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Tennis Shoes #4

Feathered Serpent, Part 2

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The Journey â As we separated from the rest of the refugees of Zarahemla, a terrible vision haunted my thought. By abandoning my two younger children to search for Melody, might I lose my entire family?â The Destruction "â It was coming from the north, a wall of rolling, tumbling, churning clouds the color of charcoal, the sweeping palm of God.â The Glory â The man's eyes moved across the gathering at Bountiful's Temple. They were the bluest I have ever seen, and as clear and bright as the limitless universe.â Join Jim Hawkins and family as they stand face-to face with the ultimate forces of good and evil in this, the forth volume of the best-selling Tennis Shoes Adventure Series. Hearts will pound and adrenaline will rush as this spectacular Book of Mormon epic races to it's breathtaking climax. Completely revised and newly recorded by the author â containing twice as much of the book as the original recording. The Destruction See also Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites, Gadiantons and the Silver Sword, Feathered Serpent, Part 1, Sacred Quest, Lost Scroll, Golden Crown, Warriors of Cumorah, Tower of Thunder, and Kingdoms and Conquerors.

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

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1259 people want to read

About the author

Chris Heimerdinger

42 books459 followers
Chris Heimerdinger is an author and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) who has presently written sixteen adult and young adult novels, most of which center on religious themes familiar to LDS members. Most are published with Covenant Communications in American Fork, Utah. One title, A Return to Christmas was also picked up by Random House/Ballantine in 1995. When the title was released by Ballantine in 2004, it was republished by Covenant Communications.

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5 stars
3,438 (45%)
4 stars
2,430 (32%)
3 stars
1,229 (16%)
2 stars
253 (3%)
1 star
145 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
Profile Image for Nutter.
30 reviews1 follower
April 19, 2008
Having looked through the reviews, all 18 pages of them, I've found only 6 reviewers that rate this book below 3. I was kind of disappointed that there weren't more. So let me just make it clear that this is a terrible book.

Heimerdinger split up the action in these books which required the use of two narrators. But he doesn't do a very good job of giving the narrators different voices. The problem is so bad that he has to use different type sets to distinguish between narrators and I still had a hard time telling them apart. What makes it worse is that Heimerdinger appears to have one writing style, and that is first person omniscient. So you get the story from the perspective of one person, but that one person knows all the details and thoughts of every person around him or her. It really isn't a very impressive writing style.

Another problem with this book is that is has the exact same plot progression as the books preceding it. It was so sadly predictable that you could guess what was going to happen 30 pages ahead of yourself.

I also had a hard time deciding if Heimerdinger was trying to write a novel, a memoir, or a sermon. And his commentary on religious topics is some of the worst I've read. It's endless babble and cliche and pure drudgery to read.

To sum up, this book is a half-decent story line wrapped up in a bunch of reference to scripture, a little creative license, and mounds of religious cliche with very little substance. Having said that, I doubt your typical 10-12 year old cares much about any of that, and it's probably a good book for kids that age to be reading. But by the time you're 16, it's probably not worth the time.
Profile Image for Dad.
477 reviews3 followers
May 16, 2011
I am compelled to give another 5 stars. I thought the most well-crafted literary part was how the author concealed that Jonathan was a Gadianton. Here I was worried about Lamanchi being the evil doer instead. What a sudden twist of events. I really like that in a story. I was fascinated.
The curelom Rachel. How cool!!!! That made the last part of the book and how handy she was.
Again, it was fascinating to read about West Valley and Salt Lake City. I am used to stories in LA or NYC but this brings it home as well as trying to relate the story to the Book of Mormon. I used to shop at the Harmon's Melody was captured at. Was my car in the parking lot at the time?
I understand a lot more about human sacrifices which archaeologists say took place in Meso America among the Maya and Aztec civilizations. They perhaps were not just wicked priests but ones with a tie in to Satan himself like the Gadiantons.
I can't wait for my next "Shoe" book.
147 reviews3 followers
November 27, 2023
This book was special because the Savior appears to the Nephites and it was sweet to read through that experience. My kids were especially touched listening to it
Profile Image for Jon.
216 reviews5 followers
July 11, 2013
The only reason why I finished this book is because I wanted to complete the Feathered Serpent story. I didn't care for the characters and I really couldn't stand how inconsistent the main character was. It turned out that Heimerdinger was really struggling with some marital issues while he was writing this book. I remember a news article of him being arrested for a domestic dispute shortly after this book was released. Way too much of his personal life leaked into this series and just ruined it for me. I haven't read one of his books since.
Profile Image for Charles  van Buren.
1,910 reviews302 followers
August 20, 2018
I do not know how this book came to be on my list as read and with a five star rating. I have never read it and do not recall that it was even on my want to read list.
988 reviews5 followers
November 20, 2020
This book picks right up where the last book left off and it is filled with a lot of action and excitement. As I read about all of the trials and suffering the characters went through I wondered if it would have been easier if their travel had happened at another time and not right before the coming of the Savior to the America’s. Reading this during the 2020 pandemic, earthquakes, hurricane force winds, political upheaval gave me an interesting perspective as I was reading the authors depiction of the calamities that happened prior to the personal interactions the various characters had with the Savior. It made me realize that any trial or suffering would be totally worth it if in the end I was able to enjoy a face to face interaction with the Savior.
Profile Image for Nicole Thomas.
298 reviews1 follower
August 21, 2024
I read this to my kids & they loved it. I read these books when I was a kid & wanted to read the series to my kids. I was expecting them to be a bit cheesy & poorly written but actually I’m quite surprised how well written they are. Some words I’ve had to look up & that’s a good learning experience for me & my kids. Of course I love the end of the book when the Savior appears to the Nephities. This really was a good, suspenseful, intriguing book. I asked my kids if they wanted to take a break from the series & read a different book now & they screamed NO!!! So I ordered the next book!!!
Profile Image for Jacque.
688 reviews4 followers
August 24, 2021
We listened to the audiobook. CN and MK gave it 5 stars. MD and I gave it 4. CN thought it was a good book and he couldn’t stop listening. MK thought it was a good story. MD thought the book was intriguing with no boring parts. It was definitely a fun book that everyone enjoyed while on a long road trip!
Profile Image for Heidi.
202 reviews2 followers
December 14, 2008
I'd heard this book on tape years ago on one of those Colorado-Utah trips. But since my aunt gave this to me a few years ago (since she had two), and since I was interviewing with Covenant, I thought I'd read something they'd published for a refresher. Anyway, it's not the worst I've ever read. He sticks close to Church doctrine, which is a definite plus. And he points out interesting things that inspire me to curiosity about the scriptures, another big plus.

But it's really not the best writing either. Although they (author/editor) set off the daughter's first person sections in italics to visually distinguish them, I still got confused in the transition because the two voices were not distinctive. With that and generally speaking, Heimerdinger's not really skilled in characterization. Just in fast action adventure. That's good for kids who like that kind of writing, to find good books in that area that make them curious about the scriptures.

But, on the down side for me, though perhaps not for everyone, this fast-paced adventure and many fantastical, fictitious elements juxtaposed against the truest things in the world's history, the most sacred parts of the scriptures, made me feel like something was a bit off. I think especially because the writing was in first person and those view point characters were fictitious and not well created, I couldn't feel the way I would want to feel being in someone's shoes who's meeting the Savior. Additionally, the scenes building up to this scene didn't prepare me as a reader on the emotional level. True some of the actions and events were built to prepare for it, and there was a certain degree of emotion in these, but overall, it didn't feel nearly as real as I would have hoped for such a glorious event.

In general, I don't have a problem with action adventure books. Fans of adventure don't usually care to have deep, strong emotional connections with action heroes. But in this case, because of the context, I would have liked to have a lot better characterization and emotional plot building.
Profile Image for Jesse Whitehead.
390 reviews21 followers
August 3, 2010
Heimerdinger sometimes astonishes me with his ability to consistently tear his characters through the worst possible situations – for them – and then return them to their world having conquered their fears being stronger for it.

There is a slight bit of inter-volume inconsistency in that the characters end each book vowing to be perfect from then on – after all they’ve spoken with Captain Moroni or seen the Savior visit America – but in the next book they are back to being less spiritual than they want to be. I don’t know if this is a problem, per se, since that’s really how people are – usually. We experience great and powerful spiritual experiences but if we don’t purposely seek to gain more of them they will fade from our memory and become less powerful.

From the title it’s easy to guess what the ultimate climax of this book is. I always find it peaceful but a little boring as well. After all he can’t get too crazy, the account in 3 Nephi is pretty explicit, so he basically just gives a detailed summary of the scriptural account. I enjoy reading about it in the scriptures, somehow from an adventure book it sounds like I’ve read it way too many times.

This is a good conclusion to the story started in Part I. It also starts a trend of Heimerdinger’s to make continuously longer series within the main series of books. Chances are if you’ve gotten this far you’ll want to read this book as well.
5 reviews
May 19, 2013
tennis shoes amoung the neohites; a feathered serpant part 2


chris heimerdinger


this book is a thrilling sequal to the other books in this series. the hawkins family gets into trouble with someold enemies from the scripture times and Jim hawkins the father gets accused for murder but he escapes and takes his family back in tome to ancient america and they went to go get his daughter back because she was kiddnapped by some bad people. jim went out to get her back and he had some company from some nephite warriors. and when they get to where they took his daughter they got stuck in some moutnains. those were the days right before Christ died and when they finaly got out of the mountains and then the storms from Christs' crusifiction. the storm helped them get back jims daughter and they traveld back to where the rest of his family where, in the land of bountiful and they had to stay there for a long time because Jims youngest son got hurt on the back and he couldnt move. but the savior was resurected and came to bountiful and healed him and others that were not in good condition and he blessed them and Jim and his brother had the inspiration to finaly go home back to there time.


i would rate this book a 9, because it has a great fun story to it and its just realy fun to read.
I would recommed this book to those who like a lot of adventure and love to read about family trials and fictional tales about the LDS scriptures.
Profile Image for Aaron.
371 reviews10 followers
July 7, 2010
We listened to most of this (and Part 1) with the kids while driving to and from Savannah for the Fourth of July weekend. It's definitely a great story, and I really enjoyed listening to it. I'm not sure I would like to actually read the books, however. Heimerdinger's writing style is filled with cliches, which sound fine when he (or his daughter) is reading the story, but would probably grow tiresome if I were reading them.

I also felt obligated to explain to my children at the end of the book that Jesus really did come to the Americas and appear to the people there, but that the story about Jaime, Garth, et al. was made up and pretend. I kind of wish that Heimerdinger hadn't had his make-believe characters meet the Savior. Although very reverent and worshipful, the final scene of the book treads upon very sacred events that I think would probably have been best left alone. It's almost as if, by having his make-believe characters interact with the Savior, Heimerdinger is cheapening, maybe even mocking to a certain extent, that event.

Still, the story is very good and an enjoyable way to get the kids interested in reading the scriptures, and especially the Book of Mormon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for LPR.
1,375 reviews42 followers
October 1, 2012
SO good. I love these books. They are very unique because they have such a small intended audience. Really, it pains me to admit, but these books are not all that well written, which is why it got 4 stars. You are reading about these great characters with this fantastic setting and wonderful story, and it helps you forget that the actual writing is not truly superior. Does every one understand that distinction? Between writing and story and concept and characters? Because, really, three out of four ain't bad.
My advice on the rest of this series. Did you really like this one? Really really? Because if you didn't, go no further. This is your stopping point. If you did, read on, baby, because the old world adventures are even better-you meet a couple of wicked awesome characters (Apollus, Megan, Mary) And the characters we have now become far more mature and awesome (Harry). That's My two cents.
Profile Image for Angie.
1,209 reviews30 followers
May 12, 2017
I don't care who you are—no story is exciting enough to justify the use of 70,000,000,000,000,000 exclamation points. And I don't care how strapped for cash you are—every book needs a proofreader. Even if it's a half-trained intern. I am positive there are students out there who would love the experience and would be more than happy to do it for free. Sheesh.

(That said, this book doesn't deserve more than three stars. But I gave it four anyway because the love I had for this book as a teenager hasn't completely worn off yet.)

Even though it was impossible to turn off my editor's radar for this book, I was determined to enjoy it anyway. Because there's so much to have fun with: woolly mammoths, everyone's favorite Book of Mormon story, a forbidden romance, a 2,000-year-old Nephite. I'm still hoping they make a movie out of this book some day.

And if you let it, this book can be a testimony builder. It affected me deeply when I was a teenager.
Profile Image for Becky.
1,642 reviews27 followers
June 19, 2017
6-19-2017 I love this book. I don't say it is the most coherent, best written book I've ever read, but it touched me when I read it back in the day and it touched me again yesterday. I started it Saturday night and tried my best to finish it in one sitting but I had to give up and get some sleep before finishing it Sunday morning. I found the description of the Savior's visit to the Americas as moving as I had remembered and would give it five stars for that scene alone. The adventures leading up to that moment move at a good clip and I think the book works as a whole. My only complaint, and it's a big one, is the choice to put all of the female parts in italics. That was a weird choice and made Melody's parts physically hard to read. Heimerdinger tries, but he's not great at writing from a female perspective, let's not make it worse by putting the text in italics, too.
519 reviews24 followers
February 25, 2014
Wonderful ending to part 3. I love hearing of the faith of this family as they work together to survive in the past.

We LOVE the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites Series. Rob and I listened to it while we drove on any road trips when we were first married and we continued the traditions as we had our boys.

We recently started re-listening to the series in November and are up to book 4. This is the first time our 8 year old remembers hearing them and he loves them. The stories are old familiar friends to our older boys, who have read the books and listened to the audio books at least 3 or 4 times.

GREAT series for young and old alike. I feel like it has helped my boys love the Gospel and really bring it to life for them.
Profile Image for Erica (storybookend).
405 reviews292 followers
December 1, 2010
No matter how many times I read this book, I always end up with tears at the end when the Savior comes. The emotions of Jim and his family, and everyone else are so poignant. That moment, witnessing the Savior coming and hearing his words, is full of breathless wonder. Chris Heimerdinger is extraordinary, creating such a thrilling, epic adventure, infused with words of the scriptures and the knowledge that the Lord is coming. Though these actual events, minus Jim and the other fictional characters in the story that Chris made up, happened nearly two thousand years ago, reading them in this way just fills me with wonder and joy, and makes me eager to go back to the original account.
Profile Image for Lisa Brown.
2,752 reviews24 followers
April 14, 2015
A great way to finish the story that began in book one. Jim Hawkins, finds himself once again in the Nehpite world, but this time he is there to rescue his duaghter Melody, who was kidnapped, and his best friend Garth, who is being held prisoner. All of this is also happening during a particularly precarious time, as in the ancient world of Jerusalem, Christ is about to be crusified.

I enjoyed this book, and I found that I loved listening to the second narrator, Melody. (It might have been distracting if I had read it though.) And I thought he dealt with the scriputral aspects well and tastefully. A great read.
Profile Image for Tyler.
3 reviews
October 4, 2011
Its a really good book. Its about this man named Jim Hawkins. He goes into the anceint land of the Nephits and Lamenits. His daughter was stolen by the Army of Jacob of the Moon and they go far in the land o the North. He goes and fids a very hard and deadly jernery to find his doughter. In the land of the North or called Land of Destalation the ancient animals rule over and assassines are every were! Then he heads back to the land of Bountiful after the hard war like jernery. And three days later Jesus Christ comes and visits the people of ancient America. He heals the wounded and the sick and tells them many things. If you want more info. you will need to read the book!!!!!
9 reviews2 followers
July 27, 2008
This one has to be my very favorite! At the end they see Christ when he comes to the America's just like we read in the Book of Mormon. There were moments where I lost myself in the book and felt as though I was there looking at Christ, touching his hands and feet. I think that Chris really touches on exactly how it would be if we had all been there. I highly recommend this book! This is is a two part read and I couldn't find book 3 which is part one so this review is talking about both books.
Profile Image for Kara.
836 reviews12 followers
April 29, 2017
I can easily say this series is one of my favorites of all time. They are uplifting, exciting and extremely well-written. What's not to love???

3/26/12 I really loved re-reading this one. It describes in amazing detail when the Savior visited the Americas and makes you visualize it in a powerful way. It's always been one of my favorites, but reading it at this point in my life made it even better for me.
Profile Image for Julie.
43 reviews
October 9, 2008
Excellent teenage series. It all takes place between current today and Nephite times. A couple of boys discover a cave that goes back in time to the Nephites. They discover the Gadiantons or better described as the Gadiantons find them and follow them back through the cave. So the next book takes place in current times. It goes back and forth throughout the whole series.

It's kinda of fun to read the BOM afterwards and remember the stories.
Profile Image for Mackenzie.
140 reviews
July 15, 2009
Jim and his family have set out to book of Mormon times, and they are still finding Mealody, but mealody is slowly warming up to the idea that she may like Marcos, son of Jacob of the moon, the evil man who kiddnapped her. They find Jenny and Garth through the book, and have found out they have had two little kids, and they are on there way to save Mealody. It may be a hard jorney,buty the reward is great...to met the lrd Jeasus Christ in the city of Bountiful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Melissa.
2,542 reviews267 followers
June 10, 2014
LOVE this series! The Book of Mormon takes on a hold new light. Amazing read the whole series never gets old. Adventure, romance, spirituality! I would recommend these to 12 and up because of the violence.
Re-read- This is my all time favorite book of this series. It always makes me cry. I love the raw emotion and the real portrayal of what really happened when Christ came to America. The story is strong and compelling and so real.
95 reviews5 followers
July 21, 2010
We did this set of tapes on the way home from Savannah. I liked them, but it touches too close to sacred things for me. We actually finished the last part of the tapes at home -- I know, we still own a tape player. It was nice because both my husband and I were able to bear our testimonies to our kids about Christ coming to the Americas and about how it really did happen. It was fun sharing these tapes with our kids.
Profile Image for AH.
51 reviews21 followers
July 13, 2014
Enjoyed this next installment of the series! What I love about these books is the rich and vivid descriptions that really transport you back in time and help you imagine life as it was in the ancient days of the Nephites. I also love the beautiful spiritual lessons that the characters learn throughout, and find them quite applicable to my own life and circumstances. This is a great series and I definitely plan to continue on to the next one.
8 reviews
September 30, 2015
Chris Heimerdinger's book Tennis Shoes and The Feathered Serpent Part Two holds a tale that will truly touch you. As the adventure from part 1 continues, Jim Hawkins discoveres that his daughter melody was kidnapped by his foe to get revenge. In a land where things are truly hostile (this is the element of adventure) . The author uses imagery in very descriptive context "The triangular summit with it's twin towers stood out against the skyline from several miles outside the capital.".
Profile Image for J.
41 reviews
June 15, 2014
Probably my favorite book in the series so far. I also happened to be at the same place in the book as I was in the Book Mormon, which was kind of cool to go along and be refreshed in what took place. How amazing it would be to be able to see the Savior, hear his words, watch him heal and teach all those in the multitude, then ascend back up to heaven.
Profile Image for Heidi-Marie.
3,855 reviews88 followers
February 20, 2008
I think this may be my favorite of the series so far, simply for the part where the Savior comes to the Americas. Heimerdinger made this so real to me. I have never been able to read 3 Nephi the same since.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews

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