This Dark Road to Mercy

Sometimes the cruelest lesson in life is the dark road to mercy we have to walk. When life doesn't had us the expectant pleasures one only hopes childhood offers. For some, childhood is just a place to be for the present moment because it offers very little else. Such is the outlook for Easter and Ruby, respectively 12 and 6-years-old who have been dealt a bad hand. Their mother commits suicide through a drug overdose, but not before she can raise her children to learn that their father abandoned them long ago. He literally signed away his rights claiming them as his children. Now forced to exist within a foster care system, their father, Wade an ex-minor league baseball player now decides this is the time to make amends with his children. Only because of the time spent living a life of wondering just where they fit in, they have become jaded to any attempts at reconciliation at this point believing foster care is better than a life with their biological dad.

No matter how hard Wade tries, it will take more that any amount of time he has to gain the trust and respect back of his daughters. So he kidnaps them instead of trying to work through their differences. He has suddenly come into a great deal of money and believes if given the time, he can have his family back. But what he doesn't understand is that there is a cost to everything in life. A cost at being a dad, a cost at being a finding a way to start over. When he unearths 250,000 dollars while working on a construction project in the basement of a client, he believes he has seed money to do just that. Now if he can only convince his daughters of his intentions.

Like all great stories, this one does involve a dark sinister villain and of course the money isn't an unexpected windfall like Wade had hoped. Once again there is a cost involved and this one may in fact place all of their lives in jeopardy when Wade learns the money he "found" belongs to a major crime boss who has now placed a hit on Wade's life. Little does Wade know that the man hired to kill him is one he has crossed darker paths with in his earlier life. Will this story win up with a happy ending? You'll have to pick this one up to truly find out. The journey is always darkest before the dawn.

I received This Dark Road to Mercy from author Wiley Cash compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publisher for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation and the opinions expressed here are my own. This book is slated for release in January of 2014, but if you like stories with a dark past that many of us often carry with us looking for not only redemption but a second chance, then this one will answer that call. I'd rate it a 4 out of 5 stars.

For more information about This Dark Road to Mercy, Wiley Cash or where to preorder a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash

You can also find Wiley Cash on Facebook to stay up to date with all his latest novels. 

To read more reviews on This Dark Road to Mercy visit William Morrow online.

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (January 28, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062088254
• ISBN-13: 978-0062088253
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches

A Land More Kind Than Home - Giveaway and Review

In his debut novel author Wiley Cash tells a chilling tragic tale from the view points of three of the main characters. The first is from Adelaide Lyle, an town's elderly midwife and healer who finds that the things that have been taking place at their local church isn't something that the children should be a part of. When she confronts the pastor, Carson Chambliss, he relents to having the children spend time with her but only if she is willing to keep the secrets of the church to herself. Seeing herself as the children's only protector, she agrees.

The second part of the story continues with a young boy named Jess who has an older brother Christopher that was born a mute. Earning the nickname Stump, which the reader will learn about later in the book, the spend their lazy summer days hunting down salamanders and just being boys in Madison County. Everything was going along perfect until Jess and Christopher spied on his mother one day and after that, nothing would ever be the same again.

The final part of the book picks up with the local town Sheriff, Clem Barefield, who has a bitter and painful past of his own being a sheriff and resident in the small rural town of Marshall. The reader will learn how this man is interconnected with the case of a lifetime when he's called into investigate a murder. What happens then will completely change everyone's lives forever.

I received A Land More Kind Than Home compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. This was an interesting story with a unique twist I can't give away but once you begin reading, the story hooks you until the very final page. In all honesty I didn't see how this plot would turn out in the end, and think that Wiley Cash did a masterful job at creating a book that readers will enjoy for his debut. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars and for those that love a bit of suspense with their murder mystery in a town that doesn't want to share their secrets, then this is a must read for you.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

Thanks to the generous folks at William Morrow, they are offering a copy as a giveaway to one lucky follower of this blog. Here's all you need to do to enter.

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. "Like" my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart and leave a comment.

3. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes!

4. Leave me a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of this book, along with your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

I will notify the winner by email once the giveaway ends on May 11th and will also post the information on my Facebook page.