The Zealots Return -- Volume III of the Penury City Trilogy

 

Penury City: The Zealots Return -- Volume III

 

Author: Thomas E.

Publisher: Wounded Crow Publishing, Rochester, N.Y., 2016-2021

This is the third of a three-volume trilogy by Thomas E.  My reviews of Volume I, can be accessed by clicking Light of Gabriel and of Volume II, by clicking on The Ire of the Shekel. In essence, the author, a devote believer in God, describing in very exciting terms and actions, and using a formula that comprises the Bible, the Church, history, current events, various writing techniques, delivers a thrilling story to his readers. I can't leave out travel via 'treetubes' but you'll need to discover that for yourselves. If you like fantasy, military escapades, spiritual battles, and character-development in a story, this series and especially Volume III, is your book.

Here is where Thomas takes all the unfinished details and explanations, the incomplete business, the failed relationships, and brings them together in a grand finale in a way that didn't allow me to put the book down until I finished it.

The message is clear. It's a terrible world we currently live in. The battle between good and evil has begun. The Enemy of the Good is strong. The Good are weak. And we're stubborn, without faith, and without love. We don't understand the Power available to us to fight Evil if we were to be serious about it.

But how do we move forward to the point where we can see what must be done without giving up? How do we take our eyes off the suffering you are experiencing and relabel it as a lesson that will prepare us for ultimate success?

Thomas pulls no punches. He identifies the Enemy as those who have turned away from the Creator. Their anger and misery are focused on one thing and one thing alone -- to destroy anything and anyone that is associated with God.

The lessons throughout the book continue to be as many in this Volume as they were in Volumes I and II. But the author takes us deeper here introducing a number of very serious theological topics of interest to those who want to be victorious. One excellent example is how we deal with evil that comes our way. One character says, "Whatever evil might come upon us, we must remember that it needs God's permission to act upon us, and God always has our best interest at heart. Fear not." Can you imagine just how different our lives would be, and how we would face the challenges we encounter if we really believed that?

Another key lesson for a believer is to learn, when he/she reaches a decision point, a fork in the road, or a desire to do something, that he/she should "stop moving for a moment, to take note of [his/her] heart and to ask permission for what [he/she] is to do next."  That would save us a lot of trouble.

But lest the reader of this review think it is a totally solemn book, let me assure you it is not. There is a lot of banter back and forth, some pranks, and a considerable amount of humor in its pages. There is one particular line I know I intend to use myself. It is this: "General, in a world gone mad, sometimes all that is left is to send [in] crazy." And send in 'crazy' they do.

This is a book that helps us all realize the reality of the direction the world is heading in, and the destination it is headed for. We have so accustomed ourselves to ignore the indications of evil that we know are present all around us, and focus instead on anything that could fill any void that we sense in our hearts and souls. But Thomas doesn't leave us there. He gives us answers. Admittedly, he presents those answers in a literary style that requires us to suspend our disbelief, something that I found difficult being a reader of primarily non-fiction. His characters and their actions are, for the most part, grounded enough in reality and possibility as we understand it today. Anything in the story that is supernatural in nature is also made to seem possible for us given the fuller explanation of God's realm, the spiritual world, which Thomas provides.

To the unbeliever and the skeptic, this book will give you great insight into what it really means to be a Christian and what is ahead for all us in the world. To the believer, this book is meant to give us a glimpse as to how to become a stronger person of faith and how to put that strong faith to use for your God. To all of us, it provides not just how we may get rid of our guilt of past sin; but also a purpose for the present; and a hope for the future. The Enemy can definitely be defeated. Death can be conquered. Love and Peace can reign.

Highly recommended.

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