One Of The Most Interesting First Person Stories I've Read

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	• When the Day of Evil Comes (Dylan Foster Series #1) Melanie Wells Multnomah Books, 2005 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Dylan Foster, Book One

When the Day of Evil Comes is book one of the Dylan Foster series and, with Dylan Foster, it introduces a literary character whose company I think I would enjoy in the real world. Dylan, a Southern Methodist University psychology professor, is one of those down-to-earth types not easily impressed by status symbols and those who flaunt them, someone who never quite loses her sense of humor about herself and those around her no matter what crazy turns her life might take, including the discovery that a demon from the spirit world is determined to destroy her.

That particular demon, who calls himself Peter Terry, is a bald, emaciated and very white-skinned man with an ugly horizontal wound across his back who makes contact with Dylan at a faculty outing that she is attending with fellow SMU professors. Spooky as the man is from the start, Dylan does not realize his intentions (or his true nature) toward her until she makes the connection between him and the student who suddenly files a formal complaint that Dylan made sexual advances toward him during his visits to her office for psychological counseling.

Dylan is removed from the classroom pending a formal investigation of the charges against her and, just when she thinks that things could not possibly get any worse, they do. She knows, of course, that she cannot defend herself by explaining to the investigative committee that her problems are being caused by harassment from a local demon. But when a second student's sanity is threatened by the same Peter Terry, Dylan realizes that she has to move quickly and heads for Chicago hoping to learn more about the young man whose complaint started all of her problems.

When the Day of Evil Comes is a mystery and thriller combination that will satisfy fans of both genres. In order to defend herself in Dallas, Dylan Foster has to delve into the secrets of a Chicago family that has kept them hidden for decades, and she has to do it while enduring psychological tricks and physical threats from Peter Terry. Dylan defends herself from this demon through prayer, help from one little girl's personal angel, and by covering herself with the spiritual armor described in Ephesians, chapter six.

This struggle between the forces of good and evil fits firmly into the Christian fiction genre but Melanie Wells makes her religious points in a way that are not so obvious or preachy that they intrude on the story being told. Dylan Foster is the kind of Christian that most of us probably are: a little bit lazy about the whole thing at times but quick to ask for help when we find ourselves over our heads in some kind of panic situation. The message is that there are bigger and better weapons on the side of good than on the side of evil - if we remember to ask for them.

I have not read the second novel in the series yet but my first exposure to Dylan Foster and Peter Terry was with book three, My Soul to Keep. After reading that one, I was a little surprised to learn that I had just finished something in the Christian fiction genre, a type of reading I rarely do, because its religious references are so much more subtle than in this first book. But now that I have read When the Day of Evil Comes it is easy to see why these books have been embraced by the Christian community, and I suggest that they be read in order if at all possible in order to get their full impact.

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My new favorite author!

Melanie Wells has created an incredible story and a very likable character in Dylan Foster! I could NOT put this book down! She will send goose bumps up your spine one minute and have you laughing out loud the next! I HIGHLY recommend this book!

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Excellent

I ordered this book for my husband, who is an avid reader...he finished it in two days, and I think it took him two days because he works all day...had I given it to him on a Saturday, he would have finished it in one!

He wants the other two in this series, and says this book was a 'super read'! I'll take his word for it, fiction is not my bag!

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One Of The Most Interesting First Person Stories I've Read

This is my 269th review. 74 of the previous ones have been of books (97 on CDs and concert videos, and 97 on movies), 29 of which have been on fiction. This is the first review I have done on someone I contacted through Amazon, one of my interesting people.

Melanie Wells did an excellent job in grabbing one's attention. Usually, a first person narrative is not much warmer and personable than a third person, but this was an exception. Dylan Foster was very well developed as she told her story (though one can ask how different Foster is from Wells). I was hooked not because of a mystery (though there are some of those) or through some well described character, but because of how likable Foster is.

I wish I could give this five stars, but it failed, in my opinion. As the action hopped on a plane and flew from Dallas to Chicago, the emphasis on the story changed as well. Foster's imperiled job, her relationship with Helene, and her love life were for the most part left behind while the focus turned on the family of Joseph Zocci. In fact, a lot of the mess in Dallas was left unresolved, as if this open endedness was needed to motivate you to buy her next novel, rather than her talent in keeping your interest as she tells the story (not necessary in this case).

Also, Peter Terry failed to be an effective villain, as opposed to Rafar and Destroyer in Frank Peretti's spiritual warfare books. He seemed to come, stir up trouble, and disappear. Likewise, the good spirit, Earl, was more behind the scenes and not a major player, as Perretti's angels were.

While I cannot in good conscience give this five stars, I can heartily give it my recommendation. True, it pales to Perretti's books on the same theme. But one can enjoy this book thoroughly. It gives one some things to think about, and I'm glad I took the time to read it.

Jeff Reynolds

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Bizarre Encounter Initiates Extreme Spiritual Battle

Dylan Foster?s carefully constructed, orderly world begins to fray, thread by thread, the day the eyes of hell turn upon her. After a chance encounter with a creepy, sickly looking stranger, her days become punctuated with disturbing, inexplicable events. Desperate for answers, Dylan seeks not only to extricate herself from the nightmare, but to separate the spiritual from the earthly, friend from foe, angel from devil, good from evil. She?s smack in the eye of the battle with only God-issued spiritual armor and her own wits to protect her.

I saw the first fly alight on the edge of my plate during supper. This was no ordinary fly. It was huge. The size of a small Volkswagen. I could have painted daisies on it and sold rides to small children.

Hotter than the eyes of hell...

School is back in session, but for psychology professor Dylan Foster, the promise of a new semester is dying in the heat of the late Texas summer. First, there is the bizarre encounter with a ghastly pale stranger. Then her mother?s engagement ring turns up?the same ring that was buried with her mother two years before.

Soon, Dylan?s carefully ordered world is unraveling, one thread at a time. A former patient accuses her of impropriety, putting her career in jeopardy. A suicide plunges her deeper into shadow. Relationships with colleagues start to crumble. And then there are those flies in her house...

Dylan Foster is about to get a crash course in spiritual warfare?and a glimpse of her own small but significant role in a vast eternal conflict. But when the dust settles, will anything be left of her life as she knows it?

Story Behind the Book

The reality of spiritual warfare has long fascinated Melanie Wells. A practicing private counselor, she is energized by pondering the significance of seemingly mundane events, the importance of individual faithfulness, and the connection between the spiritual realm and the empirical world. She emphasizes these themes in her book, where the first scene came to her in a dream.

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