An epic, sweeping tale set in wartime France, The Silent Hours follows three people whose lives are bound together, before war tears them apart: Adeline, a mute who takes refuge in a convent, haunted by memories of her past; Sebastian, a young Jewish banker whose love for the beautiful Isabelle will change the course of his life dramatically; Tristin, a nine-year-old boy, whose family moves from Paris to settle in a village that is seemingly untouched by war. Beautifully wrought, utterly compelling and with a shocking true story at its core, The Silent Hours is an unforgettable portrayal of love and loss.

From the French Abbey of St Wandrille to the abandoned and awesome Rock Monasteries of Cappadocia in Turkey, the celebrated travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor studies the rigorous contemplative lives of the monks and the timeless beauty of their monastic surroundings. In his occasional retreats, the peaceful solitude and the calm enchantment of the monasteries was passed on as a kind of 'supernatural windfall' which A Time to Keep Silence so effortlessly records.

"No way in hell you could survive 'out there' with six men. You couldn't live thirty minutes 'out there' with only six men." [pg. 13] In 1965 nearly four hundred men were interviewed and only thirty-two selected for the infant LRRP Detachment of the lst Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Old-timers called it the suicide unit. Whether conducting prisoner snatches, search and destroy missions, or hunting for the enemy's secret base camps, LRRPs depended on one another 110 percent. One false step, one small mistake by one man could mean sudden death for all. Author Reynel Martinez, himself a 101st LRRP Detachment veteran, takes us into the lives and battles of the extraordinary men for whom the brotherhood of war was and is an ever-present reality: the courage, the sacrifice, the sense of loss when one of your own dies. In the hills, valleys, and triple-canopy jungles, the ambushes, firefights, and copter crashes, LRRPs were among the best and bravest to fight in Vietnam.

When thirteen-year-old Clair's relationship with her minister father changes after her mother's death, she stops speaking, and the subsequent events change both their lives.

When Caleb Wayfinder partnered with the infamous gambler Doc Holliday, he hoped to see his fortunes rise, not find himself tossing drunks and deadbeats out of a saloon in the bustling town of Deadwood. So when Creek Johnson offers him an equal share in a gold claim in exchange for watching his back, Caleb agrees—only to run afoul of Johnson's double-crossing partners. Now the bloodthirsty citizens are eager to string him up. But hey didn't reckon on Doc Holliday …

QUOTES FROM THE CHAPTER, "LET'S BE REAL" Do we have any understanding of the un-churched culture in which we live and the way these people view the church? Do we spend intentional time cultivating relationships with non-Christian people, or is our attitude one of "they know where we are, and they'll come if they want to?" If the church is truly to experience a revival, we must seek to understand the needs and thinking of "unchurched Harry and Mary." We need to stop playing our pious, religious games and realize that the church is to be a haven for broken, hurting people who feel they don't have their lives all together. And if we look at the teachings of Jesus, He consistently taught that it was those people who felt "they had it all together" who in fact were farthest from God! In no way am I diminishing the importance of sound doctrine, but I have often laughingly said that "we will be surprised when we get to Heaven at some of the people living in our neighborhood!" We must acknowledge our own struggles with complex issues and, at times, admit that we don't have God in a neat box and therefore don't have all the answers. Although sound theology is important, my Bible says first and foremost that they will know we are Christians by our love! Christ said that He had come, not to "comfort the already comfortable", but to "preach good news to the poor...to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind...to release the oppressed...and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Is that our message as well? If not, then it's time for us to be real!