It was just another gloomy day at the office until I received an e-mail from none other than Louie Crew. "What have I done now?" I thought as I opened the e-mail, only to find that Mr. Crew had published a very good review of my novel, "Lest Ye Be Judged", on none other than the HOB/D listserv. He has later posted it to his Natter list, and sent his review to the Integrity mailing list. His review:
http://stillonpatrol.typepad.com/.Want respite from the wrangling on HoBD? I suggest you read LEST YE BE JUDGED (iUniverse, Inc., 2007) by David C. Trimble.
In it the gay bishop consecrated in 2003 becomes Rt. Rev. Thomas Becker, Bishop of Oregon. The Presiding Bishop becomes Most Rev. Dr. George Bryant, Becker's strong ally. The murder victim is the disgusting Rt. Rev. Dunstan Mitchell, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Kentucky. You'll join almost everyone else in being glad Mitchell is out of the picture soon.
One of the major suspects is a circuit court judge and right-wing curmudgeon who writes scurrilous threats regarding ECUSA on Midwest Conservative Journal, Drell Descants, TitusOneNine, and StandFirm. The judge uses the moniker KingHenry2 (as in "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?")
Most of the other main characters have secrets too. Few smell like a rose.
If LEST YOU BE JUDGED overdraws a few of your friends, it returns the favor for some of your enemies.
Instead of railing at one another here on HoBD, read the book to consign high dudgeon to the strong lawyers for the dramatic trial in Breckenridge, Kentucky. Periodically an anonymous person from 815 will call to orchestrate major turns in the plot, right to the very end of the book.
In the introduction, Trimble speaks of his own bishop, Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, Bishop of Lexington: "I have had the honor and pleasure to work with Bishop Sauls on several matters within the church, and am very glad to report that he and my fictional creation, Bishop Dunstan Mitchell, have little or nothing in common."
Trimble is a lawyer. Fortunately he writes this novel with the clarity a jury requires, not with the opacity of a legislator. I delayed several other chores to read it non-stop. I enjoyed the fiction far more than Trimble's own volatile site in conservative blogosphere,
Louie, Newark deputation
Since the initial e-mail, Mr. Crew and I have been exchanging e-mails, several about "casting the movie." Among those he included this comment: "I admit I was all prepared to pick your book apart, but you quickly disarmed me. I hope you are working on a sequel."
I want to publicly thank Mr. Crew for this great review and his kind comments about my novel. Given our being on opposite ends of the political spectrum on the issues besetting TEO, he most certainly did not have to do anything on my behalf, but he went out of his way to tell others about the book. It is a very good thing indeed when opponents on one issue can still hold a pleasant converation and get along on other issues. In this day of declining civility, what Mr. Crew did today was extraordinary.









Recent Comments