The Face of the Earth
May 16th, 2013. Filed under: This & That.The Face of the Earth
By Deborah Raney
When Mitchell Brannon’s beloved wife of twenty years kisses him goodbye one autumn morning, he has little idea that his life is about to change forever. Mitch returns from work early that evening, surprised Jill’s car isn’t in the garage. Her conference in Kansas City is only a few hours’ drive from their little town of Sylvia, Missouri. But her voice on the answering machine makes him smile. “Hey, babe, I’m just now checking out of the hotel, but I’ll stop and pick up something for dinner. Love you.”
Mitch sets the table with their best china and lights some candles, looking forward to their first weekend as empty nesters.
But at eight o’clock, the candles have burned to stubs and Jill still hasn’t shown up. Mitch tries her cell phone only to get her voice mail over and over again. Their two college kids haven’t heard from their mom either.
At midnight, Mitch’s irritation turns to dread. And later, when the police and Missouri Highway Patrol have turned up nothing, the Kansas City hotel calls to say they’ve found property belonging to Jill in a hotel maid’s possession.
Mitch enlists the help of their next-door neighbor, Jill’s best friend, Shelley, and together they search for clues to Jill’s disappearance. As days turn into weeks and weeks into months, Mitch and Shelley’s friendship grows ever closer–and decidedly complicated with Jill as the tie that binds them together. Just when Shelley decides to finally reveal her feelings for Mitch, a clue to Jill’s whereabouts is uncovered. But every lead seems to be a dead end, and Mitch wonders how he can honor the vows he made to a woman who has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.
ISLAND BREEZES
People really do fall off the face of the earth. Mitch’s wife Jill did.
It’s a life of grief and anger for family and friends when one disappears leaving behind no clues. How can the authorities find someone without a single lead?
Mitch won’t take this lying down. He loves his wife deeply. After deciding to search on his one, he enlists the help of his next door neighbor and Jill’s best friend.
Shelley is doing everything she can to help Mitch and his kids deal with Jill’s disappearance. It isn’t easy. Shelley loves Jill like a sister and has been fighting her attraction to Mitch for a long time.
She’s going to end up with a broken heart whether Jill is found or not.
This novel will tug at your heartstrings and cause you to use some of those tissues before it’s over. Have a box nearby.
*** A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***
Deborah Raney is the award-winning author of several novels, including “A Nest of Sparrows” and the RITA award winning “Beneath a Southern Sky” and its sequel, “After the Rains”. Deborah’s first novel, “A Vow to Cherish”, was the inspiration for World Wide Pictures’ highly acclaimed film of the same title, which in December 2004 aired on prime time network TV for the second time. Deb’s novella, “Playing by Heart”, was a National Readers Choice Award winner and a 2004 Christy Award finalist. Her novel for Howard/Simon & Schuster, “Yesterday’s Embers”, appeared on the ECPA Christian fiction bestseller list. Known for her sensitive portrayal of family struggles and relationships, Deb has also written nonfiction books and articles and often speaks at women’s retreats and writers’ conferences around the country. She and her husband, illustrator/author Ken Raney, have four children and make their home in Kansas.
Find out more at DeborahRaney.com