And brought together again by a most unlikely force
In the 1970s, escaping a home where he knew nothing but violence and hate, Jim Harding found work, and love, on the largest horse ranch in Virginia. The object of his affections, Nena St. Claire, is the daughter of the owner—a man who ruled his ranch with an iron fist and would do whatever it took to keep Nena and Jim apart.
Against the wishes of her family, Nena marries Jim, and after her father dies, she sacrifices everything—including her family—to keep the ranch alive. Now their three grown children have lives of their own and want nothing to do with Nena. She was never the mother they needed.
When cancer strikes and Nena is given a devastating diagnosis, can Jim reconcile the family before it is too late?
My review:
Michael King is a pen name for an author I regularly read and is one of my favorite authors. He normally writes suspense fiction with supernatural elements. This book does not fall into that genre', hence the pen name.
Writing a different genre' than what he normally writes has shown what a talented and gifted author Mike is. I was eager to read this to see how he would do with a different genre', and he did a great job.
The story itself isn't a happy story, but it has depth, and is definitely worth reading. It is fiction and deals with the issue of cancer, of which the author is a survivor of. Mike has created some very flawed and imperfect characters and woven a great story around them. With incredible insight coming from his own health issues, he does a terrific job of showing the journey through cancer starting with the diagnosis and going up through chemotherapy. He perfectly captures the feelings of the cancer patient and the effects of it on not just her, but on her family.
I typically enjoy happier stories, and it isn't fun to read about issues like cancer, but it is something that touches us all, and if it hasn't yet.... it will some day. A book like this may not give you a happy warm fuzzies feeling while you're reading it, but it is the type of book we should all read. Kudos to Mike for stretching his wings and trying a different style of book, and for pulling it off very nicely.
Check out the launch page for the book which has some free stuff for those who purchase it.
Michael King is the pen name for Mike Dellosso. He is the author of numerous novels of suspense, including Darkness Follows, Darlington Woods, and Scream. He is an adjunct professor of writing at Lancaster Bible College and frequent contributor to Christian websites and newsletters. Mike is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers association, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, the Relief Writer’s Network, and FaithWriters, and he plans to join International Thriller Writers. He earned his BA degree from Messiah College and his MBS from Master’s International School of Divinity. He lives in Hanover, PA, with his wife and daughters. Hometown: Hanover, PA.
In addition to his being a fantastic author, he is also a super nice and regular guy.
A Thousand Sleepless Nights is Mike's sixth full length novel, and his first under the pen name of Michael King. Check out his websites:
Mike Dellosso
Michael King
A Thousand Sleepless Nights is available from Realms Publishing.
Thanks to Realms and the author for the review copy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment