Finally, a high action, thriller/suspense book that keeps the action coming but not at the expense of the plot, the message or the characters.  The Firstborn by Conlan Brown ejects high octane action into the terrorist and religious tensions of our times by revealing the supernatural gifts of a group of people called the Firstborn.  The Firstborn look like you and me but they have been given by God the gift of sight.  Some see the past, some the future and others see events in the present in another part of the world. The firstborn dedicate their lives to stopping the evil they see through their powers using cunning, determination and a lot of firepower.  But what happens when these same men abuse their powers from God to find worldly power at the expense of the innocent?

My favorite thing about the book is the way Brown takes you into the mind of a person with these gifts from God and shows us how they change not just their lives but the way they think and act.  What if you knew what people committed crimes because you saw the past but couldn’t stop it?  What if you knew bad things were happening but couldn’t get there to stop it?  What if each day brought a vision of terrible things in the future with uncertainty of how to alter it?  Grab the book for dad and give it a read when he’s done.  You’ll speed through it and be left thinking… that’s a good thing.