Charles Martin, When Crickets Cry

When Crickets Cry

Charles Martin

WestBow, Apr 2006, $14.99

ISBN: 1595540547

In Clayton, Georgia, Reese Mitchell prefers no emotional entanglements ever since his beloved Emma died. Reese is almost a hermit with only his brother-in-law partially allowed in his life. As he drinks coffee, fate will force his hand to decide whether to rejoin humanity.

He had noticed seven-year-old Annie with scars on her chest selling lemonade at fifty cents a cup to raise the fifty thousand dollars she needs for a heart transplant. Her Aunt Cindy does not have the money needed for the surgery nor the will to continue, as she is bone weary and her heart emotionally damaged. When Annie's money is blown into the street, she steps out to retrieve it at the same time a bread truck comes from around the bend heading right at her. Reese risks his life to rescue the little girl. Annie will not let him leave, and though he cannot say why she somehow has touched his heart. She takes him to meet Aunt Cindy. Will three people with broken hearts, two emotionally and one physically, find the hope for the future with each other, or will Reese feel the drain is too much on him?

Vividly described rural Georgia serves as a strong backdrop to a superb character study. WHEN CRICKETS CRY is a deep drama that enables the audience to especially understand the impact on loved ones when someone suffers from a potentially curable illness but lack the funds to try and improve things. Charles Martin is at his best with this insightful family drama starring three terrific protagonists, each suffering from traumas with the two females fully grasping that money matters when it comes to health.