Deliver Us from Evil

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Summary: Deliver Us From Evil
Review: Having just finished reading Deliver Us From Evil by Marie Martens, I am still enthralled with the beautifully written understanding and knowledge Marie Martens has shown about the horrible problems in Columbia. She makes the reader aware of these problems while weaving a beautiful story about a family who lives there and must deal with the reality of that situation. It is a news story - a love story - a family chronicle, and a mystery all wrapped up in one excellent book by a most talented writer. I highly recommend this book as one of the most informative and enjoyable I have read in many years. It's bound for the bestseller list. Read it - enjoy it - and learn from it.

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Summary: A review of Marie Marten's Deliver Us From Evil
Review: The book follows two brothers, Juan and Jose Rodriquez and their maturing in Columbia, a country plagued with cocaine as one of it's cash crops. The author took on a challenge by attempting to write about the Columbian culture. Some descriptive scenes in the book seem realistic, but there are a couple of other scenes that could better be described as "fairy tales". An example: Page 326 describes a person with scuba gear confronting a shark and getting the shark to flee by shoving a whole bag of cocaine (that had been under water for a year) in the mouth of the shark and then pulling out his hand before losing any fingers or arms. The story line is not that bad but the individual sub plots don't go into a great deal of detail, suggesting the author's limited knowledge of what is trying to be conveyed. The most aggregious aspect of the whole book is the numerous typo's and poor proofing that was evident.