John
Merriman is
a crusty old
trial lawyer
who makes a
career of
skating
across the
ethical
boundaries
drawn by his
profession.
His nemesis,
the
self-righteous
county
solicitor
Malcolm T.
Prescott,
makes life
difficult
for Merriman
until the
tables are
turned - and
Prescott
finds
himself in
the seat of
the accused.
Merriman's
plain-speaking
wife May and
their
omniscient
terrier
Leland,
tough cop
Detective
Lieutenant
Michael
O'Shea
Barrow, and
unexpected
health
problems
each play a
role in
Merriman's
redemption,
but the
serendipitous
second
chance to
become a
good and
honest
lawyer is
the key to
the
transformation
that takes
place in
Merriman's
life.
$14.95
Jack's
Passage
Jack's
Passage is
the story of
a boy's
sometimes
turbulent
journey
through
adolescence
and into
maturity,
delicately
unfolded
through his
relationships
with
parents,
grandparents
and,
ultimately,
Marion - the
girl of his
dreams.
Imprisoned
for a time
by guilt and
self-doubt,
young Jack
is drawn to
his
grandmother
Nell, who
never fully
recovered
from the
accidental
death of her
first child,
and together
the two are
set free
through an
intimacy
that shapes
and defines
the boy's
life. The
book is
strong on
traditional
values and
lacking in
obscene
language,
graphic sex
and
gratuitous
violence.
But it is
not just
that. Jack's
Passage is a
good read,
seasoned
with
pleasant
descriptive
passages and
a complex
and
interesting
development
of its main
characters.
Much of it
set in a
sleepy Blue
Ridge
mountain
town, the
novel weaves
the threads
of a tender
love story
into the
fabric of a
suspenseful
tale of
crime and
courtroom
drama.
Marion's
involvement
as a witness
at the trial
nearly
derails
their
relationship,
but love
proves
stronger
than guilt,
and in the
end Jack and
Marion's
destiny is
secure.
Jack's
Passage is a
testament to
the
redeeming
power of
families and
the
relationships
that exist
within them.
The strength
Jack
receives
from the
love of
those around
him - his
grandparents
in
particular -
enables the
boy to
surmount the
many
obstacles of
adolescence
and attain
his passage
into
manhood. And
in the
process Jack
learns to
share the
love that
made him
strong with
those who
need it
most.
$14.99
There is a
River
There
is a River
is the story
of two
seemingly
incompatible
families
thrown
together by
the
outworking
of their
competing
motivations
- kindness
and greed,
hope and
despair -
and the
proximity of
their home
places in
rural South
Carolina.
Caroline,
the
adolescent
daughter of
country
gentleman
and novelist
Gordon
Clement,
befriends
Mangel, the
fortysomething
retarded son
of Welborn
and Hazel
Ricketts, a
crusty
backwoods
couple with
a dark and
mysterious
past. Hungry
for the
unconditional
kindness he
receives
from
Caroline's
family,
Mangel falls
in love with
the girl's
beautiful
yet
unaffected
mother
Frances, who
recognizes
his feelings
for just
what they
are - the
long overdue
emotions of
an
adolescent
experiencing
his first
puppy love.
But when the
malevolent
Welborn and
his
reprobate
nephew
Harley carry
out their
plan to
kidnap
Caroline,
the
Clements'
idyllic
lifestyle
suddenly
comes
unglued. In
New York
with his
literary
agent
scrambling
to meet the
deadline for
publication
of his third
novel,
Gordon
returns to
find the
sheriff and
his deputies
combing his
property,
hot on the
trail of
Caroline's
abductors.
Through the
crisis of
Caroline's
kidnapping
each of the
main
characters
comes to a
crossroads -
some
receiving
the gift of
faith and
others
rejecting
it. The
childlike
trust of the
novel's
central
character -
the
once-pathetic
Mangel -
ultimately
binds the
families
together,
and out of
his weakness
emerges a
strength
born of the
abundant
grace of God
and the
irrepressible
love of his
mother.
Bursting
with hope,
the author's
second novel
is a triumph
of the
forces of
good over
evil - and
of faith
over
despair.
$14.99
The
Storytellers
The
Storytellers
is a
thoughtful
exploration
of one man's
coming to
terms with
his past –
and his
future. His
father's
funeral, his
brother's
suicide, and
his
unexpected
love for his
brother's
widow throw
quiet,
intellectual
Bick Averett
into a
whirlwind of
emotion that
will change
his life
forever.
"Of fathers
and sons...
'Life is a
story,' says
the young
boy, Cal, in
Wilmot B.
Irvin's
delightful
Southern
tale, The
Storytellers,
'and sharing
it with
people you
love is a
good thing.'
This
revelation,
made by Cal
after the
suicide of
his
hard-drinking
father,
Tompkins, is
addressed to
Tompkins'
brother,
Thornton 'Bick'
Averett,
Irvin's
likeable
Everyman
hero. The
Storytellers
is rich in
imagery. The
characters
are poignant
in their
struggles
and
triumphs,
the plot
nicely paced
and the
style lush
with the
sleepy charm
of a coastal
South
Carolina
town."
-Ellen
Tanner
Marsh, New
York Times
best-selling
author
Poignant,
incredible,
simple and
surprising
all at
once!, July
21, 2003
"I purchased
this book,
along with
about ten
others, at
the South
Carolina
Book
Festival in
February
2003. I just
got around
to reading
it yesterday
and could
hardly put
it down. The
cover and
book
description
are
deceiving,
for what
lies inside
is an
incredible
story told
by a man who
I hope has
many more
stories to
tell. . .
The
characters
are
believable,
real, flawed
individuals
that I truly
grew to care
about. I did
not want
this story
to end!"
$14.99
Some Kind of
Kin
It
all takes
place one
summer in
Summerville.
Chanel – an
African-American
nanny with
strength and
determination,
a heart full
of love and
a golden
incisor –
takes on the
job of
looking
after
Maurice and
Becky – a
couple of
twelve-year-old
white kids
with more
leisure time
than sense.
Becky's mom,
Livvy, is
rebounding
from a
divorce.
Maurice's
dad, Chet,
is grieving
from the
death of his
wife. Their
painful
recoveries
from these
losses in
their former
lives blind
Livvy and
Chet to
their own
romance
until Livvy
decides to
move to
Cincinnati.
With Chanel
as their
catalyst and
source of
courage,
Maurice and
Becky devise
a plan to
open their
parents'
eyes to the
fact that
they have
fallen in
love. And in
the process
best pals
Maurice and
Becky become
some kind of
kin.
The penguins
on the front
cover of
this book
were drawn
by the
author's
daughter,
Mary Brice
Irvin. The
cover was
designed by
Brenda
Webster
Gray.
John
Merriman is
a crusty old
trial lawyer
who makes a
career of
skating
across the
ethical
boundaries
drawn by his
profession.
His nemesis,
the
self-righteous
county
solicitor
Malcolm T.
Prescott,
makes life
difficult
for Merriman
until the
tables are
turned - and
Prescott
finds
himself in
the seat of
the accused.
Jack's
Passage is
the story of
a boy's
sometimes
turbulent
journey
through
adolescence
and into
maturity,
delicately
unfolded
through his
relationships
with
parents,
grandparents
and,
ultimately,
Marion - the
girl of his
dreams.
Imprisoned
for a time
by guilt and
self-doubt,
young Jack
is drawn to
his
grandmother
Nell, who
never fully
recovered
from the
accidental
death of her
first child,
and together
the two are
set free
through an
intimacy
that shapes
and defines
the boy's
life. The
book is
strong on
traditional
values and
lacking in
obscene
language,
graphic sex
and
gratuitous
violence.
But it is
not just
that. Jack's
Passage is a
good read,
seasoned
with
pleasant
descriptive
passages and
a complex
and
interesting
development
of its main
characters.
There
is a River
is the story
of two
seemingly
incompatible
families
thrown
together by
the
outworking
of their
competing
motivations
- kindness
and greed,
hope and
despair -
and the
proximity of
their home
places in
rural South
Carolina.
Caroline,
the
adolescent
daughter of
country
gentleman
and novelist
Gordon
Clement,
befriends
Mangel, the
fortysomething
retarded son
of Welborn
and Hazel
Ricketts, a
crusty
backwoods
couple with
a dark and
mysterious
past. Hungry
for the
unconditional
kindness he
receives
from
Caroline's
family,
Mangel falls
in love with
the girl's
beautiful
yet
unaffected
mother
Frances, who
recognizes
his feelings
for just
what they
are - the
long overdue
emotions of
an
adolescent
experiencing
his first
puppy love.
The
Storytellers
is a
thoughtful
exploration
of one man's
coming to
terms with
his past –
and his
future. His
father's
funeral, his
brother's
suicide, and
his
unexpected
love for his
brother's
widow throw
quiet,
intellectual
Bick Averett
into a
whirlwind of
emotion that
will change
his life
forever.
It
all takes
place one
summer in
Summerville.
Chanel – an
African-American
nanny with
strength and
determination,
a heart full
of love and
a golden
incisor –
takes on the
job of
looking
after
Maurice and
Becky – a
couple of
twelve-year-old
white kids
with more
leisure time
than sense.
Becky's mom,
Livvy, is
rebounding
from a
divorce.
Maurice's
dad, Chet,
is grieving
from the
death of his
wife. Their
painful
recoveries
from these
losses in
their former
lives blind
Livvy and
Chet to
their own
romance
until Livvy
decides to
move to
Cincinnati.
With Chanel
as their
catalyst and
source of
courage,
Maurice and
Becky devise
a plan to
open their
parents'
eyes to the
fact that
they have
fallen in
love. And in
the process
best pals
Maurice and
Becky become
some kind of
kin.