New York Times bestselling author Martin offers us “grace, mercy, and forgiveness in this sweeping love story.” Allie is still recovering from the loss of her family’s beloved waterfront restaurant on Florida’s Gulf Coast when she loses her second husband to a terrifying highway accident. Devastated and losing hope, she shudders to contemplate the future–until a cherished person from her past … cherished person from her past returns.
Joseph has been adrift for many years, wounded in both body and spirit and unable to come to terms with the trauma of his Vietnam War experiences. Just as he resolves to abandon his search for peace and live alone at a remote cabin in the Carolina mountains, he discovers a mother and her two small children lost in the forest. A man of character and strength, he instinctively steps in to help them get back to their home in Florida. There he will return to his own hometown–and witness the accident that launches a bittersweet reunion with his childhood sweetheart, Allie.
When Joseph offers to help Allie rebuild her restaurant, it seems the flame may reignite–until a forty-five-year-old secret begins to emerge, threatening to destroy all hope for their second chance at love.
In Send Down the Rain, Charles Martin proves himself to be a storyteller of great wisdom and compassion who bears witness to the dreams we cherish, the struggles we face, and the strengths we must summon when life seems to threaten what we hold most dear.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Charles Martin never fails to ask and answer the questions that linger deep within all of us.” –Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author, for Long Way Gone
“Charles Martin understands the power of story and he uses it to alter the souls and lives of both his characters and his readers.” –Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author
- Full-length, stand-alone novel
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
- From the author of The Mountain Between Us and Where the River Ends
more
My take on Charles Martin’s newest release, Send Down the Rain. I liked it in the end… but it wasn’t what I expected. Watch here to find out why: http://www.carlalaureano.com/2minbookreview-send-down-the-rain/
I highly recommend this book. Charles Martin has written another great,heartbreaking,heartwarming,suspenseful novel with a surprise ending.i highly recommend it!
I have now read all of Charles Martin’s books I think. His works are page turners and when you start one of his books, you can’t put it down. Then I am always sad when I have finished. Having said that, his books are not cliff hangers – I just want them to never end. My favorite author by far
Charles Martin is a wonderful author. However, Send Down the Rain, in my opinion, is not up to par with all of his previous books. It is still a good read!
Send Down the Rain is an unusual story in many ways. It starts decades ago with two brothers the day their father moves out, then jumps forward to the present. The first part shows three different characters, and it wasn’t until about a quarter of the way through that it became clear who the main character was.
Joseph is a 63-year-old Vietnam war veteran who has been running for more years than seems possible. We get to know him only gradually, as the story bounces back and forth between his past and his present, highlighting his failures (and sometimes his successes), his weaknesses and sometimes his strengths. He’s a strong narrator because he is weak: he’s humble and unpretentious and focuses more on what he’s done wrong than what he’s done right.
I got to about the 90% point in this book and thought it was good, but it hadn’t reached the heights of The Mountain Between Us (now a major movie starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba) or Long Way Gone (a modern retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son).
But by the time I finished Send Down the Rain I had changed my mind.
It’s at least as good as these, but the power builds up and up and only bites at the end. There isn’t an obvious Christian thread or an overt parallel with a Bible story (as there was in Long Way Gone). Send Down the Rain is more of an exploration of love, loyalty, and family, a story of sacrifice and second chances. And that pretty much sums up the gospel.
An outstanding novel of love and faithfulness, in Martin’s trademark understated yet compelling style. Recommended. Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
Charles Martin continues to amaze me. My first reaction after finishing this new book of his was “Wow!” It’s different from his other books in many ways (which I can’t tell you without giving away too much), but he still makes the reader laugh, cry, gasp, and hang on for dear life.
It took me a little while to get into the story, due to the fact that he weaves together 3 major plot threads which seem to be miles apart at first. The weaving gets kind of tangled at times, and I wondered how he was ever going to resolve everything. Just when things seemed to be working out, he’d throw in another plot twist!
It also amazes me how Martin can write so knowledgeably about things he’s never experienced personally.
I highly recommend “Send Down the Rain,” but be warned that it will be hard to put down.
” . . . . .I built myself a cabin . . . . on a property that shouldered Mount Mitchell. And there I have spent my days quietly, trying not to think about the life I left behind.”
Decorated Vietnam War veteran Joseph Brooks planned to live out the remainder of his days deeply secluded within the mountains of North Carolina, until the primal scream of a young child awakens his senses. After rescuing a mother and her two children from a ruthless drug lord, Joseph returns to the place where memories of long walks on the beach, and the love of his life, slithered away with the ravages of war.
Allie Gibson has just lost her second husband in an horrific highway accident just miles from their home on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Her entire life has literally gone up in smoke; she has no money, no family, and very few friends. When Joseph finds her, she has collapsed on the beach, looking nothing like the girl he left behind.
Charles Martin has the uncanny ability to paint his stories with the swath of a very wide brush, bringing characters to life who manage to outlive themselves. This beautifully written book has enough strategically thrown curve balls to fill nine innings of baseball, but oddly enough they are quite comforting, rather then confounding, because of the messages they carry .. . . “evil won’t kill evil . . . . not ever” . . . and “love rushes in where others won’t . . . . and “thank you . . .for giving me what I needed. . . . And not what I deserved.”
Yes Lord, “please send down the rain”.
I am a forever can of Charles Martin.
His books are truly the best writings, no matter the story line.
You never can guess or imagine the ending as so many books I read I know what’s coming or close to it..
With Mr. Martin’s books, ending do not leave unanswered questions, and there is no steamy love affairs, mean nasty characters, just really wonderful stories. Plus you really feel you know each person, the areas you visit make you really there.
Never read one of his or David Johnson’s K could not give a A+ too.
Enjoy. Books are our best entertainment.
This is the first book I’ve read by Mr. Martin but I had heard his storytelling was great. I was not disappointed.
Everyone has secrets but Joseph has more than anyone. He is a Vietnam veteran who didn’t really want to fight the war but did his job. He did and saw things that he can’t reconcile his mind and soul with. After four tours of duty he didn’t know what to do with his life now. “As hard as I’d tried, I knew that the evil in me was still there, still bubbling beneath the surface . . . .I had this funny feeling that killing myself wouldn’t kill it. It’d just jump from me to someone else. I’d seen it happen . ..So I thought If I just go away, take it with me, it can’t hurt anyone else”. So that is what he did. He went up into the mountains and lived in a small cabin with his dog, Roscoe, and lived a solitary life, his only happiness it seemed was enjoying nature and his dog and a certain radio show hosted by Suzy, who reached out to war veterans.
No matter how hard he tries trouble just seems to find Joseph, “Jo Jo” as everyone calls him. He finds a woman and her two children in the snow outside his cabin and rescues them. She was running from a man who had traumatized and brutalized her and her children, she was also an illegal immigrant. He helps the Catalina and her kids find her brother in Florida and begin a new life with her family.
A long time ago Joseph had left his childhood sweetheart, Allie, behind when he went to war. Now he hears about the explosion of a huge tanker and knows that it is close to where Allie lives and in his heart he knows that he has to return to her. The truck explosion killed Allie’s second husband, she feels responsible for the way she had treated him and the last words that she said to him. Joseph helps her to reconcile her feelings, rebuild her restaurant and get back on her feet.
Everyone he touches he seems to help heal. The only one he can’t forgive or heal, is himself. This is a multi-layered story with many characters that were all well drawn. They were unique and yet identifiable, easy to relate to. Mr. Martin writes with such humanity, such emotion, that I got caught up in each individual story and was wondering how it would all come together.
When you learn of all that Joseph has been holding in his heart you will begin to understand the many ways that he suffered. This is his story but the PTSD in many veterans is also addressed here. It is about loyalty, love, shame, forgiveness. The ending is one I will not soon forget and I am still thinking about this story long after I’ve finished reading.
I received an ARC of this story through the publisher and Edelweiss.
A book hangover is said to be the inability to start a new book because you are still emotionally attached to the previous one.
Once again, Charles Martin has given me a hangover.
Charles Martin is, for me, that author whose book I will buy without question. No synopsis needed. No reviews read. As an author, he has proven himself to me without a shadow of a doubt that his stories will amaze me.
Send Down the Rain is no different. A Vietnam vet with a questionable past, an illegal immigrant doing her best to keep her family safe, and a widow trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Martin puts you there, in the moment, as soon as your eyes rest on his words. He takes you away and places you in that remote cabin in the woods or in Florida, along the coast. He has the ability to transport you like no one I’ve ever read. And I haven’t even gotten to the characters in any sort of detail yet.
He makes you care. About people who don’t truly exist, not really. They are but characters, who are this illusion of something real. Because they could be real. And that little bit of realism makes you care like you didn’t even know you could. Jo-Jo is still on my mind, and I think he will be for some time.
Send Down the Rain is a story of love, loss, and redemption. You’d be a fool not to read it.
This is the best book I have read all year. Keep them coming Mr.Martin
Another good one by Charles Martin. Many twists and turns in the story. You fall in love with the hero, then learn some bad things about him, then more good things, so you change your mind. Just as it looks like everything is going to be fine, another tragedy happens. And just when you think all is lost, something wonderful happens! I never tire of Charles Martin’s novels.
Wow! Charles Martin NEVER disappoints, and this may be his best yet. He managed to reach right in and touch my soul. Read this. You won’t be sorry.
Great book! Grabs you at the very beginning with a startling subplot and then just when you think you have it figured out, throws a twist at you! It’s a great story about brotherly love. I immediately reread it and I’ll recommend it to my book club for sure!
Charles Martin is one of those authors where you can automatically buy every new book he writes and be assured it will be a good one. Send Down the Rain was another wonderful addition to my “Martin” library. He has such a talent for spinning a multi-level story by making relatable characters and a story line that takes you on a journey through the lives of those characters to show how their pasts brought them to where they are in the story. The story centers around a main character whose life has been forever changed by the effects of the Viet Nam war and how one event in his life altered the lives of all the other characters in the story. Beautifully written and brought me to tears at the end. Couldn’t put it down until I’d finished the last page. I would highly recommend this as well as any of Charles’ books. He is a gifted story teller for sure.
Awesome read. Unable to put it down.
This is my first Charles Martin book and WOW! It is, hands down, the best thing I’ve read in quite awhile. Nowhere near predictable. Surprises at every turn. I cannot possibly write a review to do this book justice.
Joseph (JoJo) has such compassion and a caring heart. He suffers greatly, before allowing anyone he cares about to. Even to the point that much of his suffering is all based on a lie by someone once very close to him.
Allie and JoJo were friends from childhood, with JoJo and his brother Bobby even coming to her rescue from her drunken dad. Life took them different places and it was oh, so great when life brought them together once again forty-five years later.
PTSD issues and a reminder for all of us on the reception our Vietnam veterans received when coming back home. Heart-wrenching.
Great ending, except for Rosco.
This story took me through so many emotions.
Charles Martin has so many characters in this story with their lives all woven together. Amazing talent! I will be reading more of his books!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Not all casualties of the Vietnam war were fatal. Deep emotional and psychological casualties were brought home. This is the story of how two brothers reconciled their relationship after one of them came home from the war and the other became a senator. The story flips back and forth through their memories of growing up with a single mom to their present day situations. It is also a love story to be reckoned with. For one of the brothers.
Send Down The Rain Is a story of P TSD, secrets, being in a loveless marriage and loss. Joseph is a Vietnam vet who has secluded himself from the woman he loved and the brother he loved. He finds a woman in the woods with a child running from – – Hey wait I can’t tell you everything, you will be surprised thugh – believe you me. What does Joseph do? What about his brother and the woman he loves? Do things work out? I received a copy of this book from the Publisher and Netgalley;; all of the opinions expressed in this review are all my own.
if you would like to read more of my Christian book reviews go to christianlybookreviewers.blogspot.com – I look forward to seeing you there.
I’ve yet to find a Martin book I didn’t fall in love with. His use of language weaves a tapestry so magical… it’s impossible to not be drawn into the world and fall in love with the characters. We’re all broken, and Mr Martin doesn’t hide ay flaws. True redemption story.