Freedom Lost is set in America where the freedoms we hold dear are but a memory. Karen and her sister Tara are catapulted into a hostile world of Gun Ships and Storm Troopers. Facing imminent arrest or death, their mother Shelly sneaks Karen and Tara onboard a bus bound for Arizona. They arrive in Arizona only to discover a wanted poster with their pictures on it. Rather than be taken prisoner, they brave the high desert with nothing but a pocketknife, a survival book, and a Bible. Soon after they set out across the desert they meet up with a large dog called Rex. With the dog’s help they struggle to reach a band of mountains hoping to find water, shelter, and food. They manage to elude Gun Ships, natural dangers, and even criminals only to discover the cold months of winter are settling over the high country.
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Freedom Lost,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Freedom Lost (Paperback)
The story takes place primarily in the state of Arizona, in an America whose people are no longer free, where the United States Constitution has been replaced by subjugation to the United Nations, itself controlled by the Triboard, which is not well described in the book. The America in which the story takes place is one in which Bible believing Christianity is outlawed, but in which churches who are willing to adapt to the changing times are encouraged.
The America that serves as the setting for this book is a logical conclusion of current events, and may be one that some of us will see in our lifetimes, unless we are able to restore to this nation its founding principles. Recognizing the current influence of the United Nations in American public policy and the dominance of secular humanism in our schools, public institutions, and even within the leadership of many of our churches, I can believe that we will soon see a reality not unlike the setting of this novel. In a story that appears to be intended for a teenage audience, hopefully with adult supervision, Kleinschmidt tells an intriguing tale, one that held my attention as I went through it one afternoon. Less than two hundred pages in length, the novel will give you much to think about without taking up a great deal of your time. Karen, 15, is the protagonist of the story. Along with her younger sister, Tara, 7, the girls are in danger from the outset. As the tale begins, the girls are traveling, alone on a bus, to find their great-aunt in Arizona, whom they have never met. Their father, the pastor of a Christian church, has been executed by the government, and their mother is on the run from the police. Only a minority of Christian churches have held to the Bible principles, refusing to compromise their faith. These Bible believing churches have been labeled right-wing extremist groups, their membership subject to arrest or worse. The girls make it to Arizona, but they never do find their great-aunt. Instead, they find their pictures on the bulleting board at the post office. Afraid to wait for their relative to arrive, they strike out on their own, learning to survive as they go along, with more than just a little help from God. Eventually they come across some members of the resistance movement and find temporary safety, literally underground, in abandoned mineshafts connected to sewer lines and tunnels excavated long ago by Chinese living under the surface of Prescott, Arizona. That's the story, important in that it may prove to be prophetical. For Bible believing Christians, the novel will serve as a warning of what may come to pass unless we, as a nation, turn away from the destructive path we are now following. The author tells an interesting story in which the main characters demonstrate a strong faith in God, even in the face of adversity, and where true Christians are clearly differentiated from those who take on the name only to abandon it when it becomes uncomfortable. Freedom Lost is a story not unlike the Left Behind series, but not nearly as exhaustive. Unfortunately, it isn't nearly as powerful either. It has a good message, but I wish it were better told. Typographical and grammatical errors mar the story. For example, I would have preferred that one of the characters, Colonel Blimp, had been given a more believable name, but even this is exacerbated by the fact the he is often referred to in the text as Colonial Blimp, an error that I found distractive. Even worse is the use of dialogue. The author depends far too much on it, using dialogue where description would have better served his purpose. The back and forth conversation between two characters, as if the case through much of this novel, is not the natural vehicle for description because it requires that the characters say things that are simply not believable in conversation. It does work when one of the characters is praying to God because, well, we expect people to speak differently to God, even to tell Him things that He probably already knows. It doesn't work well when the conversants are sisters, age 15 and 7. For example: "What's he got in his mouth?" "Why it's a rabbit. He's caught a rabbit! Should we let him eat it?" "Of course, but wait, maybe we should cook it first. Besides, if we train him to bring us his kills we can share what he catches; it could mean the difference between survival and starvation for us. I think it may be wise for us to save part of it for our breakfast. Remember, we have nothing left for tomorrow." "Yes, we do. We have three candy bars." "I think it would be wise for us to save those candy bars, Tara. There's no telling what might happen between here and those mountains. We could be really hungry, to the point of starvation." "But Karen, I am really hungry." "Yes Squirt, I know you're still hungry, so am I, but we're not starving. There is a difference you know, and I pray we never have to learn what starvation really means. Now collect some firewood while I skin this thing, would you please?" "Are you sure it's safe to start a campfire? Somone might see the smoke or even the flames." "It may be risky starting a fire, but it could be suicide not to. Papa told me it's not safe to eat uncooked game. Wild creatures carry parasites and other things that could kill a human if we eat it without properly cooking it first. I plan to dig a fire pit in the sand down on the river bottom, and use that hollow in the riverbank with thick brush all around it. What do you think?" "I hope you're right." "Me too, but have you found any dry wood?" "Could I do something nearby? It's awfully dark." "Alright then, gather some hay and put it into that bag over there. We can both gather the wood when I'm finished with this skinning job. In fact, why don't you hold the flashlight so I can see a little better? That's good, hold it right there." "I thought you told me we had only a few matches?" "We do, that's why I'm not using any. I found a lighter in the pocket of the backpack. There was a pack of cigarettes in there too, but those we couldn't use so I tossed them. Hold the light like so, I need to take out the insides now, and I must admit I don't know how. I watched Papa skin a rabbit once, but I'm learning that's not like actually doing it." It goes on like that for another page before any one comes up for air. I found myself thinking that if I were on the run from the police, under threat of death, I'd try to shut up once in awhile. But they don't. They talk their way through most of the book. I also disliked the use of dialect, particularly as it was nearly always applied to the Christians in the story. While I understand that this was not the author's intent, it served to make them appear uneducated and uncultured. Here's Anne: "Good chile. Keep a tight hold on him whilest yohnny comes in out of the cold. He's pretty tired, ya know, but happy as ya might say. Dare's nothing like a good day's work ta make a body glad ta be alive." Now, I understand that it might well be that people speak like that in rural Arizona, but people don't hear their own dialect. If you're from Arizona, you might speak like an Arizonian, but the only way that you're going to be conscious of your own dialect is if you hear it as an outsider might hear it. Steinbeck made good use of dialect in his books, but even in his works it didn't make the reader think better of the intellect of the character. The use of dialect detracted from the perceived intelligence of the Christian characters in the story, while adding nothing worthwhile, and I think this was not what the author intended. Lastly, I'll speak to the use of photos. There were half dozen photographs of Gun Ships, counting the cover, one of a hog, and one of a swing set in a playground. From the cover, we got the idea that a Gun Ship was a military helicopter so I didn't see where the other five photos were necessary. Neither was the hog or the swing set. If I were looking for a photographic representation, I would have preferred a picture of the two girls, and perhaps the tunnels that they spent so much of their time in, or some of the other prominent characters in the story. It seemed to me that the helicopters were there only because the author happened to have some helicopter photos lying around. Only one photo, if that, was necessary for the reader to get the idea of what a Gun Ship might look like, but I never did get a clear picture of what the characters in the story might have looked like. So that's it. Aware that I have spent most of my review tearing the book apart, I rather liked it. Despite its flaws, it was an enjoyable read. As it is, it is a good story. After a rewrite, it could be a very good story.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Freedom Lost,
By A Customer
This review is from: Freedom Lost (Paperback)
After reading Freedom Lost I've gained a whole new perspective on my own personal freedoms. I've come to realize that whenever anyone is denied their constitutional rights, we're all affected. We're all linked by law and precedence. Our national heritage is under attack in movies, television, and even in our public schools. Our right as a people to express ourselves openly in public places is being taken away not by the constitution, but by judges who have overstepped their lawful authority and in affect have written new laws to suit themselves, that you won't find in the constitution. I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said, that if you win the hearts of a generation, when they grow to maturity they will legislate by the same set of false standards.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
