Book picks similar to
The Shape of Illusion by William Edmund Barrett


christian-fiction
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literature-english
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Treacherous Estate


Behcet Kaya - 2018
    After her death is ruled ‘natural causes,’ Jack digs in to unravel the reasons she came to him desperately asking for his help and to investigate her mysterious death. To complicate matters further, her husband is a prominent, highly respected local business man. As Jack begins to unravel the pieces to the unsolved puzzle, the more heinous the crimes of the dead woman’s husband become and Jack finds his own life is in danger.

Green Darkness


Anya Seton - 1972
    Richard Marsdon marries a young American woman named Celia, brings her to live at his English estate, and all seems to be going well. But now Richard has become withdrawn, and Celia is constantly haunted by a vague dread. When she suffers a breakdown and wavers between life and death, a wise doctor realizes that only by forcing Celia to relive her past can he enable her to escape her illness. Celia travels back 400 years in time to her past life as a beautiful but doomed servant. Through her eyes, we see the England of the Tudors, torn by religious strife, and experience all the pageantry, lustiness, and cruelty of the age. As in other historical romance titles by this author, the past comes alive in this flamboyant classic novel.

Secrets in Zarahemla


Sariah S. Wilson - 2007
    By his looks, as appealing as they are, the tall Lamanite is the mortal enemy of Kiah and her people. She can't hope that her father, Captain Moroni, and his Nephite soldiers will rescue her — the strong-willed young woman has wandered well beyond the safe borders of Zarahemla. However, she is determined to use her warrior training to fight the Lamanite called Jeran until the end, no matter how hopeless the odds.The land of Zarahemla has long been under serious threat from its enemies. But recently, its worst foes come from within — including Corahan, a man who would stop at nothing to fulfill his desires. One of the things Corahan most wants is Kiah as his wife. Now Kiah and her new unlikely ally must call on all their faith and courage to save Zarahemla in a struggle that will bring either deliverance or death — to both of them.Journey to 62 BC and discover adventure, intrigue, and romance in a story where evil must be fought against, no matter how high the cost.

And Come Day's End: A Michael McKaybees Mystery


Gabriel F.W. Koch - 2018
    But only the secret holder is fooled in the long run, as Lenny discovered in a dark alley in the Wall Street neighborhood. Michael McKaybees is a private investigator working in New York’s five boroughs. He specializes in money crimes like insurance fraud, with the occasional cheating spouse (his partner’s favorite since she thinks all cheaters should be flogged in public). Now, however, he has been forced to expand his investigative work to include homicide. Implicated in his best friend Lenny’s death, Michael finds himself entangled in a web carefully woven by someone who wants to destroy him—and there’s no doubt he’s up to his neck in shit. Then there’s his father, Marlowe Black, who has decided now is the right time to show up after an absence of more than three decades. Hell, Michael didn’t even know he was still alive. Marlowe’s reputation as a combat-hardened PI is well-known among the City’s criminal element, making him a hated man. And he, too, is a suspect in Lenny’s murder. When McKaybees discovers the body of Lenny’s wife, Jill—Michael’s childhood sweetheart—hidden in his apartment, murder becomes seriously personal and the need for vengeance demanding.

Under the Distant Sky


Al Lacy - 1997
    In the dangerous journey that follows, however, tragedy strikes. By all reasonable expectations they should return home. Yet to the surprise of everyone in the wagon train -- and despite great opposition -- Hannah presses onward, displaying grit, courage, and a faith deep enough to sustain her family through life's greatest trials.

Joy in the Morning


Betty Smith - 1963
    Though only eighteen, Annie travels alone to the Midwestern university where Carl is studying law to marry him. Little did they know how difficult their first year of marriage would be, in a faraway place with little money and few friends. But Carl and Annie come to realize that the struggles and uncertainty of poverty and hardship can be overcome by the strength of a loving, loyal relationship. An unsentimental yet uplifting story, "Joy in the Morning" is a timeless and radiant novel of marriage and young love.

Full Moon Saturday Night


Mark Barkawitz - 2019
    millennial post-grad, who dreams of making it big in the TV & film industry. He auditions by day and tends bar at night to satiate his massive student debt, credit card payments, and rent. Until one knuckle-busting, full moon Saturday night launches his life into complete upheaval, suddenly placing him in the middle of an international drug smuggling operation and an undercover police sting, consequently ruining his reputation in Hollywood. Can Mike survive his unsolicited undercover work and cleanse his sullied reputation? Or will he end up as shark bait for double-crossing the wrong people?

Scars and Stars


Dustin Stevens - 2013
    Frustrated and alone, he wandered out onto the front porch to find his great uncle Cat, Jack's brother, sitting alone, an old album on his lap. Oblivious to the world around them, the two begin an unlikely conversation and together embark on journey that stretches almost seven decades in length.Page by page, Cat imparts the story of the album to young Austin, using a series of seemingly mundane and unconnected objects to tell the story of the brothers Roberts from long ago. Beginning with their humble upbringing by a single mother on the river bottoms of rural Ohio to the day they left home to serve in the Korean, through their capture and escape from an unmarked prisoner of war camp and on through the lives they returned to, the album tells a story of bravery and brotherhood that knows no bounds.

3 by Flannery O'Connor: The Violent Bear It Away / Everything That Rises Must Converge / Wise Blood


Flannery O'Connor - 1962
    This anthology includes the masterpieces Wise Blood. The Violent Bear it Away, and Everything that Rises Must Converge.

The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances


Andy Andrews - 2005
    Betrayed and left for dead, German U-Boot officer Lt. Josef Landermann washes ashore in a sleepy town along the northern gulf coast, looking to Helen for survival.The Heart Mender is a story of life, loss, and reconciliation, reminding us of the power of forgiveness and the universal healing experience of letting go.

Hell to Pay


Shaun Hutson - 2003
    A couple tens of thousands of pounds in debt. And a young girl with a mysterious, terrifying illness...

சிவகாமியின் சபதம் [Sivagamiyin Sabadham] (Paranjothi's Journey & The Siege of Kanchi) Vol-1, 2


Kalki - 2012
    The struggle for supremacy between the Chalukya Emperor, Pulikesi II, and the Pallava Emperor, Mahendra Varmar and at a later stage his son, Narasimha Varmar, forms the core of the novel. The story begins with Pulikesi’s unanticipated invasion of the Pallava Kingdom and the ruses Mahendra Varmar employs to safeguard his kingdom and the capital, Kanchi. Mahendra Varmar is handicapped by his ill equipped smaller army which is no match to the larger Chalukya army. Pulikesi’s invasion is not Mahendra Varmar’s sole cause for concern. The impractical yet ardent romance between his only son, Crown Prince Narasimha Varmar and the beautiful and talented danseuse, Sivakami, the daughter of the land’s foremost sculptor, Aayanar, and the fate of Mamallapuram which Mahendra Varmar is in the midst of converting in to a “dream world” filled with exquisite sculptures weigh heavily on him. The scheming Chalukya loyalist Naganandi Bikshu, the young and brave Pallava army commander Paranjyothi, the mysterious Vajrabahu, the passionate sculptor Aayanar and the Pallava spies Shatrugnan and Gundodharan aid in the story’s progression . This intense and unforgettable narrative by Kalki Krishnamurthy plays on the emotions of the readers and concludes with a least expected climax.

Mr Starlight


Laurie Graham - 2005
    We Follow The Ups And Downs Of Mr Starlight's Career As He Heads To The Bright Lights Of America, As Seen Through The Eyes Of Cled, His Brother.

The Book of the Shepherd: The Story of One Simple Prayer, and How It Changed the World


Joann Davis - 1953
    Sever the hands of the criminal who pilfers livestock or grain or another's garment. Whip the child who defies an elder. For such is the law and the law must be obeyed. For generations, these ironclad rules had governed the people. Nobody questioned whether it was right to humiliate a child or execute a murderer. An eye for an eye was the way of the world. But was there another way? When an antiquarian book is discovered in the disheveled study of an old Vermont farmhouse, the house's new owner has the volume translated. The result is The Book of the Shepherd, a timeless story full of life lessons for us all. Set in a mythical time, in an unnamed land, The Book of the Shepherd tells the tale of a shepherd, Joshua, who is troubled by the harsh code of "an eye for an eye" that governs his world. Called by a dream, the shepherd sets off on a journey to find "the new way." Accompanied by Elizabeth, a former slave who is kind and generous, and David, a boy who must learn to walk in new shoes, the shepherd knows that "an age of miracles" will come when the new way is found. But the journey is not without incident. En route to a cave near the Great Inland Sea, the travelers meet a cast of extraordinary characters, including the Storyteller, the Apothecary, the Blind Man, and the Stranger. Each imparts an important lesson that pushes the travelers toward their destiny. At the cave, Joshua must see if he can bring forth secrets long buried. But he, Elizabeth, and David will also discover that sometimes what we have been searching for has been inside us all along.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah


Richard Bach - 1977
    For disillusioned writer and itinerant barnstormer Richard Bach, belief is as real as a full tank of gas and sparks firing in the cylinders...until he meets Donald Shimoda — former mechanic and self-described messiah who can make wrenches fly and Richard's imagination soar....In Illusions, Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings: that people don't need airplanes to soar...that even the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them... and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places — like hay fields, one-traffic-light midwestern towns, and most of all, deep within ourselves.