The Ultimatum (The Reluctant Prophet Series #2) (ISBN 1595545980)

Thought provoking Christian fiction.:
I have read a number of books by this author and have enjoyed them all. The quality of his writing has steadily improved as has his choice of subject matter. With worries mounting as to what to expect in the year 2000 and the political climate in Washington after all Clinton's woes it is an interesting story. If you enjoyed the Left Behind series I hink you will like this book.

Thought provoking, insightful and relevant to today's issues:
This is a follow up to T. Davis Bunn's "The Warning" and is timely in light of recent (4/99) events happing in our society. Bunn is an incredible author, directing his story lines to the heart of the issues and directly to your spirit. He is challenging and informative. He does his research well, and always provides accurate details of his topic. This book relates to a humble messenger of God (unlike some of our current "messengers" who feel the need to focus attention on themselves in a not-so-humble manner) who takes on the economy and the government. I highly recommend this - and any of Mr. Bunn's books - and encourage the reader to accept the challenges he evokes with his writing. Regretfully, some of his earlier books are out of print or hard to find (The Presence, Promises to Keep, The Maestro) - if you can find them - get them! This - and all his books - are a good read!! Keep 'em coming!!

Believable as Today's Newspaper!:
Thought-provoking,enjoyable fiction that keeps your interest at a high level. This book was a gift, and I plan to buy more of this author's books. Great blend of action, romance, and human interest.

Yeah, but...:
I picked this book up at a Goodwill store, so from that and reading the back cover, I had a pretty good idea what the political/religious slant would be. But the plot sounded really interesting, so I figured I'd take a gamble. Well, the plot *is* really interesting, but the writing and some of the ideas don't do it justice. To start with the ideas: (1)"This country is going to the dogs" is an old, old lament. You can read it in the literature of every civilization. Think for a moment that if it were true, the societies of Sumer and Akkad would have been heaven on earth--which they weren't. I believe, however, that this feeling of entropy is the basis for the Eden/Paradise myth. Anyway, back to the subject. (2)No Constitutional amendment is needed to protect religion, since the first amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." But this cannot be read as a protection of Christianity only. In fact, this country was founded on the idea of giving free space to all beliefs and not nationalizing any one particular belief--regardless of what the Evangelicals may say. (3)Only Evangelicals are represented as Christians, when in fact there are not enough of them to force a Constitutional convention, even if every one of them supported it. So presumably mainline Protestants and Catholics would have to be pushing the amendment, yet they are not even mentioned. Now, to the writing: While the book is very readable, Mr. Bunn makes some grammatical mistakes (mainly using a comma where a semicolon is required), and the writing is uneven. For some reason, he uses the contractions characteristic of normal speech ("They're thinking he's going to support it") sometimes, but forced-sounding full words in others ("I am afraid he is not going to support it"). Some characters are well-delineated (Royce Calder), while others are either mere sketches (Molly Korda) or stereotypes (James Thaddeus). OK, you probably get the drift of what I'm saying. To sum up, this would be a good read when you're looking for something that doesn't make a lot of demands--at the beach, say, or when recovering from an illness. The plot is a great idea; I would like to see it handled by an author with no agenda and greater descriptive powers. To treat it properly would probably require the book to be twice as long as it actually is. And ending would be 180 degrees from what it actually is.