A Simply Enchanted Life

Renegade by Mel Odom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Renegade was a very engaging book and I could barely put it down! I was not sure how I would receive it personally since I had never read a military fiction book before but I was happily surprised.

Through the book you see the struggle of a man trying to find his place.

As a Christian reading this book I was able to fully appreciate the subtly of what being a true witness for God is by the characters involved in this this young man’s life.

Pike Morgan was a foster kid and an ex-biker gang member, who is in the witness protection program for witnessing the murder of his longtime friend, Petey. He is now working in a garage while also serving in the Marine reserve. He is still a loner and drifter by nature but is beginning to feel some of the emotions that comes with settling down. Pike befriends a young boy named Hector, who has no father , and his mother is working two jobs while his older sister is going to college. Hector looks up to Pike as a father figure of sorts but Pike is not sure that he is ready for anyone to become to close to him.
The witness protection program wants Pike to testify against more of Petey’s killers, the Diablo biker gang, to put an end to them but Pike is not sure he wants to. All the years of his “protection” has not given much fruit and Pike is growing tired of it all. He is wanting to hit he open road again but the Marines have called him and it is back to active duty…Afghanistan here we go.


Pike has said his goodbyes and is now in Afghanistan. He is placed with Corporal Bekah Shaw and two raw recruits, Zeke and Cho. They are almost immediately threw in the fire and bullets are blazing. Pike proves once again that he is courageous and a good marine, as he had been on one tour before. They infiltrated a building that was housing bomb making materials and were able to capture a Russian arms dealer working with the locals. While having the Russian in custody, the captain of the local police kills the prisoner. Pike is furious but has to restrain himself because the relations with the local police are fragile at best. Upon inspected the Russian, Pike notices a pocket is turned inside out and insists the police captain took something from it but the man insists the prisoner had pulled a knife out and was going to kill one of the Marines.


The Russian is brought in for examination and Pike is able to give clues into the dead man’s history because of his tattoos. While eating dinner in a local restaurant, he notices the police captain, Zarif, is sitting nearby and receives a phone call. Pike is able to understand some of the Russian which Zarif is speaking by reading his lips. Pike decides to follow Zarif because he believes Zarif has his hands dirty in a few things. He followed Zarif but was captured. Pike had guessed right but Zarif would not tell him anything and ordered him killed. Relying on his survival and military skills, Pike, kills Zarif and his two men. As Pike tried to escape he is captured by other Marines and took into custody. Major Hollister is not happy about what has transpired and Pike is placed in the brig ready to be the scapegoat of the incident. Lieutenant Heath Bridger visits Pike in the brig and tries to reason with him about not giving up. More information is exchanged and Heath begins to investigate Captain Zarif’s dealings with the black market.


A raid is setup on a building which housed another Russian dealer, the one Zarif had spoke with on the phone the night Pike had followed him. The raid is successful and the Russian is taken into custody. He admitted to providing Zarif with merchandise and that he was the one on the phone. Lieutenant Bridger goes to Major Hollister about this raid and capture of the Russian, and pleads the release of Pike from the brig. After a lengthy exchange the Major agrees to release Pike as long as he stays out of his hair.


Pike’s unit is then flung into a difficult task of traveling and searching a rough and snowy mountain in search of three CIA agents and a reporter, who had been kidnapped by Zalmai Yaqub. Yaqub is hoping to become the leader of this regions jihad movement by starting a series of events that would propel him to glory and assuredly give him the mantle of leader. Yaqub’s father, who was thought dead by the military, is hanging on to life despite losing an arm and leg in an US attack. Yaqub’s men build a fortification and plant explosives at key locations. As the Marines fight their way through the parameter and come upon Yaqub’s father, Pike realizes he has an electronic device and detonates all the hidden explosives. Pike’s unit and a backup unit of Marines take losses and all of Yaqub’s men are dead. Yaqub had left earlier in the morning down the mountain and back to Kandahar for his mission of glory, shooting down the planes with the Joint Chiefs of staff aboard.


As Pike and Lieutenant Bridger figure out Yaqub’s plan their unit is sprung back into action for another mission…find Yaqub before it is too late. They lean on their resourcefulness and find information on Yaqub’s possible location, a building not too far from the airfield. Upon arrival they had to fight their way into the building and Yaqub is confirmed to be there. Will Pike and his unit make it in time to stop Yaqub? I guess you will have to read it to find out!


Conclusion:
I rated this book a 5 star because I thought it was a fantastic read. I can honestly say it was the best book I have read this year. Throughout the book different characters showed bits and pieces of being a Christian to Pike and those things always stuck with him. He was never able to shake all those things and get them out of his head despite his “wild” side always wanting to escape and run. He started the book a confused man with no real direction, a Renegade, but ended the book having a direction and finally finding a home where he knew he belonged.
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Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.
http://melodom.com/
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

As we start a new year, many of us are making resolutions, or avoiding making resolutions, or resolving to call resolutions something else, so that it’ll be different this year than it was last year. And in any case, most will probably have forgotten them or altered them in some way by January 15th. We have good intentions. It’s a fresh start, right? Out with the old and in with the brand spankin’ new.

For some of us the new is keeping in touch with friends or family that we often lose contact with after the holidays. For some, it’s to be more patient with our littles, or to do more activities with them. And there are, on a different spectrum, those that are hoping to make more money this year, to get a promotion, to work harder then they have before. There are a wide range of needs and wants, carnal and spiritual, that we are wistful about as we say goodbye to 2012: to pray more, to read more, to be more… to be better.

Commonly, at this time of year, we also resolve to “fix” our body. I’m certainly there myself. I want to lose “a lot” of weight this year, and to get as strong and as fit as possible. You may want to lose a few pounds yourself, or to gain a few pounds, or to change that soft, squishy part to a firm, muscled part or to get some fancy serum that promises to tighten the wrinkles around your mouth and eyes. Whatever your resolution concerning your body may be, I’d like to impart something to you regarding your self image.

I’ve been a member of the “yo-yo dieters of the world club” for many years now, I’m like the vice president or something, I swear. And for the last 3 years, I’ve also been a member of a very popular weight loss group, you probably know the one. During this time, I’ve learned a lot about myself and about others who struggle with their body image. So, at the risk of sounding like a know it all (I’ll pass out wet noodles to beat me with after), here we go.

First and foremost, it’s a mental struggle; before food or drink, and before exercise or the lack thereof, we have the battle of the bulge in our brain (ha! I’m so clever!). Now I don’t mean that you need to sit for hours trying to figure out the exact moment you gave up on your body, or seeking out the person or persons that wounded you so gravely that you lost your self worth. You don’t need to go find a personal trainer, Jillian Michaels style, that will scream at you until you break down crying and spill your guts about how awful your mom or dad or childhood bully was. Because the fact is, most likely, you are your own worst bully. I recently read a book by a very famous person about learning to talk to ourselves more positively. Her book costs money, but I’m going to give you the gist for free. (I’m so nice! Give me back those noodles…)

When you see your best friend in the whole world, do you look at them and say, “Gee whiz, Meredith*! Eat a cow today?” or “You are so stupid stupid stupid!” No, of course not, because (a) Meredith wouldn’t stay your friend for very long if you did and (b) because you don’t see her that way. You see your beautiful friend that has been with you through thick and thin, and has always listened to you cry and laughed with you when you were joyful and loved you even when you were a little unlovable. (*I picked that name from nowhere, so if your name or your best friend’s name is Meredith, pretend I said Louise.) And yet, we do those exact things to ourselves all the time. You are with you through thick and thin, too, and through joy or tears or unlovable crabby times. And yet you (and I) treat ourselves like rubbish.

Now is the time to realize that, and this is my own quote - I’m so smart:

A body is a body, regardless of whether the person abused food or was using food to abuse themselves. And your body is just that: yours. Your own. It’s the only body you get. Loving yourself, no matter how you look, is the single most important thing any person needs to overcome whatever caused them to gain the weight in the first place. It's a mental battle field before all else. We must love ourselves the way we are to realize we are worth the effort to take back our health!

You can take out the gaining weight part and put in whatever matches your circumstances. Because it’s true, regardless. We must begin to love ourselves, no matter what we look like or how we feel or whether we’ve abused ourselves or been abused by others. That does not mean that we must be satisfied with our lot, or ok with our lumps, it just means that we love who we are and what we are no matter where we are … in life, in our journey, or in our place in the world. That is the first step to a successful resolution. Take it day by day, talk to yourself in the mirror, hug yourself, and tackle the bad internal dialogue, and that’s how you will see changes. Because you cannot change the outside, without first changing the inside.

Alright, that was so way too deep… I need to do something goofy and frivolous now, like dance around or make funny faces. Do you know how to spell that sound you make when you stick out your tongue, clamp it with your lips, and blow (otherwise known as a raspberry)? It’s just like this, and I quote, “plllbbbbbbbbbbt”. Three Ls and ten Bs. I’m serious. Sometimes we need to do that to ourselves in the mirror, too. Hehe.

Anyway, if you’re interested in reading the book I mentioned, it’s called “Talk To The Mirror” by Florine Mark. And I resolve to read it cover to cover before January is out. I wish you a happy new year and a happy new you.

About Amanda: Amanda is a homemaker, wife and mother. She has a deep love for the Lord and family. You can learn more about Amanda at her blog Shine Like the Moon