book/audio
The second in Randy Alcorn's series.

Detective Ollie Chandler is back!

What really happened behind the killing of a woman in a less-than-successful neighborhood? Why is Clarence Abernathy from the newspaper involved to the extent that he is?

This series of Randy's books also deal with angels and demons and the writing moves back and forth from earth to the spiritual realm.

Good story about families living in the world while following Jesus

Dominion is one of my favorite works of fiction by a Christian author written from a Christian perspective. The narrative is well written and thus highly readable, the dialogue is tense and catchy, the characters and their respective histories and environments were in my opinion a major reason for reading Dominion. I especially connected and enjoyed reading about two secondary but nonetheless important characters: homicide detective Ollie Chandler and Obadiah Abernathy. The simplicity, discipline, and determination of Obadiah’s faith in Christ were both an encouragement and a goal for me, as I continue to mature and grow in my spiritual journey. There are many lessons one could gain from this book but the most important one that I perceived was that every individual needs to have a strong and continuous relationship with the living God. This book attempts to display some of the sociological and political issues facing America and the world but also shows what the Church of Christ could ideally do to change the situation of decay within the urban centres of the modern world. The main theme of this book is in my opinion is how individuals and Churches can use spiritual strength and creativity to manifest a positive difference and attitude in our world of darkness.

I wasn't really sure how to feel about this book because of my perception of the last one. So while I thought that I wouldn't enjoy it, I actually did.

Clarence Abernathy, who was introduced in the first book, is the protagonist in this book. He lives in the suburbs and his sister Dani lives in city. After visiting her one day, he received word that she and one of her daughters had been shot.

The story follows Clarence and Oliver Chandler, also in the first book, as they try to figure out who killed Dani and her daughter, and why. In this series, the author jumps back and forth between the lessons that Dani is learning in heaven, and the action in finding out who killed her and why. There's also one scene in hell, just as in the first book, which could be different depending on the theory of hell one believes. There are multiple references to gangs and they play a major part in the story.

I wasn't sure how I felt about a white author talking about black viewpoints and the racism that blacks experience. But, I hoped that the author would have done lots of investigative work to communicate effectively, and his acknowledgements indicate that he did.

A portion of the message of the book was given via a sermon, which may be because the ideas Clarence has in his mind came from a different sermon. I liked that the pastor of the local church Clarence attended took the time to answer any of Clarence's questions. And while it may be frowned upon in certain circles, the leaders in the church were prepared to take action to protect members who were being victimized.

The author thanked Promise Keepers in the acknowledgments and some experiences of the characters were relayed about Promise Keepers and certain different rallies. It is unsure whether the author attributes racial reconciliation specifically to Promise Keepers, or, as a character said in a community meeting, racial divides have no place in Christian fellowship and past decisions to create division should be overturned and actively worked out of the fellowship between people.

A number of articles written by Clarence, or short snippets, were included, as well as excerpts from C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

The author had a good use of theme throughout the book: the theme of dominion. The main question asked during the book was whose dominion a person was under - willingly submitting to God's dominion, or rebelling and trying to live in your own dominion.

Not as good as Deadline.
Maybe it's just because I live in the UK - where racial prejudice is nowhere near such a big issue, because most 'non-English' (!) moved here of there own volition - but it got tiresome being bashed over and over again for being an assumedly ignorant white American. And that while the protagonist is the biggest racist in the book. And doesn't seem to actually realise it ever.

I was so excited to start this book, and although I really enjoyed the story line, I was nearly offended by the amount of racial issues that were going on in this book. I mean, the main character just could not accept that he was different. I really enjoyed the story line and eagerly read until the end to find out " who did it. " However, the amount of racial issues were so overwhelming. Not what I expected from a Christian author.

This book is very racially loaded. It made me realize some of the small things that I do that are discriminating and so now I'm trying to change. The religious views of the book are very dominant. Overall it was written from a different perspective than I'm used to. It made me think, but I took a long time to finish it. It didn't quite draw me in. It's a pretty sad story in my opinion, and there is a twist in the mystery at the end.

Enjoyed the 1st Deadline and the 3rd Deception more than this one but it is the continuation of the story

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

Best to read the summary first, I think. This series, which includes Deadline as Ollie Chandler #1, and Deception as Ollie Chandler #3 could not be more timely than now. The characters are so well rounded it appears almost non-fiction, yet the scenes in heaven bring one back to earth: it is fiction, though has a feel of non-fiction even in those scenes.

The scene that touched me most is, I think, the one I don't see comments about in the reviews, though I may have missed them.

*Spoiler Alert*
*When two pastors, one white and one black, announce to their congregations that they are apologizing for the segregation their churches held to - especially the white church - go out of their way to wash each other's feet and welcome each other as the body of Christ, it brought back memories of something I did as a young teenager. It's powerful and moving and I thought "Well, why not? What is it to wash another's feet, to humble oneself and ask forgiveness for something that we all know is real? Is that not better than waiting until ugly violence breaks out? Any of us can be prejudice.*

The truth is, people have forgotten I think how powerful true repentance toward one another can be. And while one might have to be a Christian to fully comprehend this, one does not have to be a Christian to feel the impact of an apology long awaited and usually not even dreamed of. I thought it was an awesome scene. Doing the same thing in my own life certainly had an impact on me.

One does not have to be a Christian to understand and enjoy this book. I find that singularly fascinating. To find a Christian fiction writer who writes so well one can't put the book down is a gold mine. Highly recommend within the series.

Excellent book! One of the most thought-provoking books I've read. Loved it

This was a very difficult book for me to rate. It is a very well written engrossing story. It contains some really great messages. My problem with it was some of its views of and from heaven. Although the author did not say it and I don't think meant to imply it, there were many instances which I felt implied salvation through works instead of faith. Due to this, I cannot recommend it.

Great mystery that kept me on my toes! I also learned things too!