**I received a copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are my own.
Thirteen-year-old Loyal Raines is supposed to stay close to home on a hot summer day in 1934. When he slips away for a quick swim in the river and finds a dead body, he wishes he'd obeyed his mother. The ripples caused by his discovery will impact the town of Beverly, West Virginia, in ways no one could have imagined.
The first person those ripples disturb is Loyal's absentee father. When Creed Raines realized his infant son was deaf, he headed for the hills, returning only to help meet his family's basic needs. But when Loyal, now a young teen, stumbles upon a murder it's his father he runs to tell--shaping the words with his hands. As Creed is pulled into the investigation he discovers that what sets his son apart isn't his inability to hear but rather his courage. Longing to reclaim the life he abandoned, Creed will have to do more than help solve a murder if he wants to win his family's hearts again.
Sarah is a fund-raiser for a children’s ministry who has time to write because she doesn’t have children of her own. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Coastal Carolina University and is the author of the acclaimed novels The Sound of Rain and Miracle in a Dry Season–winner of the 2015 Inspy Award. Sarah has also been a finalist for the Christy Award, ACFW Carol Award and the Christian Book of the Year Award. She and her husband live near Asheville, NC.
Learn more at www.SarahLoudinThomas.com
Wow, what a beautifully written story this was! Set in the early 1930s, we meet Loyal- a deaf thirteen year old boy, who while seeking some independence discovered a dead body. Uncertain where to turn, he runs to his father Creed who had all but abandoned their family many years ago. This tragic event turns their relationship and their family upside down.
While it may have been a murder that set the story into motion, this was far from a typical murder mystery. Truly, it was more a story about people and relationships that just so happened to center around a murder. I loved seeing the relationship between Loyal and Creed grow and change, and for Creed to realize that mistakes he has made in the past with his son. I also enjoyed seeing Creed form friendships throughout the story as well. As a mom to a special needs son, that is definitely a feeling of joy that I understand all too well. Each of these characters were beautifully created with their flaws making them all the more believable. I couldn't help but want to see them all work everything out.
Having a thirteen-year-old son myself, there were times that I felt that perhaps Loyal seemed a bit mature for his age... but then he would do something with the best of intentions, that definitely made me thing of how young teens truly are. They want their independence and want to prove themselves... but they aren't always quite sure the best way to do so.
Overall, this was a fantastic story and so well written. This was the first book I have read by the author, but certainly will not be the last.
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"Pleasant words are as a honeycomb: sweet to the soul and health to the bones." Proverbs 16:24