The Judas Ride was written for Teens. It's an extremely "edgy" book that sometimes goes into details which would be better left to the imagination, especially for younger teens.

Although Peggy Sue Yarber still "explains" and doesn't "show" her characters, she has improved a lot since her earlier book, Tare. However, this continual explanation of why and what her characters are doing takes a lot away from the imagination reader. It also tends to "dumb down" your audience. Not to mention it makes the bookharder to read!

It's a good story, but the execution makes it almost unreadable for teens. It's hard to follow, sometimes violently graphic, and full of characters who are not commendable for most of the book. Although it has a redemptive undercurrent, I wish Peggy Sue Yarber had made it an essential part of the plot.
I give it three stars, as with a little bit more polish this had the potential of a great YA novel.

I'm going to start off with my disclaimers, and then get to the good stuff :)
First off, I have no qualifications(on paper, at least) for being interested in reading this book. I received this as a random pick from three books by a review company, Nothing Binding. It wasn't my first choice, but it sounded really interesting based on the synopsis. I know very little about France, and even less about 17th century France. Honestly, I'm more of a Brit wanna-be. I have never read any of Dumas' books and have never watched the movie adaptions. The closest I've come to watching the movie is the Wishbone show on the Three Musketeers! I didn't even see the Disney cartoon version starring Mickey and his friends!

But even still, this book slowly won me over. I say slowly because it did take me a while to get invested in the story. Not because of poor writing or bad characterization, but because I know so little of the back story(this book is supposed to take place after the events in the Three Musketeers)
Having said that, you don't need to have read it to enjoy this one! I'm sure it would help to get you into the swing of things, and you might notice some interesting parallels that I completely missed, but it's not necessary. If you've already read and experenced the Three Musketeers, I have a feeling you'd really enjoy this one. It proabably has some modern sensibilities tossed in, but fits well within the genre of historical french fiction. It's engaging, completely action-packed and has some great "you go girl!" moments!
My one small gripe is, I really wish the author would have used more French words and phrases within the book, especially since she is a French teacher! There were a few here and there, but not quite enough to convey an authentic French feel.
This book has given me a reason to pick up Dumas' books the next chance I have!

Thanks to Nothing Binding and the writer/editor for sending me this book to review!

This is an interesting book, Paul Copan has worked to compile the most common arguments against Christianity and writes a sort of rebuttal system to use against each.

However, i do think this book could possibly end up being very dangerous.

I could very easily see this becoming a "translation" book for well-meaning Christians to just start flipping through the pages - just like tourists in a foreign country.

I don't think this is the smartest nor most effective way to share Christ's love. I don't want to argue my "cause" - just live it. In many ways i find it more enjoyable and not to mention long-lasting for a person to immerse themselves in another country. You learn the little intricacies and traditions of a culture that had you taken a more brash approach, you would never had found. I think it would be a wise thing for Christian apologists to do as well.

If this book is the sort of thing you're looking for, a straight-forward, focused on "winning" the sinner rather then befriending, this is a good book. However, it is not what I'm looking for, i would rather have my discussions of faith be an organic offshoot of a deep friendship.