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It Happened at the Sunset Grille
A small Midwestern town is ripped apart in a fiery war over the Sunset Grille--a den of wild drinking and lustful adult entertainment. Can Pastor Larry Ravelle summon the power to conquer the town's merchants of pornography, or will a dark secret from his past destroy him?
277 pages, Paperback
First published March 10, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 24, 2020
This is one of my favorite books!! It really depicts the war fare between angels and demons . Humans often do not know the struggle over their souls.
July 9, 2017
Books often require a suspension of belief. That's fine; it's entertainment. We can believe in ghosts and zombies and space aliens if the story is well told. I cannot read a book (or watch a movie) if I can't believe it. I once read a paranormal romance in which a woman fell in love with a ghost. I was enjoying it until the woman moved into an old farmhouse with no electricity or other modern amenities, yet she plugged in her computer and went online. That immediately pulled me out of the story and made me wary of anything the author had to say.
It Happened at the Sunset Grille is Christian fiction. Two angels and two demons are sent to Earth to fight for the soul of a parson, a good man, with a horrible secret.
The writing was a bit amateurish, and, being Christian fiction, preachy, a bit more than necessary. But I signed up for it when I opened the book.
I am now going to throw in SPOILERS, so you've been warned.
The Sunset Grille moves into a small town, offering great steak dinners, beer, and live entertainment. The food is locally sources as is the grain used to make the beer. The local farmers are happy since they are again making money.
I am now going to throw in SPOILERS, so you've been warned.
SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!
Below the first floor restaurant, the live entertainment is a strip club and a brothel.
What the...?! Sorry, but nowhere in ANY town, especially a small town, and in modern times, is going to allow "adult entertainment" to plunk themselves down in the middle of town. The adult entertainment at the Grille is not advertised, of course, but it isn't a secret. There isn't a secret password to enter, you just go down the stairs, pay your money on go on in.
Also, there has been a rape and murder of a high school girl, but that all goes to the back of the story as the parson struggles with getting the Grille closed down AND fighting his terrible secret. Plus there are the angels and demons fighting for the parson's soul, as I mentioned earlier.
I stopped reading for a while, but I hate to give up, so I finished. And I'm sorry I wasted my time.
It Happened at the Sunset Grille is Christian fiction. Two angels and two demons are sent to Earth to fight for the soul of a parson, a good man, with a horrible secret.
The writing was a bit amateurish, and, being Christian fiction, preachy, a bit more than necessary. But I signed up for it when I opened the book.
I am now going to throw in SPOILERS, so you've been warned.
The Sunset Grille moves into a small town, offering great steak dinners, beer, and live entertainment. The food is locally sources as is the grain used to make the beer. The local farmers are happy since they are again making money.
I am now going to throw in SPOILERS, so you've been warned.
SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!
Below the first floor restaurant, the live entertainment is a strip club and a brothel.
What the...?! Sorry, but nowhere in ANY town, especially a small town, and in modern times, is going to allow "adult entertainment" to plunk themselves down in the middle of town. The adult entertainment at the Grille is not advertised, of course, but it isn't a secret. There isn't a secret password to enter, you just go down the stairs, pay your money on go on in.
Also, there has been a rape and murder of a high school girl, but that all goes to the back of the story as the parson struggles with getting the Grille closed down AND fighting his terrible secret. Plus there are the angels and demons fighting for the parson's soul, as I mentioned earlier.
I stopped reading for a while, but I hate to give up, so I finished. And I'm sorry I wasted my time.
September 3, 2012
It Happened at the Sunset Grille by Will Cunningham is a cool cross between Frank Pereti's This Present Darkness and a suspense-filled whodunit. Its topic is one you won't find much in popular Christian fiction: pornography, lust and "adult entertainment."
Set in what I assume is the fictitious rural mid-western town of Ellenbach, the story focuses on the business that provides its title: the infamous Sunset Grille. Promoted to townspeople as a source of jobs and a patron of local beef and grain farmers, the Grille is actually a cesspool of drunken revelry that entices many a decent, unsuspecting fellow into its sultry lower levels.
Pastor Larry Revelle decides to take on the establishment, and is even more urgent in his opposition to the restaurant/adult entertainment center when a local teen is found brutally raped and murdered just outside of town. Little does he realize what his crusade will cost him and his family--or what he will be challenged to do in order to save the town from its destructive influence.
Cunningham puts a unique spin on the whole angel-and-demon influence on humans thing. While his scenarios are original and entertaining, I have to say they are hardly biblical. I could have done without a lot of it, but the subplot of their interaction does make the story more compelling, if not predictable.
Due to the subject matter and quite a few scenes of violence between angels and demons, I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone under sixteen. Parts describing scenes in the lower three floors of the Grille were rather uncomfortable for me to read. But if you know someone who's convinced there's no harm in a few 'girlie' magazines now and then, this is a good wake-up call.
Set in what I assume is the fictitious rural mid-western town of Ellenbach, the story focuses on the business that provides its title: the infamous Sunset Grille. Promoted to townspeople as a source of jobs and a patron of local beef and grain farmers, the Grille is actually a cesspool of drunken revelry that entices many a decent, unsuspecting fellow into its sultry lower levels.
Pastor Larry Revelle decides to take on the establishment, and is even more urgent in his opposition to the restaurant/adult entertainment center when a local teen is found brutally raped and murdered just outside of town. Little does he realize what his crusade will cost him and his family--or what he will be challenged to do in order to save the town from its destructive influence.
Cunningham puts a unique spin on the whole angel-and-demon influence on humans thing. While his scenarios are original and entertaining, I have to say they are hardly biblical. I could have done without a lot of it, but the subplot of their interaction does make the story more compelling, if not predictable.
Due to the subject matter and quite a few scenes of violence between angels and demons, I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone under sixteen. Parts describing scenes in the lower three floors of the Grille were rather uncomfortable for me to read. But if you know someone who's convinced there's no harm in a few 'girlie' magazines now and then, this is a good wake-up call.
August 1, 2008
We all have a past, and this particular preacher's past was shaded in pornography. He and his congregation began a tough row with a new adult club in town, and what ensues is a spiritual battle for the preacher and his community.
June 21, 2009
great book.
March 12, 2011
an easy read, holds your interest throughout the book. I will be looking for more of Mr. Cunninghams books.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews