What do you think?
Rate this book
Death of a Saloon
Teodolinda and her family moved to the rough Zapotal highlands of Costa Rica to find a better life. But as the years passed, things got worse. Much worse. Life became a cycle of work, moon-shining, drunkenness, and fighting. Frightened, disgusted, and angry with herself and her family, Teodolinda wished desperately for change.
She hung religious symbols on the wall, lit candles to the saints, chanted prayers, and walked miles to visit a priest, all to no avail. She vowed to do better, but soon faltered. Nothing she did made a difference. The family just slid deeper into sin. Finally they were ready to take desperate measures.
Death of a Saloon is a remarkable story of a soul-sick family and a testimony of the great mercy and power of God and of the miraculous deliverance and a new life available through Jesus Christ.
She hung religious symbols on the wall, lit candles to the saints, chanted prayers, and walked miles to visit a priest, all to no avail. She vowed to do better, but soon faltered. Nothing she did made a difference. The family just slid deeper into sin. Finally they were ready to take desperate measures.
Death of a Saloon is a remarkable story of a soul-sick family and a testimony of the great mercy and power of God and of the miraculous deliverance and a new life available through Jesus Christ.
435 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 19, 2016
Teodolinda is a dreamer. She dreams as her family moves to Zapotal for a better life. She dreams with her new husband for a better life. But even the best of dreamers give up sometimes.
Her life is filled to the top with drinkers and sin. Even the priest drinks! Her sons are in fights, and her husband is using all the money they’ve earned… Teodolinda just wants something to be different. Something to give her hope. Even just a shred of hope. Is that so much to ask for? Apparently, yes.
Running the bar that sells illegal alcohol and is known as The Dangerous One is not the way to find any hope, but what can she do? No matter what she does, her husband and father and brothers and sons and now even daughters continue to keep The Dangerous One running.
Everything changed, though, when Teodolinda’s oldest daughter and her husband moved to Guanacaste.
It fails. Instead of Marina converting her parents, her parents convert her kids back. Marina goes back to Guanacaste in disgrace.
It’s not long, though, before Marina meets a man named Johnny Rojas. He had been recently converted and was now looking for a wicked place to go, somewhere he could make a real difference. Marina knew just the place.
After the service, she goes to the back and explains to Johnny about her family and the lack of a church there and their life on Zapotal running The Dangerous One. Johnny hears enough to know that this is the place he wants to go.
All of Teodolinda’s wishes and pleas for hope were coming right to her fingertips…if only she would say yes.
Death of a Saloon is a remarkable story of a sin-filled, soul-sick family and a testimony of the great mercy and amazing power of God and of the miraculous deliverance and new life available through Jesus Christ.
Pablo Yoder does a remarkable job writing this story. I would very highly suggest it to anyone who likes to be uplifted and amazed by what God has done.
Be warned, though. It's a good sized book: 426 pages. For me, the longer a book is, the better. I don’t know about you. What I do know, is that this book is well worth it.
Would I suggest it? Absolutely.
Her life is filled to the top with drinkers and sin. Even the priest drinks! Her sons are in fights, and her husband is using all the money they’ve earned… Teodolinda just wants something to be different. Something to give her hope. Even just a shred of hope. Is that so much to ask for? Apparently, yes.
Running the bar that sells illegal alcohol and is known as The Dangerous One is not the way to find any hope, but what can she do? No matter what she does, her husband and father and brothers and sons and now even daughters continue to keep The Dangerous One running.
Everything changed, though, when Teodolinda’s oldest daughter and her husband moved to Guanacaste.
It was a long way from where Marina and her husband Luis Elizondo lived in Guanacaste to Chahagua, so Marina hardly ever visited her parents. But then something happened that made her want to go.
Marine started to attend a local evangelical church and not long afterward was converted. She was very happy when Alvaro and Gloria, second and third of their eleven children, started going to church with her.
Soon after her conversion, Marina decided to go to Chachagua to visit her parents. She took Alvaro and Gloria along to help witness to her family. Maybe they could be convinced to consider this new religion.
It fails. Instead of Marina converting her parents, her parents convert her kids back. Marina goes back to Guanacaste in disgrace.
It’s not long, though, before Marina meets a man named Johnny Rojas. He had been recently converted and was now looking for a wicked place to go, somewhere he could make a real difference. Marina knew just the place.
After the service, she goes to the back and explains to Johnny about her family and the lack of a church there and their life on Zapotal running The Dangerous One. Johnny hears enough to know that this is the place he wants to go.
All of Teodolinda’s wishes and pleas for hope were coming right to her fingertips…if only she would say yes.
Death of a Saloon is a remarkable story of a sin-filled, soul-sick family and a testimony of the great mercy and amazing power of God and of the miraculous deliverance and new life available through Jesus Christ.
Pablo Yoder does a remarkable job writing this story. I would very highly suggest it to anyone who likes to be uplifted and amazed by what God has done.
Be warned, though. It's a good sized book: 426 pages. For me, the longer a book is, the better. I don’t know about you. What I do know, is that this book is well worth it.
Would I suggest it? Absolutely.
February 18, 2024
This was an amazing biography of a family that lived a sinful life and came to know the love and forgiveness of Jesus. The author js a wonderful writer and he did an excellent job keeping a straight chronology while balancing facts and dates with the development of the characters. And for having a lot of different people, I actually didn't struggle too much in keeping them all straight. A credit to the author!
This is a good biography, well-written, and colorful. But most importantly this is a story of how Jeuss saved a family that seemed beyond saving. Praise Jesus for His amazing grace!
This is a good biography, well-written, and colorful. But most importantly this is a story of how Jeuss saved a family that seemed beyond saving. Praise Jesus for His amazing grace!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews