.

In October 2012, Diane stepped out of her comfort zone of nonfiction and registered for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and wrote a 50,000+ word novel in the month of November. She has also authored a number of nonfiction titles, which center around helping others follow their passions and achieve their dreams. These titles are mainly based on freelance writing, self-publishing and creating a business from a hobby.

In early 2018 she decided to expand on her fiction journey, and has written The Pipestone Creek Romance Series. Her new romance series (Mount Brooksby Romance Series) is underway.

She does not take the easy way out of anything, and as her late father used to say "If there's a hard way to do something, Diane will find it."

Diane became a widow in May 2020 and made some life changes; one of which was moving from the home her and her husband shared. She bought an acreage in the summer of 2022 and is enjoying being a grandma. She treasures family time and enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Email: ziomekdiane@gmail.com

Twitter: @DianeZiomek

Fun blend of mystery, science, and time travel on an alien world

 

Vortex on Vertu Prime (The Portal Adventures book 3) by Andrew J. Harvey delivers thrilling sequel to Crisis at Calista Station with a well-calculated balance of humor, action, and suspense ideal for middle school readers. The story opens with a museum field trip where a restless Tania is bored and wanders off on her own. She discovers an abandoned teddy bear that turns out to be powered by artificial intelligence as a bodyguard for Li-otho, a young, alien princess. When Tania discovers him, he has just broke free from the stasis bubble he was stuck in for centuries. Tania names him Edward and isn’t keen on carrying him around since she is too old for a Teddy Bear and stuffs him in her backpack. In short order, she regrets rescuing the bossy AI Teddy with a fuzzy memory. 

Tania arrives home to learn they are going to spend the holidays at Veral Station where she is supposed to meet up with her friends Mark and Windracer. Upon arrival, they find the station in need of major repairs. They don’t even have running water! So plans are made for the children to stay in a 5-star hotel on Veral Prime for a week. The hotel is situated in a small section of the planet's only remaining arcology city contained within an immense pyramid structure. It is all that is left of a civilization that destroyed itself in war centuries ago. 

On their arrival at the hotel, Edward realizes that Vertu Prime is his home planet and that the war was due to his failure to protect Li-otho. When archaeologists at the hotel inadvertently activate a temporal warp generator the kids and Edward travel back in time. Edward’s power reserves run perilously low, and it depends on the children to find the generator and turn it off before it destroys the planet.

 Book review: Vortex on Vertu Prime 

Vortex on Vertu Prime is a quick read, fast paced, time-travel Sci-fi adventure. I ran it by my 10-year-old assistant reader. He opened the book and devoured the first 80 pages before it was time for him to go home. He is an avid reader and gives it two thumbs up. And an even bigger compliment, he said he is interested in checking out Crisis at Calista Station (The Portal Adventures Book 2). I recommend Vortex on Vertu to kids who enjoy Sci-fi, time-travel, and life on another planet. It’s a fun blend of mystery, science, and time travel creating a ticking clock to save the world and I’m happy to give four stars. 

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As BookHookup, I am a long-time book reviewer and received a free review copy of this book in collaboration with Blackberry Book Tours. I have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

About Author: Andrew J. Harvey

Andrew spent his high-school years in the school’s library lost in the worlds of Andre Norten, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov. His first commercially accepted series of novels (the Garden Adventures) was originally completed to read to his two sons at night. Now his children have left home he lives in Perth with his wife, one dog, and sixty-four gold fish. Andrew can be contacted at www.andrewjharvey.com.

In addition to writing, Andrew is also the Principal of Hague Publishing. Established in 2011 as an independent publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Hague Publishing is registered in Western Australia, and publishes original work by Australian and New Zealand authors.

Previously Principal for the Davies Literary Agency, Andrew was also editor and publisher of The Western Australian Year Book for a number of years, in addition to being the editor and a writer for ‘Afterlife - the on-line magazine for Atmosphere users’.

Andrew's first published short story (A Messenger to the Dragon) appeared in Aurealis - Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1992. 

A passionate reader of Alternate History Andrew is presently working on completing further books set in the Cross-Temporal Empire.