Dominion (Ollie Chandler #2) By Randy Alcorn

Sweet Revenge?

When two senseless killings hit close to home, columnist Clarence Abernathy seeks revenge for the murders--and, ultimately, answers to his own struggles regarding race and faith. After being dragged into the world of inner-city gangs and racial conflict, Clarence is encouraged by fellow columnist Jake Woods to forge an unlikely partnership with a redneck homicide detective. Soon the two find themselves facing dark forces, while unseen eyes watch from above. This re-release of Randy Alcorn's powerful bestseller spins off from Deadline and offers a fascinating glimpse inside heaven.

Can One Man's Search for Justice Stand Up to the Forces of Evil Threatening to Destroy Him?

A shocking murder drags black newspaper columnist Clarence Abernathy into the disorienting world of inner-city gangs and racial conflict. In a desperate hunt for answers to the violence (and to his own struggles with race and faith), Clarence forges an unlikely partnership with redneck detective Ollie Chandler. Despite their differences, Clarence and Ollie soon find themselves sharing the same mission: victory over the forces of darkness vying for dominion.

Filled with insight--and with characters so real you'll never forget them--Dominion is a dramatic story of spiritual searching, racial reconciliation, and hope.

I don't know when I have read a novel that affected me so profoundly. Randy Alcorn has combined a superb mystery/detective story with a lesson in racial relations in America, gang dynamics and symbols, Christian values, and spiritual warfare.

--Dave Kirby, Troy (Alabama) Broadcasting Corporation

Even better than its predecessor...Alcorn's writing remains top-notch.

--Sean Taylor, CBA Marketplace

READER'S GUIDE INCLUDED

Story Behind the Book

Randy Alcorn thoroughly researched his characters, spending time in the inner city with homicide and gang detectives to better create the scenes for this bestselling novel. He set the story in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, and the main character, Clarence Abernathy, is a black journalist whose unforgettable father played baseball in the old Negro Leagues. Randy has received many letters from readers who assume he is African American due to his accurate portrayals of racial issues. Dominion (Ollie Chandler #2)

A great book with a great message. It's the hardest to get through of this trilogy, but it is such an important book. 1590525930 First of all, this is not just a thriller. I mean, it is. There is gang violence, murder, political drama, journalism shenanigans and more. But REALLY, really this book is about 2 important topics: racial inequality and...Heaven.

So, while the story is thrilling, Alcorn is using the story to teach teach TEACH. Here's how I know the teaching on racial equality is good--some of it caused me to raise an eyebrow, hurt my feelings almost. That's when you know he's preaching full-force and not just one-sided. I would love to hear an African American Christian's review of this book. What made me the saddest was that this book was set in the 90's. And the problems seem exactly the same as today. Why aren't they better??

The parts about heaven could be a little long BUT, if you stick with them, they are SO WORTH it. While I was in the middle of this book, one of my friends lost her battle with cancer. And having this teaching about how AMAZING Heaven is (and how MUCH MORE AMAZING Jesus is) gave me such encouragement in the grief.

I think this is an important book. My very favorite quote is one I remember from the first time I read it years ago, black people see race as a marinade--it is in and through everything. White people see it as a sauce, they take as much or as little as they want. (from memory)

If you've never read a Randy Alcorn book, put it on your TBR. This is the 2nd in the series, but still a great standalone! 1590525930 I really don't know how to review this book properly. So I will just suffice it to say it was a good book but parts did bother me. 1590525930 This book was profoundly eye- opening , thought- provoking and amazingly interesting! I learned what it was like to put myself in a black man/ woman’s shoes and learned on a deeper level their mistreatments, sorrows, hurts and injustice done to them many years ago before owning a slave was against the law. I learned a lot about racialism. The book was sobering and heavy at times but I thoroughly enjoyed too seeing the side of heaven and getting more excited about going there. This book really spoke to me! 1590525930 Дуже глибоко піднята тема ра��изму в США, війни банд, та корупції в поліції.
Але зачепила мене ця книга іншим, якщо у своїй попередній робіті паралельно основному сюжету, автор зміг показати пекло так що воно в перше у моему житті було страшне. То в цій книзі він робить акцент на Небесах, і робить це настільки вправно, що тобі справді хочется пережити цей досвід.

Я можу описати це лише як цілющий досвід. Переосмислення досвіду життя на Землі, горя та болі, житеві страждання відкриваються під іншим кутом коли ти дивишся на них кріз призму Небес. Книга залишає відчуття туги за цим місцем, враховуючи що ти там ніколи не був. Як поклик Моря у ельфів Толкіена. 1590525930

This review isn't going to be the easiest to write if I really delve into why I liked the book and the parts I didn't like, because someone out there is bound to call me a rascist. That's not the case.

The truth is, I thought this book was awesome. As a Christian mystery novel, it obviously came across as spiritual, but in a way that didn't overpower a reader. Even a non-Christian could read the book and get into the main story. Alcorn puts alot of philosophy in his book as well, and the picture he paints of Heaven was probably one of the best I've ever read...while the one he paints of Hell actually scared me.

The story centers around Clarence Abernathy, a columnist for an Oregon newspaper and man with a huge chip on his shoulder about being treated differently for being black. When his sister and his niece are killed in a gang related shooting, Clarence takes it upon himself to solve the crime with the help of Ollie, a policeman who Clarence considers a redneck and his good friend Jake (apparently the main character in this novel's predecessor, which I haven't read). While the main storyline threads through the story, several smaller stories branch out from it. Many happenings that could have been told in one or two paragraphs end up spread out onto two or three pages. I would find this obnoxious in many novels, but Alcorn does a good job of holding the reader's interest and finding a way to tie it all in to the spiritual nature of the story.

I had to give this book five stars, not only because it was a good story, but because it made me think. It also made me irritated. There were moments in the book when I actually felt like I should feel guilty for being white. Race is a key theme in this book, so much so that the main character's chip about being black made me want to just scream. In those moments, I wondered if the author had an alternate agenda in his writing.

But by the end of the book, I believed that this wasn't the case. The main character, chip or not, actually comes to terms with his own racism and the fact that while he believes others are judging him, he is judging them as well. The main theme comes to the fact that racism is everywhere, even in people who don't believe they have an issue with other colors. It shows how hard it is to be color blind with so many stereotypes. I also truly appreciated the fact that the story explored other beliefs in the context of a spiritual conflict between the main character and his brother. While I came to the conclusion that I'm sure I'm missing out on alot of things since I don't have firsthand experience of being a different color, I also liked the thought that race should have no bearing on how you try to live and the personal success you aim to achieve (re: I'm very much anti-affirmative action).

Overall, this book was excellent. It made me laugh, cry, and above all, think and question my own thoughts, beliefs, and pre-conceived notions about the world and society as a whole. 1590525930 This book was very hard for me to get through. It was LOADED with racial issues (we're talking every sentence, no exaggeration, was regarding race, white vs. black, judging based on race, etc.) and frankly it was so distracting that I ended up skimming/skipping those sections by the end (as well as the Heaven scenes. They seemed irrelevant to the story line). The point was made in the first 100 pages. Besides, the dialogue wasn't believable during the race discussions. Don't get me wrong, I think dealing with racial issues is important, but it was a little overkill.

I wanted to like this book more because I read other reviews where readers raved about it, and I did enjoy one of his other books, Deception. The plot didn't progress until around page 450, but once the story did take off, it was very gripping. If you plan on reading this book, know that it is heavy with racial conversations and slow on the story line. 1590525930 Okay. So, if you feel like reading a lot of ranting, I guess this is the review for you. While this was a great book that held my attention and kept me on the edge, there were two big turn-aways that you might consider before picking it up:
1. Racial Obsession-
Alcorn is a great guy, I think. He is pro-life and often brings that viewpoint into his books. However, I think when writers write novels they shouldn't make characters that they can not relate to. A fifty-year-old white male in America might have trouble truly representing the way an Asian twelve-year-old girl might feel. Similarly, Alcorn might have trouble as a white man truly representing the way Clarence Abernathy, a black man, would feel. EVERY. SINGLE. PAGE. had Clarence thinking about race. I'm not exaggerating. Anything at all happened, and Clarence would gripe and whine about how everyone was out to get him because he was black. I mean a waitress would say: What would you like? at a restaurant and Clarence would see red because she apparently had a lot of pent-up racial-based hate. It was sickening and I am surprised I finished the book (I only stomached it because I was super involved in the detective's investigation)
2. Heaven Scenes- Alcorn has evidently spent a lot of time studying heaven and spiritual beings and has come to his own conclusions that I do not share. He had mini-chapters dedicated to the viewpoint of characters in a strange heaven that I repeatedly skipped. His idea of guardian angels in sword-to sword combat with demons right next to us as we go about our daily lives is not a viewpoint I share. It weirded me out and probably will do the same with the average reader.
1590525930 This marks my second time reading this particular book. In my opinion, it doesn’t pack quite the same punch as its predecessor. While still a good story, it feels bloated with repetitive information, and I believe it would have been a better story if a couple hundred pages had been trimmed out. If I were to recommend Alcorn’s work to a friend, I would recommend Deadline without hesitation. I don’t know that I would do the same with this book. While I still loved the theological elements and the beautiful presentation of heaven, I found the plot and characters stiffer and harder to engage with than those in Deadline. And even as someone who shares a worldview with the author, I found this book to be very preachy.

Dominion is the story of Clarence Abernathy, a coworker of Jake Woods, the main character of Deadline. Clarence is a sports writer transitioning into a general columnist. Four things make Clarence stand out in the newsroom. First, he’s a big man. He’s physically very imposing and is built like a linebacker. Secondly, he’s an incredibly sharp dresser. While most journalists favor casual or even sloppy attire, Clarence is always impeccably dressed in expensive suits. Thirdly, he’s a conservative in a newsroom full of outspoken liberals, which means most everyone working at the paper disagrees vehemently with almost everything he writes. Fourthly, Clarence is African American, which makes his conservatism all the more unusual in the eyes of his fellow writers.

One of my issues with this book is that Clarence is just not as likable or empathetic as his main character counterpart in the first book. Clarence was a fun side character in Deadline, but he was so abrasive and defensive as a main character that it hindered my enjoyment of the book. Also, watching Jake come to faith in Deadline was a wonderful experience. We don’t get that here. Clarence is already a Christian, who thinks he is living a model Christian life because he follows a list of do and don’ts. In actuality, he is lukewarm at best and has stepped away from a true relationship with God. He is a believer in the “prosperity gospel,” which is an element of some segments of Christianity that I disagree with strongly. Obviously, so does Alcorn, and Clarence’s “name it and claim it” belief system is put to the test and found to be false. When God fails to live up to Clarence’s misguided expectations, Clarence turns his back on God because he feels betrayed.

Christians were never promised prosperity upon accepting Christ. In fact, we were promised the opposite in the form of troubles and persecution. God is not a genie, waiting on wishes to grant. He is not to be bartered and bargained with. We shouldn’t expect to find a new car in our garage just because we prayed really hard. That just isn’t how God works. He blesses us richly, but often not in the ways we demand. I could write a book on all of the issues I have with the prosperity gospel mentality, but suffice it to say that I disagree with it completely and have never found a single verse of Scripture that supports that view.

This is a book that I don’t believe would be published today. It’s the story of a black man and his family and neighborhood, and it deals heavily with racism and the past that still haunts every African American. So why do I think it wouldn’t have been published if written last year instead of over ten years ago? It was written by a white man. Though every element was handled with tremendous grace, I fear that this book would be viewed as appropriation in today’s political climate. However, it’s a very good book, and I think that Alcorn handled every single element of the story with great consideration and finesse.

Dominion and Deadline are both staunchly Christian books. I view them as apologetics with plot. I thoroughly love both (though I prefer Deadline), and my worldview lines up completely with that which Alcorn presents, as I myself am a conservative Christian. I just want to make people aware of the point of view being presented in these books. If you’re a Christian or are interested in learning more about what Christians believe, these are definitely the books for you. If neither of these describe you, I fear that you will likely find these books offensive, though I could be wrong. I suggest going into these books knowing that they are largely apologetic (explaining and defending a particular faith) in natural, and that knowledge will make the books more enjoyable. 1590525930 My favorite in this series, which seems to be unusual in my reading circle. I appreciate that Alcorn doesn't shy away from uncomfortable issues involving race and gang crimes, but doesn't wallow in their ugliness either. 1590525930

Summary Dominion (Ollie Chandler #2)