Reading Recommendations:The Ashes of Waco, An Investigation, Dick J. ReavisThe scene outside Waco, Texas, on February 28, 1993, when dozens of Federal law enforcement agents in full combat gear stormed the Branch Davidian compound, could have been cast in England before The Quakers and Pilgrims fled to America, or in the colonies at Salem, or in the new Republic during the nineteenth century, when descendants of the Quakers and Pilgrims turned their suspicions on the early Mormons. The elements that these very American crusades had in common were, on one hand, a group of people with beliefs in comprehensible to the majority of the population, and on the other, police agencies whose operatives could not distinguish custom from law, idiosyncrasy from threat. The line between churches, which Americans believe should be protected from government interference and cults, which most Americans hold in disdain, has nothing to do with the Constitution, the First Amendment in theory shields both, and everything to do with the prejudices of the nation that has grown fearful of the diversity that made it unique. The residents of Mt. Carmel were instantly convicted of sin and lawbreaking by the kind of gossip that unites remote hamlets and electronic villages alike.This then is the story the daily press didn't give us, the definitive book about what happened at Mt. Carmel, near Waco, Texas, examined from both sides, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the FBI on one hand, and David Koresh and his followers on the other. It is a story about the very American, nineteenth century roots of Koresh's theology, and it includes previously unpublished biographical details. Reavis quotes from Koresh himself at great length to create an extraordinary portrait of a movement, an assault, and an avoidable tragedy.From the Texas BookshelvesThe Lost Sister, a novel, Russel D. McLeanJ McNee is rebuilding his life. Finally starting with the death of his fiancee, his investigation business is ticking along, and his life is returning to something approaching normalcy. But then a reporter asks him to look into the disappearance of a teenage girl, Mary Furst, the goddaughter of local crime lord, David Burns.As McNee digs into the case, he discovers unsettling truths not only about Mary's family, but about a man he once believed to be a friend and colleague. McNee is then forced into an unwilling partnership with a mysterious and violent stranger named Wickes who claims to know the truth behind the girl's disappearance. But, who can McNee really trust? And as he races headlong into a maelstrom of violence, will he be able to stay alive long enough to discover what really happened to Mary Furst?A Heart for Home, Home to Blessing, Three, Lauraine SnellingBy late afternoon when Astrid entered the last tepee for the day, she found a young brave delirious and burning with fever. The rash of measles that covered his body told a tale. A young woman lay dead beside him, her dead baby at her breast.Astrid turned and left the tent. This was too much. Why had no one checked on them? Astrid closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun. "Lord God, I can't do this any longer." She paced around the outside of the tepee and fought with herself to open the flap to reenter."What is it?" Pastor Solberg asked as he stopped beside her.Astrid gestured to the inside, blinking hard to keep from crying. Babies and children left to die, to starve to death.After peering inside the tent, Solberg touched her arm. "Astrid.""How do you trust God when you see things like this?" The words burst forth, further breaking the dam. "I believe His word, but when I see this horror, I am furious.""As rightly you should be. There is no excuse for this. But to blame God?" He shook his head. "Think it through, my dear."See you at RylanderReading Recommendations:The Ashes of Waco, An Investigation, Dick J. ReavisThe scene outside Waco, Texas, on February 28, 1993, when dozens of Federal law enforcement agents in full combat gear stormed the Branch Davidian compound, could have been cast in England before The Quakers and Pilgrims fled to America, or in the colonies at Salem, or in the new Republic during the nineteenth century, when descendants of the Quakers and Pilgrims turned their suspicions on the early Mormons. The elements that these very American crusades had in common were, on one hand, a group of people with beliefs in comprehensible to the majority of the population, and on the other, police agencies whose operatives could not distinguish custom from law, idiosyncrasy from threat. The line between churches, which Americans believe should be protected from government interference and cults, which most Americans hold in disdain, has nothing to do with the Constitution, the First Amendment in theory shields both, and everything to do with the prejudices of the nation that has grown fearful of the diversity that made it unique. The residents of Mt. Carmel were instantly convicted of sin and lawbreaking by the kind of gossip that unites remote hamlets and electronic villages alike.This then is the story the daily press didn't give us, the definitive book about what happened at Mt. Carmel, near Waco, Texas, examined from both sides, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the FBI on one hand, and David Koresh and his followers on the other. It is a story about the very American, nineteenth century roots of Koresh's theology, and it includes previously unpublished biographical details. Reavis quotes from Koresh himself at great length to create an extraordinary portrait of a movement, an assault, and an avoidable tragedy.From the Texas BookshelvesThe Lost Sister, a novel, Russel D. McLeanJ McNee is rebuilding his life. Finally starting with the death of his fiancee, his investigation business is ticking along, and his life is returning to something approaching normalcy. But then a reporter asks him to look into the disappearance of a teenage girl, Mary Furst, the goddaughter of local crime lord, David Burns.As McNee digs into the case, he discovers unsettling truths not only about Mary's family, but about a man he once believed to be a friend and colleague. McNee is then forced into an unwilling partnership with a mysterious and violent stranger named Wickes who claims to know the truth behind the girl's disappearance. But, who can McNee really trust? And as he races headlong into a maelstrom of violence, will he be able to stay alive long enough to discover what really happened to Mary Furst?A Heart for Home, Home to Blessing, Three, Lauraine SnellingBy late afternoon when Astrid entered the last tepee for the day, she found a young brave delirious and burning with fever. The rash of measles that covered his body told a tale. A young woman lay dead beside him, her dead baby at her breast.Astrid turned and left the tent. This was too much. Why had no one checked on them? Astrid closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun. "Lord God, I can't do this any longer." She paced around the outside of the tepee and fought with herself to open the flap to reenter."What is it?" Pastor Solberg asked as he stopped beside her.Astrid gestured to the inside, blinking hard to keep from crying. Babies and children left to die, to starve to death.After peering inside the tent, Solberg touched her arm. "Astrid.""How do you trust God when you see things like this?" The words burst forth, further breaking the dam. "I believe His word, but when I see this horror, I am furious.""As rightly you should be. There is no excuse for this. But to blame God?" He shook his head. "Think it through, my dear."See you at Rylander