"A Way Out of Hell," by Jim Baton - Book Review by Lorilyn Roberts

A Way Out of Hell by Jim Baton is the second book in the Peace Trilogy Series and picks up where Someone Has to Die left off.

As an American attempting to understand Islam, the series has helped me to understand a side of Islam that is often overlooked: Muslims are people just like me, trying to raise their families, pay their bills, and worship according to their beliefs. A Way Out of Hell shows that radical Islamic groups like ISIS are as much a threat to Muslim society as they are to Christians and Jews.

Can Christians and Muslims live side by side, respect each others' beliefs, share each others' hopes, and even pray together? Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

In a world where there is so little love, so little hope, and so little tolerance, maybe this series offers a glimpse of what is possible. I have many personal questions after reading the first two books. For example, can I love that much? 

In my heart, I want to show Muslims the love of Christ. Jesus Christ died for them too, but before we can expect Muslims to listen to us, or to me, we must love them first. Earn their friendship. I remind myself, Jesus loves Muslims more than I ever could because He loves perfectly. 

Our best ability to love will never be like Jesus Christ, but if we commit our minds and hearts to trying, will that not please our heavenly Father? John 13:35 says: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

The Peace Trilogy Series has shown me some things that aren't always obvious at first. Perhaps one reason why Jesus Christ taught using parables is because stories teach us things we can't learn any other way. When we read stories, we develop an intimacy with the characters. We feel their emotions. 

The scholarship of a nonfiction book remains in the intellect. Stories reach the heart. Love, hate, hopelessness, and redemption, I felt all those emotions in the Peace Trilogy Series. I even felt pity for the antagonists who had become radicalized. They were misled, perhaps demonically possessed in one instance, but they still had souls. They weren't beyond redemption.  

It only takes one person to make a difference, to bring peace to a village, a community, a school, or a country, and the Peace Trilogy Series provides an example of how reconciliation is possible. I look forward to reading the third and final book in the series, A Violent Light.

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Product Details Paperback: 322 pages Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (May 18, 2016) Language: English ISBN-10: 1532765991 ISBN-13: 978-1532765995 Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews) To order from Amazon, click here

About the Author

JIM BATON lives in the world’s largest Muslim nation, building bridges between 

Muslims and Christians who both desire peace.

The Shawshank Rebellion - Can Movies Help Us To Write Better

The Shawshank Rebellion is one of those movies I still think about even though it's been a few years since I watched it. I recently found some notes I wrote after viewing it. and as I start on book five in the Seventh Dimension Series, I am reminded about what made this movie so memorable to me.

Here are my thoughts after viewing it as part of my Masters in Creative Writing.

The most powerful scene was the last scene, when the two characters, Andy Dufresne and Bogs Diamond, reunite in Zihuatanejo, after serving their prison sentences. Of course, without the powerful scenes before and the setup, it wouldn’t have had the punch or the afterglow for the take-away. Plus I have been to Zihuatanejo – and so I know how beautiful it is.

The most powerful scenes before the last scene included:

When Andy Dufresne arrived at the prison initially and he and the others were looked upon as jail meat by the inmates. 

The long corridors of the jail where the inmate population were housed. 

The opera music that was piped loudly through the jail as the inmates stood frozen in the courtyard listening. 

The newly finished library; the completed tunnel that was discovered behind the picture of the movie star; the emptying of the dirt through the pants leg of Andy Dufresne from his tunneling. 

The scene where Bogs uncovers the note from Andy toward the end; the scene where the old man after being released from jail is almost run over by a car. 

The voiceover says the outside world moves too fast. He had only seen a couple of cars before he was put in prison and now there are so many. 

The little bird that the man was hiding in his jacket, he gave him a worm from Andy Dufresne’s food; and the powerful scene when the crow was released. The first bird symbolized the prisoners, but yet being taken care of; the second bird symbolized the old man being set free.

The Shawshank Rebellion spoke to my heart; we are all prisoners on some level, in some aspect of our life, but we can be set free and not lose hope.  And may I not become like the warden, who carried a Bible and quoted Scripture, yet was a crook and a cheat.

The best movies are those that strike a nerve and cause us to question the status quo; what we feel, think, and believe at our core. Few movies do that—at least for me—and to bring it back to writing stories, do not the best books do the same in our hearts? Redemption is paramount, and The Shawshank Rebellion gives the reader what we all want: To be redeemed. To feel valued. 

Now that I've been challenged with a reminder from the past of what I want in movies, books, and life in general, hopefully I can deliver to my readers that kind of redemption in the fifth and final book in the Seventh Dimension Series.

Now off to outlining and writing!