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Book Review: Waking Lazarus by T. L. Hines

Don't you love discovering a new author that you just love? I recently experienced that with T.L. Hines debut novel Waking Lazarus--and get this, he got the book deal after a publisher downloaded the opening chapter of his book from his blog! How cool is that?
The book starts: "The first time Jude Allman died he was 8 years old". Isn't that a great opening line? From the intrigue generated by this statement the story continues, as the reader learns bits and pieces about Jude's bizarre brushes with death--three so far--and also about his current life as a paranoid janitor in hiding. Jude has tried to escape the media and the curious by changing his name to Ron and taking a low profile position as a school janitor. But a mysterious visitor shows up at his doorstep one day, right around the time that some bizarre things start to happen to him. He starts to have weird visions, and he starts to break out of his paranioa. But even more troubling is that several children in the area have disappeared and have likely been murdered--and Jude's visions may be able to lead him to the killer.
T.L. Hines has crafted a real pageturner, full of plot twists that had me fooled as to who the real killer was going to be. He reminds me of Ted Dekker for his ability to combine heart racing suspense with religious themes. I look forward to reading more from this new author in the future.
If you haven't already, be sure to check out the author's webpage, where you can find out lots of other cool stuff about him and the book and his new book coming out next summer. For example, one of Jude's deaths was inspired by a real life event in Hines life--read more about it here. And, if that isn't enough, you can also check out his profile on librarything to see what books he likes to read.

Photo of T.L. Hines courtesy of librarything.com.