Of all the nerve! Now in early retirement from being a
detective with the Chicago Police Department, Harry Bentley
could not get over his son's request. How dare he ask!
Harry and his son Rodney had travelled a rocky road and
often not together; Harry hadn't been there very much for
Rodney as a boy due to his police work and addiction to
alcohol.
Yet, while Harry had re-connected with his faith and
overcame his alcoholism, Rodney's path had taken a darker
turn. He had turned to drugs and ended up in the Cook
County Jail. Now, he wanted to come back to stay with them
to get an early release. How is he going to reply to this?
Harry's biggest concern is DeShawn, Rodney's 13 year old
son. While Rodney has been in jail, Harry and his new wife
Estelle are raising DeShawn and he is turning out to be a
nice young man. What impact would Rodney have on him? What
would Estelle say to that?
As a strong Christian woman, Estelle had only one answer
when Harry asks her what he should do and that is to take
it to Jesus in prayer. Will that give them the answers they
need? Will their faith strengthen them for this decision as
well as all the decisions they need to make about their
home?
As their life circumstances change, Harry soon realizes
that he will have to go back to work. His old colleague,
Roger Gilson, has a crazy idea for an undercover job for
him working at Amtrak. Dare he take it? If he does, how
would that affect him and his family?
DERAILED, the second book in their new Windy City
Neighbors
series, is the latest offering from the wonderful husband
and wife writing team of Neta and Dave Jackson and it is
sure to be a hit for their fans. With over 120 books to
their credit, they are master storytellers who excel at
character development. For this new series they are
writing this character-driven series based in an urban part
of Chicago, as parallel stories, so while each book can be
read on its own with its own storyline and suspense, the
characters in each book (some previously developed in
earlier books, such as Harry Bentley and Grace Meredith),
along with the of new characters living in this Chicago
neighborhood can be further developed by the intertwining
of their stories and the affect they have on each other. I
really enjoyed how this technique facilitates the
overarching themes of friendship, faith, acceptance,
redemption and hope being interwoven into the storylines as
a natural part of the dialogue and character development.
In addition to terrific character development, the authors
also have a deft hand at place that instantly pulls you in
to the story and the action from the lonely apartment of an
elderly widow in a two-flat house on Beechan Street to the
swaying route of a transcontinental train. One of the best
features of the book for me is sharing the journey with
Harry, his initial responses to life events, his efforts to
discern God's hand in the zigs and zags of life and then
how he and his wife gained their insights for changing
their outlook on their personal issues of concern. As a
reviewer, I am relatively new to the Jacksons as writers;
however, that situation will soon change as I definitely
look forward to reading GROUNDED, the first book in the
series, as well reading many of their other books while I
eagerly await the third book coming out early in 2014.
There is lots of great visuals on their website and
Facebook pages, if you like to check that out. So, climb
on board and read the book! You won't regret this trip to
the Windy City Neighbors!
What a crooked path God has led Harry on to arrive at this
moment! Harry Bentley was a mess. Yet, with a second chance
for a better life, his recent marriage, he expects a smooth
road ahead. Abruptly, it feels like God is changing the road
signs-left, right, stop, go? Raising his grandson was not
part of his plan and now his son wants to move in! Derailed
is an often humorous, contemporary tale in an urban setting,
featuring characters courageously wrestling with the
spiritual and practical issues of average people. The
Neighborhood series is set on Beecham Street-a typical,
isolated, distrustful American neighborhood-where an
accident changes everyone.
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