Ezekiel's Shadow by David Ryan Long

I'm convinced that the Christian market has too many books about horror writers who can't think of anything else to write and soon discover that they are being stalked by someone from the pages of their books. Ghostwriter by Travis Thrasher, Dark Pursuit by Brandilyn Collins, and of course, Ezekiel's Shadow by David Ryan Long. But Ezekiel's Shadow was the first of these, so I cannot fault it there.
Ian Merchant is a born again Christian. He used to be a popular horror writer, but now he can't think of anything to write because of his new found faith. His days have become mindless routines of walking the dog, talking with his wife, and trying to write again. But nothing's coming.
But someone keeps leaving him notes that are lines straight from the pages of his horror novels.
He talks about with a police detective several times, but they can't come up with anything. After they do find out who it was, everyone is shocked, including the reader.
For one thing, this book is not suspense. I'm glad for that because it could have easily been so.
Here's what's keeping it from being Elite:
Though the characters are good, they lack personalities. Since this is not a suspense plot, it should be a character driven plot. But it's not.
Also, the title makes no sense. I guess David couldn't come up with anything else interesting.
As an interesting sidebar, one of the character is writing Quinlin's Estate, Long's second book. He obviously already had the idea.
But I still like Quinlin's Estate better than this one, even though it is a good debut novel.
3.5 stars

Quinlin's Estate by David Ryan Long

I'm usually wary about reading books by authors I've only known about for a short time. But there's probably a reason why David Ryan Long is shoved in the back of people's minds.
Quinlin's Estate is a very long journal entry written by Eve Lawson, a woman who's obsessed with saving Gabriel Quinlin's condemned estate.
The estate was built the save the small town of Lowerton during the Great Depression, and now the town is divided over saving it.
Eve Lawson is a very complicated character at best. She often puts her story of trying to save the estate on hold to let the reader know background information about unknown characters or objects. To try to explain the plot structure would be to confuse you, so I won't go into any detail. While this odd plot style seems spastic, Long pulls it off very well.
There are multiple subplots going on portraying events in Eve past, her family's past, and the present. This kind of plot is the kind of plot that has to be character driven, and that's exactly what this book is. While the cast of characters is small, it's a good thing because Long had enough time to give each one personal attention.
While the end of this book isn't as shocking as the ends of some other books, it is still surprising and original nonetheless.
The market needs more authors like David Ryan Long.
4.5 stars