Raymond L. Atkins, Sorrow World

Sorrow World

Raymond L. Atkins

Medallion, Aug 2009, $24.95

ISBN: 9781934755631

Wendell Blackmon left home when he was sixteen after he tossed his abusive father into a well. Reva lost her parents and had her leg amputated due to a drunken train engineer. Wendell is sailing in the South pacific, but comes home because his ship needs repair. He and Reva meet in a bar and feel an instant connection as if they lived and loved in past lives. On the second date, Wendell proposes because he loves her and wants to be a father to her son. She accepts and they marry before he has to ship out again.

When he returns, they start their life together, but just as they adapt, he is called up again and sent to Korea. When he returns this time, they move to Sand Valley, Alabama where he becomes the police chief. After decades of no violent crime, a murder occurs of a woman who claimed to be a free spirited witch; her burned remains found on Sorrow Wood land. Wendell investigates only each clue about the mysterious woman and her violent death leads back to his and Reva'spast.

This is the story of two ordinary people who fall in love and marry. Yet as everyday as that sounds; their tale is very poignant reminiscent of Erich Segal's Love Story. The story line takes place during WW II, the Korean Police Action, and up to 1995 when the homicide occurs. Though the police procedural suspense comes late, fans will enjoy love through the ages on a par with the epics of Barbara Delinsky and Danielle Steele.

Harriet Klausner