What would you do if your whole family was jeopardized by your love for Jesus Christ?  What if your very own earthly King was hunting you down like rats?  What if you found that all you had to do was whisper a single sentence – “I deny Him” – and you were free?
“The Crown and Covenant Series” follows the life of the M’ Kethe family as they endure the persecution of 17th Century Scotland.

I love this series!  It moved me, disturbed me (yes, some of it made me squirm with horror and discomfort) and thrilled me.  Here you’ll find family life cherished, God worshiped with due reverence, familial love exalted, adventure in a more than worthy cause.

The back of the book says it’s for 10-14 year olds, but it’s easily read and enjoyed by those older than 14.  And 10 year-olds…?  Well, I was hardly old enough to read it when I was 11.  The reason is that the detail in which they describe the real devastation is very disturbing.  One of the worst parts is when a torture device is described, in detail.  “The Boot” was a thing that was clamped onto a person’s knee and a hole was left in it to drive a huge pin into.  I won’t give all of the detail that was given in the book, detailing the results of this torture.  Let it suffice to say that I remember nothing more clearly in that book, because of the great impression it made on me.  Another time, some guards were playing a version of soccer with a severed human head.  Things like that, events that happened (both of those instances are recorded in history), but were horrible.

Overall, “The Crown and Covenant Series” is well written, exciting, and inspiring to read, though at times very disturbing.  However, though it handles a period of time where torture was a common punishment for belief in Christ, it is a period that should never be forgotten.  We must not under any condition lose sight of the blessing we have in our freedom, and we must not forget the martyrs who gave their lives for Him who sacrificed His life for us.  Yes, it is sad, yes, it is disturbing, yes, a preteen might need to wait to read it until he or she is older.  But if we don’t know that this existed, it will happen again.  To understand what happened, to be emotionally involved in that tale of immolation by reading this series is worth waiting for.