North County resident Jack
Cavanaugh has done it again! His first series of novels, “An American
Family Portrait” was given a Silver Medallion Award for the opening
effort, The Puritans. The author
of 15 novels is now two books into his current series titled “Songs
in the Night.” This book is the follow up to the 2002 Christy Award
winner for Excellence in Christian Fiction.
Both books are an unflinching
look at a nation on the verge of godlessness. Nazi Germany is laid bare for
the reader in a way almost reminiscent of the Anne Frank family. We live inside
a Christian family whose pastor head sees members of his flock being drawn
away into the Hitler youth movement.
The story revolves around
the relationship between Pastor Schumacher, young Second Lieutenant Konrad
Reichmann and the struggles between them as the young man fights between what he has been trained to believe
by his handlers in the Reich and what his pastor and his conscience are telling
him are right.
The Russian Front becomes
the young man’s Waterloo as he finds he can no longer stomach the lies
of glory and victory in the face of the slaughter of innocents and the depravation
all around him. He knows he must make a choice and he must make it now.
I must confess that I had
hoped as I raced from page to page through this exciting book that I would
find a happy ending. I didn’t really think I would, but I had “hoped”
for one. Suffice it to say (so I don’t spoil it for you) that it’s
“honest.” It’s also a bit sad. Cavanaugh is not one to pander
to his reader by assuring them a trip down the yellow brick road at the end
of every outing. However, you will come away from his literary feast well-satisfied.
Cavanaugh
is first and foremost a storyteller. He is a throwback to the old sage at
the campfire or in the general store where people took the time to share their
past and where much of the history of nations was first immortalized. I can
almost picture him telling one of his many well researched stories to a rapt
audience of young people as he holds court from a rocking chair in front of
a pot-bellied stove near a pickle barrel in the center of a sawdust covered
floor.
Bethany House Publishers isn’t
saying how many more books are coming in his series, but no matter how many
more, I’ll be waiting to read them. So far, I can honestly say that
Cavanaugh has become a favorite. When I see his name on a book cover, I know
I am going to be in for an evening or two or three of entertainment, involvement
and excitement enjoying a really, really good story.
If you are one who has never
learned the joy of reading, any Cavanaugh book is a great place to start
Paul
McShane of Carlsbad is an author, businessman and journalist.