When Crickets Cry
May 20, 2006
"When Crickets Cry"
by: Charles Martin
Published by: Westbow Press
Publication Date: 2006
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A man with a painful past. A child with a doubtful future. And a shared journey toward healing for both their hearts.
It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. But the little girl's pretty yellow dress can't quite hide the ugly scar on her chest. The stranger understands more about it than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives.
Before it's over, they'll both know there are painful reasons why crickets cry...and that miracles lurk around unexpected corners.
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Above is the publisher's "grab line" that grabbed me. I was asked if the Dew had any interest in reviewing this book and I said yes.
How glad I am that I answered in the affirmative.
This is a wonderful story about one man needing to come back to life and living after spending most of his years trying to accomplish a goal, only to have it not succeed. It's also a story of a little girl trying to keep her life going as she knows her time is short.
Annie needs a heart to live and Reece needs a purpose in life now that his is gone. He has "shut down" from society and hides out making boats on Lake Burton in Georgia.
I don't want to give too much away as this book meanders from the present to the past throughout, slowly giving us Reece's story and the reason he is like he is today. To say too much more would be to give away a good bit of the story.
The book does hop around a bit and there are whole chapters that have nothing to do with the story line itself - but will be a description on rebuilding a boat, or how the heart works, how the bar across the lake cooks their most famous hamburger, "The Transplant", something along those lines - but I never felt them out of place or wasteful of the story's time. They were informative and interesting enough to not skip through trying to get back to Reece and Annie.
There's also some fast action medical drama that occurs in the book, showing that Mr. Martin has definately done his research in that area. Edge of your seat "McGyver" type medical situations!
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, bonded with the characters, cared deeply what the final results for all would be and definately recommend you give it a read yourself.
You may read an excerpt of the book Here:
