'Behind God's Back'


Book Description




Behind God's Back


Book Description

There are two Jewish cops in all of Helsinki. One of them, Ariel Kafka, a lieutenant in the Violent Crime Unit, identifies himself as a policeman first, then a Finn, and lastly a Jew. Murky circumstances surround his investigation of a Jewish businessman's murder. Neo-Nazi violence, intergenerational intrigue, shady loans - predictable lines of investigation lead to unpredictable culprits. But a second killing strikes closer to home, and the Finnish Security Police soon come knocking.




Behind God's Back


Book Description

In gripping, vivid prose crafted over 15 years of healing from trauma, Behind God's Back: Finding Hope in Hardship, is an unforgettable story of both suffering and redemption, dramatizing the protagonist's experiences of poverty, food insecurity, abuse, addiction, recovery, and, eventually, a commitment to sustained community service. While exploring childhood and early adult hardships endured in the Arlington Heights projects of Pittsburgh, Miller moves forward to model a path of sober living and transformational leadership that includes the creation of a regional recovery center for women suffering from substance abuse - a former convent turned sanctuary that prioritizes trauma-informed care and women's health. Miller's award-winning memoir is relayed with realism and humor, featuring a diverse cast of wise and "imperfect" mentors who make her transformation possible. In an artistically distinct, compelling, and direct voice, she invites readers to identify their sameness within the work: their own capacity for resilience, healing, and sober recovery. Her book also demonstrates a path of recovery that hinges on outward contributions to family, friends, community, and society, rather than solely documenting personal trauma. This dramatized progression from individual recovery to a commitment to social welfare, community outreach, and servant leadership, distinguishes the book among traditional memoirs exploring trauma, promoting participation rather than isolation. Behind God's Back illuminates the beauty and healing that can come out of adversity and pain. While offering a story about trauma in childhood, dysfunctional family circumstances, and recovery from addiction, the memoir highlights the importance of forming meaningful human relationships to heal personally, while cultivating the resources to be of service to others, when we are ready, and sometimes, even when we are still healing. Ultimately, Behind God's Back shows us all how we can all participate in the creation of a more humane society, embark on a deep healing process for ourselves and our loved ones, and embrace a leadership role in our own families, our own communities, and our own society.




When God Talks Back


Book Description

A New York Times Notable Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012 A bold approach to understanding the American evangelical experience from an anthropological and psychological perspective by one of the country's most prominent anthropologists. Through a series of intimate, illuminating interviews with various members of the Vineyard, an evangelical church with hundreds of congregations across the country, Tanya Luhrmann leaps into the heart of evangelical faith. Combined with scientific research that studies the effect that intensely practiced prayer can have on the mind, When God Talks Back examines how normal, sensible people—from college students to accountants to housewives, all functioning perfectly well within our society—can attest to having the signs and wonders of the supernatural become as quotidian and as ordinary as laundry. Astute, sensitive, and extraordinarily measured in its approach to the interface between science and religion, Luhrmann's book is sure to generate as much conversation as it will praise.




The Parish Behind God's Back


Book Description

For this latest edition, the authors returned to Barbados to update the changing face of life in St. Lucy, the parish behind Gods backthe islands most rural district. After discussing Barbadoss colonial history as a plantation society based on slavery and the economys recent conversion from sugar to tourism, they turn to everyday life in St. Lucy: patterns of work, gender relations, religion, and the meaning of community. The book concludes by examining the global forces and mediatelevision, tourism, travel, and the Internetthat connect villagers to the outside and most directly affect their lives. Written with students in mind, this highly readable, illustrated, and thought-provoking account is ideal for courses in cultural anthropology and Caribbean studies. An appendix describes the changes North American students experienced as a result of participating in the anthropology field schools the authors ran in Barbados over a twenty-year period.




God is Back


Book Description

On the street and in the corridors of power, religion is surging worldwide. From Russia to Turkey to India, nations that swore off faith in the last century--or even tried to stamp it out--are now run by avowedly religious leaders. This book examines this new world, from exorcisms in São Paulo to religious skirmishing in Nigeria, to televangelism in California and house churches in China. Since the Enlightenment, intellectuals have assumed that modernization would kill religion--and that religious America is an oddity. As these authors argue, religion and modernity can thrive together, and America is becoming the norm. The failure of communism and the rise of globalism helped spark the global revival, but, above all, 21st century religion is being fueled by a very American emphasis on competition and a customer-driven approach to salvation, and its destabilizing effects can already be seen far from Iraq or the World Trade Center.--From publisher description.




Nights of Awe


Book Description

Eccentric Jewish policeman Ariel Kafka investigates four Arabs' murders in this fresh take on the Nordic crime novel.




Behind God's Back


Book Description

The murder of a fellow Jew throws Helsinki detective Ariel Kafka into a maelstrom of international intrigue and high-level corruption.




The Book of Mysteries


Book Description

New York Times Best Seller! 1500 5-Star Reviews! From the author that brought you NEW YORK TIMES best selling books The Harbinger, The Mystery of the Shemitah, and The Paradigm selling over 3 MILLION copies Imagine if you discovered a treasure chest in which were hidden ancient mysteries, revelations from heaven, secrets of the ages, the answers to man’s most enduring, age-old questions, and the hidden keys that can transform your life to joy, success, and blessing…This is The Book of Mysteries.




Holy Ceremony


Book Description

Praise for the Ariel Kafka series: "Ariel Kafka wins the award for most intriguing name for a fictional detective, and it suits this impressively labyrinthine mystery series." —Time Out "The clever combination of classic Jewish themes with the traditions of Nordic crime makes for a refreshing tale with wide appeal. And the subtle humor makes it even better." —Booklist "Professional responsibility and ethnic affiliation clash in Nykänen's intriguing first novel. The resolution will satisfy noir fans." —Publishers Weekly The third in the Ariel Kafka series. There are two Jewish cops in all of Helsinki. One of them, Ariel Kafka, a lieutenant in the Violent Crime Unit, identifies himself as a policeman first, then a Finn, and lastly a Jew. Kafka is a stubborn, dedicated policeman with wry sense of humor, always willing to risk his career to get an answer. A woman's body scrawled with religious texts is found in a Helsinki apartment. It turns out she wasn't murdered: the body was stolen from the morgue. The body is stolen again, and this time is immolated in a funeral pyre in Helsinki's Central Park. Kafka finds himself investigating a series of crimes leading to the enigmatic Christian Brotherhood of the Holy Vault. But before he can solve the puzzle, more than one Brother must pay for past sins with his life. Harri Nykänen, born in Helsinki in 1953, is a prize-winning mystery writer. This is the third in the Ariel Kafka series. It exposes the local underworld through the eyes of an eccentric Helsinki police inspector.