Scott Michaels is a veteran with PTSD. His faith is helping him heal, and as this novel opens he is settling in to his post-military life as a sheriff’s deputy on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. Scott has kin on Ocracoke; uniting with them has given him a family he never knew he had. After his mother died, her sister kidnapped Scott, so he grew up never knowing his father or his half sisters who now give him love and a feeling of belonging denied to him as a child. He is both grateful and angry. With these issues on his plate, Scott knows he should stay away from Lisa Wade, the attractive young woman who is the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office.
Lisa seems to have a more settled life and a secure place in the tight-knit island community. But Lisa’s backstory is just as troubled as Scott’s. Lisa’s father died when she was young, and her mother committed suicide a short time later. With little love or guidance from her cold grandmother, Lisa nonetheless grew into a kind and sensible young woman. She did, however, make a mistake when she fell for the easy charms of Calvin Jamison, a local lady’s man and corrupt cop. When Lisa learned about Calvin’s illegal activities, she turned in him. Calvin, now in prison, blames Lisa for his imprisonment. When Lisa is attacked and her house ransacked, everyone assumes that Calvin is taking his revenge. Scott is one of the deputies assigned to protect Lisa. Against their wills, Scott and Lisa are drawn to each other as the violence against Lisa escalates and she discovers disturbing things about her community and her family. In fits and starts they learn to trust in each other and in God as the novel moves to a dramatic climax.
Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.
