We Hold These Truths [Kindle Edition]

As the book "We Hold These Truths" opens up with painful reminders of 9/11 and all those dark images that most all of us watched unfolding on TV. Author and second amendment rights advocate, Skip Coryell, brings us into the unsafe world that terrorism has given us today. This time the action is right back on American soil again; and it is going to take a group of rednecks from Freidham Ridge to try and save civilization from a nuclear crisis.

The basic premise of this thriller novel deals with how the local people try to prevent and stop the terrorists from detonating a suit case bomb. The detailed action and the subplots, along with a load of interesting characters, all unfolds to make for an insightful look at some of our basic America roots and traditions; one of those being the right to bear arms and to defend our communities and families. This book deals with the dangerous and fatal clash of two cultures: Middle East muslin terrorists with nuclear bombs versus Midwest redneck with their hunting rifles.

A terrorist sleeper cell is infiltrated by a FBI agent Richard Resnik. He is unable to stop them. He chases them across Michigan. The terrorist have two nuclear suit case bombs and have big dreams and intentions of blowing up Chicago, if they have their way. Resnik needs all the help he can muster even if that means using and depending on a drunken crop duster pilot named Spunky and a group of rednecks who are willing to help.

One would hope(and pray) that this was a far out fantasy plot by the author- however, actual plans by real terrorists all around the world, playout this possible scenario in their minds all the time. The reality is much worse. There are many groups out there right now with the desire to blow up as much of western civilization with atomic bombs as possible. If they were able to arm themselves with nuclear weapons they would and could carry those plans out. That is what makes reading Coryell's book so emotionally uncomfortable and frightful. His story may be fiction but the premise of what these terrorists want to do to all of us is not a fantasy but reality! It makes reading the book an eye opener.

Coryell delivers an action adventure thriller that will keep you on the edge emotionally and glued to the book pages until you have finally finished reading it. The ending is satisfying and the book is entertaining even if the plot is out right frightening. A good book to buy and read!

Absolutely one of the worse books I've ever had the displeasure to read. The evangelical Christian tripe is just offensive and way over done. Do these fundamentalist really believe that they have no responsibility for their own lives, that's it's all in God's hands?

Beyond the overdone religious overtones, it's a very poorly written book. It has the worse formatting of any Kindle book I've ever read. Although a few formatting issues don't bother me, they exist on almost every page - type style changes randomly and for no discernible reason. This is truly just an awful book and either all the rave reviews are written by similarly misguided fundamentalist and will give any book that mentions God and Jesus Christ five stars, or the author has enough friends that are Amazon members to get those five star ratings.

Even though it is free, don't waste your precious time even trying to read this book.

"We Hold These Truths" is really two (maybe even three) totally different books wrapped together in one. The first two-thirds of the book are almost entirely focused on a small town in Michigan and their response to 9/11. It's an interesting view of how "flyover country" saw that terrible day, and how even those without direct involvement needed to heal. Unfortunately, the characters for the most part are pretty one-dimensional and almost all of them have the same things in common: they're devout Christians, they all are very conservative, they own guns (the pastor is even a firearms instructor) and they are all super-patriotic. While I don't have a problem with any of those things, the characters are almost interchangeable except for one trait each (one guy is a former professor and author, another is a drunk, etc.). It would have been nice to have a little more variety, as it just really reinforces the "God and guns" stereotype about middle America.

The main focus is on Hank Simmons, a divorcee with kids who is now running the town's newspaper, and his relationship with Angela, a 9/11 survivor (she believes it was a miracle, as the last thing she remembers is passing out on the floor of her office at the top of the tower) who has returned to Friedham Ridge (yes, that really is the name of the town) to heal herself. The love story is pretty weak, with Hank being so awkward around Angela that it's almost unbelievable. Coryell presents it as being cute and funny, but it really is annoying more than anything. There are some nice moments, but it's not a very believable love story either.

The final third is where the book truly shines. This is where the book focuses in on the Islamic terrorist plot and how it ends up involving the townspeople that were the focus for the first two-thirds of the book (with small pieces of the terrorist plotline mentioned here and there). The book quickly turns from a story about small-town life to an action-packed thriller. Coryell is obviously much better at this style of book, and the pace over the last third is relentless. There's some good action sequences and some very good dialogue, particularly where there are questions of faith. Some of it is a bit over the top, and the ending is slightly less than believable, but it's a solid finish to the book and totally different than the first part.

You really can't talk about "We Hold These Truths" without talking about the not-so-subtle messages that Coryell weaves into the story. Make no mistake: this book is very pro-America, very pro-gun, very pro-Christian and very anti-Islam. The last two in particular might make people uncomfortable, as the book clearly states that the Christian god is responsible for everything good that happens, while the Muslim god propogates evil. So many different characters have religious revelations in this book that this should be categorized under "Christian fiction". Meanwhile, Coryell finds it necessary to have the only Jewish character in the book (an FBI agent) delivering a scathing and rather blasphemous "history lesson" on Mohammed toward the end of the book. If any of the above makes you cringe or makes you angry, then I would skip this book, as those themes carry through the whole thing.

While I wish Coryell had spent less time preaching and developing the characters, and more time on the terrorism plotline, I think the final third makes this a worthy enough read. Just be prepared for an onslaught of "right-wing rhetoric"!