Weekly Range Readings - "The Blue Man" by John L. Moore

 

And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

 - Daniel 12:3

From the book blurb:  “Ezra Riley is a hardened Montana cowboy who prefers the hills, cattle, and horses to cities, but his unique gift for dream interpretation has him secretly taken to the White House where the President is suffering from recurring nightmares. Riley's encounter with the President launches a series of attacks by the man behind the nightmares, William Anderson Hall, an elderly master spy and a pioneer in the CIA's experiments with psychic powers and hallucinogens. In his remote Virginia compound, Hall has invested 30 years and millions of dollars in creating Blue Man, the ultimate psychic warrior”.

I’ve read the story of Ezra Riley in Mr. Moore’s superlative earlier books in the Ezra Riley series.  Although they are not integral to understanding the character and storyline in this, his latest work, they helped me better see the Montana landscape, rough and hewn, that shaped Ezra in every way.  I’ve watched the land as it challenged him, tried him, and occasionally attempted to kill him and in this book, we see him at his finest, poet, cowboy, a soul like forged steel housed in an aging body

This work defies an average description.  It’s a taut thriller, it’s a eulogy to a way of life that some say is dying out, it’s a halleluiah to God and the nation founded under Him, it’s a Christian view of a spiritual war fought not by flesh and blood but by dominions and ideologies.  In a great thriller, evil is disarmed, and in this, a thriller with a Christian theme, evil, as well, is defeated with the help of a solid man and a really good horse.

But Ezra is not the only one with a gift, that of prophecy, much like Daniel of the Bible.  The Blue Man is also gifted, but not by one that guides and guards but those that seek only to control and destroy. When circumstances put Ezra in the crosshairs of a President’s dream, and an adversary’s dark purpose the reader just needs to hold on for the ride.  Add into the mix an ex-champion bronco-rider buddy on a Clydesdale, and your CIA level skullduggery you’ve got non-pause action, allowing you only to take in that breath as you comprehend just how deep conspiracies lie.

I won’t put any spoilers here.  But for those of us who view Ezra as almost supernatural in his abilities, the climax where Ezra fights for his life as the Blue Man goes to claim the world as he now knows it had me catch my breath.  When Ezra’s interoperation of the President’s dream was made known I had to just sit and think how true that interpretation can be in today’s world - a world that still holds its promises as it has men like Ezra Riley in it.  - Brigid

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Man-John-L-Moore/dp/1647193508/

 

John L. Moore, an award-winning novelist and journalist has published seven novels, several non-fiction books, and over 2000 articles, poems, short stories, columns, and reviews in scores of literary, Western, Christian, livestock, and equine publications. A third-generation Montana rancher, his work is noted for authenticity and vivid descriptions. He is best known for his western classic, "The Breaking of Ezra Riley," the winner of several awards. His sixth novel, "Looking for Lynne" won the silver medal in the 2015 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction. His seventh novel is "Blue Man."

Moore and his wife, Debra, live on the family ranch north of Miles City, Montana. Active in ministry for over 25 years, Moore has appeared in four documentaries because of his knowledge of the history of horses on the Northern Great Plains. He is a member of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Montana ProRodeo Hall of Fame.