Touchdown Alexander by Shaun Alexander and Cecil Murphey

This review is about the book called, Touchdown Alexander: My Story of Faith, Football, and Pursuing the Dream by Shaun Alexander and Cecil Murphey. Written from Shaun's perspective, it's a recounting of various events in his personal life with the main focus on his faith and football career.

I received this book from my father and since it was short, I decided to read it right away. In the past my father has given me articles and magazines based on athletes who have faith and over all I've enjoyed them. This book, however, was iffy for me. At times, it reads like a high-school kid speaking about the rough life of dating, partying with friends and the difficulties of choosing one college among hundreds of offers, while at other times, it's a pleasant read which speaks about things like his football career from high school to professional and his walk of faith.

I throughly enjoyed reading the chapters about Shaun's various professional football seasons. The inside stories he gave about his football experiences gave me insight to the inner workings of football and gave me more appreciation for the types of things that football players deal with. One of my favorite inside stories was about his professional draft from college to NFL football when the Seahawks picked him up. It was interesting to read where he was, what he was doing and how his faith played a part in the whole ordeal.

Shaun's walk of faith is inspirational. It was evident, from the pages in the book, that he gives as much of himself to the Lord as he does to football. Shaun thanks the Lord for his gifts, the discovery of his gifts and his ability to use his gifts to share the good news. One of the ways that Shaun exercises his faith is by volunteering with various christian organizations like FCA. He began volunteering before his professional career and continues to volunteer now that he's a professional football player. It was evident from his book that his faith is about more than just giving God credit when he gets a touch down. I also thought it was nifty that he chose his uniform number by the verse which represents himself; Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. "

I was glad that I picked up the book since I'm a newly indoctrinate fan of the Seahawks (becoming one after moving to the Seattle area). I will take my new found respect for Shawn and his beliefs with me when I watch the Seahawks play and I'll let others know that although I thought the book was rough in some spots it's worth the read.

Saint by Ted Dekker

Saint the latest book by Ted Dekker is keeping with the Dekker tradition and not a bit disappointing. I find it difficult writing reviews for Ted Dekker's fiction since too much detail would ruin the story for someone looking to pickup the book. I would have to say that if you have enjoyed Ted Dekker suspense in the past you'll love this one and if you're looking for a Christian fiction alternative writer in the traditions of Stephen King, James Patterson or Michael Crichton, Dekker's books are the way to go.

A helpful tip about this book that I learned from experience, is that although the story stands on it's own there's definite ties to Showdown an early book by Dekker. I was so anxious to read this latest thriller that I didn't realize that it had a correlation to Showdown and found out that I should have picked up Showndown first. It would be my recommendation to read Showdown before Saint since Saint refers to it often.

I received this book from my wife for Christmas and lost some sleep getting caught up in late nights in the suspenseful story line of this book. Dekker has a way of writing an allegorical story without patronizing the reader. I'm not the quickest in picking up the story behind the story or understanding the bigger meaning but in reflection I believe that one of the things that this story covered was the importance of understanding oneself and each persons contributions to the truth found in the Lord. I particularly liked how the story unfolded and revealed the true nature of the assassin training given to the main character. Without spoiling the story line, I really think that Dekker understands that his audience is largely Christian and I think he plays a lot with ethical norms and just when you think he's about to cross the line things seem to line up differently then expected. I like how Dekker cleverly nods to the Christian tradition by inserting basic Bible school theology like the one he makes with the story of Samson and the abilities of the main character. Dekker also pays homage to his colleague Frank Peretti (and co-author on House) which is one of the aspects I really enjoy about reading Dekker's books.

One word of caution: I would give this book, as I would with most of Dekker's books, a PG-13 rating for violence. The subject matter of the book follows assassins and one of the main villain's of the story is rather ruthless.