Jack Cavanaugh Reviews

Page One

Added June 11, 2004

Songs in the Night Book 2: His Watchful Eye

Author: Jack Cavanaugh
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: November 2002
Genre: Fiction: Historical/Christian/Thriller
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $11.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2307-0
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Jack Cavanaugh is a Christy Award-winning novelist. His Watchful Eye is the second in the Songs In The Night series. (The first was While Mortals Sleep). Unlike many Christian books, Cavanaughs' historical Christian thrillers are not preachy. All the elements of any good novel are packed into the work: tension, suspense, romance, history and faith.

In, While Mortals Sleep, we met Pastor Josef Schumacher. As a God-fearing Christian, he risked everything-his wife, their unborn child and his own life-to stand up to Hitler and The Third Reich for his beliefs. Many teens from his church were destined to join the German military ranks under Hitler's rule. Pastor Schumacher hoped to instill his passion for faith and God into Hitler's Youth.

It is now three years later. The pastor is sick, dying, and the youth he ministered are all grown up. One of the most rebellious pupils, Konrad Reichmann, is an expert sniper. In attempt to destroy Russia with the rest of the Nazi soldiers, he finds he has plenty of time in the sub-human temperatures to contemplate his role in the war. For example, is Germany wearing the white cowboy hat-as the good-guy in the war, or is his country wearing the black cowboy hat-and being perpetrated as the villain. When his best friend, Neff, who shares the front line with him, is shot, Konrad realizes the truth about the war efforts. At that moment a plan takes form inside his head.

Pastor Schumacher, his wife, daughter, and Lissette, one of the grown-up teens from the church, have fled to the mountains. With the help of Christian German SS soldiers, opposed to the war, they have set up a hidden refuge camp named, Ramah Cabin. It is a sanctuary for children rescued from hospital where they were to be put to death. It is also a safe-haven for American pilots shot down behind enemy lines to stay and recuperate before finding safe passage back to some specified rendezvous with their own allies.

Ernst, another of the lucky youth to have listened to sermons from Schumacher, is an engineer for the German Nazis. In a new assignment he find himself falling in love with his superior's secretary. She is a beautiful French woman, timid and fearful of him and his imposing uniform. As he works to win over her confidence, he learns the startling truth about her past. Now he must decide how much he loves her-is it enough to help her-or would it be simpler to just walk away.

Konrad shows up at the cabin and shares his plan to assassinate Hitler with Shumacher, thinking the pastor will love the idea. The pastor does not. Instead of everything getting better, things go from bad to worse. Hitler finds out about Konrad and wants the young soldier executed. The man assigned to terminate Konrad knows exactly how to find the military deserter. Will Konrad's presence endanger the lives of his friends living at the cabin?

When supplies run short, Konrad knows it is up to him to care for everyone at the cabin. The only people who can help are the Americans, the enemy. Before the Americans will provide any type of relief they give Konrad a task. He is to infiltrate the Nazis and bring to them a top military man who is supposedly working on secret rockets and weapons design for the Germans. It becomes a race against time, in the middle of a frigid winter. The cabin is surrounded by German troops, Russians and Americans. Who is the enemy? Who can be trusted? How will they all get out of this war alive?

His Watchful Eye is an awesome sequel to While Mortals Sleep. Though you do not have to read the first book to understand the second, I strongly recommend reading them in order. The characters are so vividly introduced in the first, that you know and love them that much more at the start of the second. Though I never found World War II dull, Cavanaugh makes history that much more exciting. He knows how to build suspense. He carries his readers through some fingernail-chewing scenes filled tension. I cannot wait to begin reading the third in the Songs In The Night Series (Above All Earthly Powers).

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Added June 2, 2004

Songs in the Night Book 1: While Mortals Sleep

Author: Jack Cavanaugh
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: October 2001
Genre: Fiction: Historical/Christian/Thriller
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2307-0
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Though Jack Cavanaugh is the author of dozens and dozens of novels, While Mortals Sleep is Christy Award-winning first novel in the Songs of the Night series. This historical Christian thriller is packed full with tension, passion and Faith.

Josef Schumacher is a pastor in 1940 Germany, during World War II. Children are turning in their parents to the SS for listening to British radio stations, while German-Jews are increasingly treated with brutality. To Schumacher, the initial belief that Hitler was the answer to Germany's prayers is quickly realized as a crumbling farce. Hitler is demanding his place in society as a god. Unable to bend and curb his beliefs, Schumacher begins to protest against the Third Reich movement, and has begun his protest with a dangerous group--the youth from his congregation.

Conditioned to turn in traitors, the youth--who respect the pastor--warn him to back off and Heil Hitler with the respect expected of any true German. More push-back comes from Schumacher's father-in-law, who is also a well-respected pastor. The elder pastor needlessly reminds Schumacher that he is not some single renegade pastor...but a married man, and soon-to-be-father. The elder pastor insists that Schumacher put the safety of his immediate family first, and God second.

After numerous run-ins with the S.S., Schumacher realizes that to continue standing up for his Faith and against Hitler would be certain murder--knowing the German army would first attack his wife and unborn child in order to make a point. However, unable to conform, Schumacher joins an underground group of rebels. Their mission is to free people held captive, and about to be put to death.

The dangerous rescue is set to take place at the same time Schumacher's child is to be born. What seemed like a simple effort to save lives goes drastically wrong. Suddenly missing in action, Schumacher's wife must look deep inside herself for answers to many troubling questions, such as, How will I raise this child alone? Was my husband right to follow God and his heart? Did I ever even love the man? If he is still alive--will I ever see him again?

The bigger question is, Will anyone attempt to risk it all for to slim chance that the pastor might still be alive?

While Mortals Sleep is a gripping, demanding novel. A knot formed in my gut from the beginning of the book, and grew and twisted until I reached the conclusion. The characters are real. You care about them. You cry with them, for them. While Mortals Sleep is emotionally draining, exciting and non-stop. Living in a free country like the USA, I often times forget how lucky I am to worship without fear of retribution or physical attack. The worst thing about the novel was that it ended (like all novels do). The best thing is that I have the second in the series (His Watchful Eye) ready to go!

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