Truman Books

Galveston, Texas principal investigator Truman Smith loathes missing person cases because they either end up badly for his clients or the person does not want to be found. So only as a personal favor to his friend Dino would Tru accept the case of missing college student, Randall Kirbo, who disappeared in the area while on Spring break nine months ago.

Tru starts by looking into the police investigation which appeared to be almost non-existent as the law enforcement officials did the minimum. Tru soon learns that a local vice queen, Big Al, owned the house in which Randall was last seen partying. From there, Tru learns about another college kid, who was at the same party and later was found dead on the beach. Seeing the party as a possible link, Tru continues to look into others who attended the party. Tru now realizes that this Spring break party was not the typical college shindig because a killer must have attended it also.

MURDER TAKES A BREAK is a very good who-done-it due to the counterpoint charm of the lead characters (Tru and Dino). The story line is good though not up to the level expected from Bill Crider especially with the Tru smith series. Fans of the series will enjoy the tale, but will quickly realize that this is not show time.

Harriet KLausner

The book begins by detailing the growth of French Protestantism, and (departing from the socio-economic models typically used to explain this expansion) Sunshine argues that French Protestantism drew from a diverse range of social and economic classes in different locales. As this emerging diverse French Protestant church grew, the need to adopt a unified doctrinal statement and system of church polity became increasingly manifest. The result was the production of the Gallican Confession (1559) and the Discipline ecclésiastique. Sunshine argues that although Calvin played a part in the crafting of the Gallican Confession, the Discipline (which was much more dynamic and subject to change than the confession) was more the product of the internal dynamics of the unique situation faced by the French Protestant churches (as particularly evidenced by the many innovative elements the Discipline contained). Sunshine notes that the greatest challenge the Discipline faced was how to develop a system of collective church government without the support of the civic authorities (since the officers of the French magistrate were often Catholic) and without creating any hierarchical relationship between the churches. In contrast to other Reformed churches (which adopted an essentially hierarchical relational structure at the synod level), the French church was the first to systematically apply the principle of ministerial and ecclesiastical equality at the collective governmental level (Sunshine, Reforming French Protestantism, p. 37). Sunshine argues that the "presbyterial" polity that emerged was primarily the result of applying the basic principles of reformed ecclesiology to the unique situation facing the French Protestant church. The result was a system that prevented any locale from becoming the regular meeting place of a synod or any person from becoming either the permanent moderator of a synod or having permanent oversight over churches.

An additional challenge that the French churches faced was how to appoint and manage local pastors (a task that was believed too important to be entrusted solely to the laity of a local congregation) without sacrificing the important principle of congregational autonomy (since the French resisted the Genevan tendency toward centralization). Eventually, the colloquy emerged as a formal part of French Protestant polity, and it became the primary instrument of pastoral selection and oversight.

Sunshine also argues that French Protestant church polity evidenced an eclectic blend of reformed and non-reformed elements at the local church level (seen especially in the features of the diaconate). The French deacons had differences with their Genevan counterparts with respect to their liturgical and catechetical duties (features that they shared in common with the Catholic diaconate), but also (and more importantly) with regard to their participation in the consistory (Sunshine, Reforming French Protestantism, p. 119). In light of the unique situation of the French churches (especially the shortage of qualified people to fill ecclesiastical offices) the deacons of the French church were included in the consistory (while they were not participants in the Genevan model), and they increasingly took on the responsibilities of elders, until the two offices became practically indistinguishable and the diaconate (as defined in the Confession) essentially disappeared (Sunshine, Reforming French Protestantism, p. 170).

Sunshine then discusses the important place that the house churches of the Nobles played in France, especially their independent status with regard to the collective governmental structure of the synods (which they often disregarded). Additionally, Sunshine describes the tenuous and fragile relationship between the reformed consistories and the civil magistrates since in most cases the magistrates were controlled by Catholics who were hostile to the Reformed cause (not to mention the natural tensions that arose with regard to competing claims of jurisdiction). Further, since the French king was also hostile to the Protestant cause, the primary liaisons the reformed churches had with the royal court was the representation afforded by the Protestant nobility.

This book provides an interesting account of the institutional development of the French Reformed church - a history that is made all the more interesting in light of the hostile environment from which it emerged. Sunshine ably documents the differences between the structural ecclesiology of the Genevan and French Reformed churches at both the local and collective governmental levels - differences which are too significant to ignore. As a result, his thesis seems established that the institutional development of the French Reformed church must be considered in light of their attempt to apply Reformed ecclesiastical principles in the context of the unique circumstances they faced. Perhaps the author's most trenchant observation, however, is that the "republican" synodical system of the French Reformed churches unintentionally created irreconcilable differences with the nobility and monarchy (since church and state governments typically paralleled each other). Although incompatible with the French government, this ecclesiastical structure was successfully exported throughout Western Europe as Sunshine correctly notes.

Although the United States failed to employ an effective strategy of deterrence in Korea, when communist forces moved south of the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950, Washington officials barely hesitated before taking extensive action. Again, American tried to get involve with the Koran issue. This is the transition to the Forth period. American policy in the early months of the Korea War was ¡§Containment, Liberation, and Confrontation.¡¨
Like most American scholars, William Stueck believed that Communist Chinese intervention in Korea had a decisive impact on the evolution of American policy. Prior to November 1950, the Truman administration had demonstrated some flexibility in its attitude toward communist China. But after that, the United States started to keep down the Communist China. This is because China¡¦s intervention in the Korea War. Therefore, the Korean War became the road for the United States, Soviet Union and China to confrontation.
As William Stueck¡¦s research indicated, it was a long road for the US East Asian policy to be concluded. The US engagement to the Korean War was not a rash decision at all. As Author said the road of 1947-1950 was ¡§the road to Confrontation.¡¨