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
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If Charles Martin writes it, I want to read it. Every book is completely different and totally good.
Anything Charles Martin writes is going to be a lovely read, and this was no exception. Well done!
The woman hadn’t let her guard down in a long time. I’d been there. You can kill my body and you’d be doing me a favor, but kill my soul and there’s no remedy for the pain. And when you’re in that place, and the pain is real bad, and you’ve been leaning into the thing causing it so long that you don’t know how to do anything other than lean, hope and hopelessness blur and you lose sight of who’s trying to hurt you and who’s trying to help. Sometimes you need somebody to stand between you and the sharp thing that hurts. To lean for you.
The 3 R’s- Rescue, Reconciliation, and Redemption always spells out sacrifice. The story of one man and those that are impacted him whether they know it or not.
Joseph has isolated himself in mountain cabin. Running from evil, the pain of a broken heart. He rescues a mother and her two children as they are running from a Mexican drug lord. Here illegally, her only option is to run. It helping them from his mountain home to Florida, that he is compelled to the beach where he finds his childhood sweetheart Allie. Allie has just lost her second husband in a horrific crash. Her first husband was Joseph’s brother Bobby who is now a State Senator. Together they piece the broken parts of their life. Each learning to trust the other. To find the innocence they once had.
Thru the narration, Allie and Joseph had difficult childhoods that they were drawn to each other as friends. When Bobby was drafted to Vietnam, Joseph’s mother had asked him to take his brother to Canada. Joseph left Allie behind with a promise to return. Upon entering the military and protecting his own brother, he did several tours that did him emotionally and physically. Upon coming back, he found his Allie married to his brother and to heal his broken heart he started many ventures. He also started to listen to Suzy on the radio. Suzy spoke to his soul as she too was hurting from the Vietnam war. She had lost a father she never knew.
A crescendo of fate that brought redemption thru sacrifice. Charles Martin is so good in communicating the broken heart. How they find each other and heal from each other. With Joseph, I felt he was a contradiction in his retaliation with his adopted family, however, he somewhat paints a picture of the condition of man and the gospel. Not a full picture but the need of the gospel. Of forgiveness and the value of others. What love really means in sacrifice. In the novels I have read so far, Martin hardly mentions God, salvation but his words hit home with our condition for something more. Which always leads me to wanting to read more of Charles of Martin.
A Special Thank You to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
I have loved everything I have read from him so far!!
This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. I highly recommend it!
Wonderful book. Love the way the author wove forgiveness through the story. The main character was far from perfect but still showed such redemptive love to his brother giving undeserved mercy rather than punishment. A picture of God’s grace. A beautiful book.
This book was hard to get into but perseverance paid off! A great read, as are every Charles Martin book I have read!
I received a copy of this book from The Fiction Guild. I was not required to give a favorable review. This was a wonderful story about second chances at life, love and just living. Each of the characters in this story touch you in different way. Yes Joseph is a Vietnam vet, but think about what is happening with some of the vets that all come home from different wars. And to have the ability to help someone who has had bad things happen to her and her children bring all thoughts around. Thank you for a wonderful written story,
Really enjoyed this book. Have loved all of his books.
I loved this book and have recommended it to others. It follows a man broken by the Vietnam war and the good that does for others without ever forgiving himself for what he has done in his past.
Charles Martin is a master story teller! His books are captivating, as he begins to weave the story, developing his characters along the way. I have read 3 of his books now and each one has been hard to put down. I look forward to the next one!
Charles Martin is in a class of his own. I love the depth of his characters, the life lessons he always teaches, and the excellence of his writing skills and storytelling. I think I’ve read every one of his books, many of which I’ve read more than once. Thank you, Charles Martin, for using the talent God gave you to enrich your readers.
Moving
Great Book!
Awesome! Went out and got another book by Charles Martin immediately after reading this one! Highly, highly recommend this one!
Send Down the Rain is an excellent novel of healing and second chances. Described that way, it may seem like the story is trite or typical, but I assure you, it’s definitely not. The back cover copy may make you think that this story is about Allie, and it is in a way. But it’s really about Joseph, a Vietnam veteran, a solider whose government denies his very existence. Plagued by memories and dreams of his time in a country that he wasn’t supposed to be in, doing things that would shatter the staunchest heart, Joseph is alone. By being alone, he can keep himself from both harming others and moving on and healing – happiness and closure he feels he doesn’t deserve for being the one who got to come home.
Joseph is such a strong character. His voice is so clear and distinct. When I would put the book down, I’d blink with the realization that he wasn’t actually a real person. He’s strong, in that he will protect others even if it means death for himself, yet vulnerable and unsure about how he will respond to the most mundane, day-t0-day situations. Afraid of his response to life in general, he has stayed away from Allie, his first love, until a chance occurrence sends him home because he knows she needs help, and if it’s in his power to do so, Joseph feels compelled to help others.
The plot seems straightforward at first, but there are actually a lot of twists and turns that make it hard to put the book down. Truly there is a bit of everything in this story – love, friendship, sacrifice, and what it means to be a family. Martin chooses to tells some aspects of the story out of sequence, which almost fits the way Joseph’s character chooses to acknowledge certain events, many significant turning points in his life. Allie seems to be the one constant in his life, despite many years of separation and misunderstanding. Many times I think if he’d just spoken instead of watched in silence, things might have turned out different for him.
If anything keeps this from being 5 stars is that some of it seemed almost a little far-fetched. I know it’s fiction, but there were a few things that did feel like they could have only happened in a novel. In a story that felt otherwise realistic and altogether real, those things stood out to me. Other readers may not feel that way though, and it’s definitely not enough to keep me from recommending this story. It does deal candidly and realistically with PTSD as an after effect of Joseph’s several tours in Vietnam. It manifests itself in ways that are both dangerous to others and heartbreaking to Joseph, so if you’re not in the mood to read about that, probably wait to pick this up.
I’ve only read two novels by Charles Martin thus far, and this one is my favorite, though Long Way Gone is very good and recommended as well. If you have any recommendation as to which of his books I should pick up next, let me know!
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a review, positive or otherwise. This review is my honest opinion.
Charles Martin has done it again. His characters and their stories grab you. It was so hard to put the book down. And when I thought I had things figured out, a new twist would be presented.
A master at storytelling, this will not disappoint readers. Who does not have secrets, with time in the Vietnam war, he also has many scars, and loosing the woman he loved. Staying in a lone cabin, while his brother is a senator, and is known. Seeing the explosion, reuniting with a woman and lost dreams, will the secret destroy that too. A powerful story of an inner strength to continue on, when one has secrets, and has lost so much It will be an emotional read for readers and be glad they read, again one of his books. Given ARC copy by Fiction Guild- Thomas Nelson for my voluntary review and my honest opinion.
Ellen Oceanside
Absolutely Fabulous…Couldn’t put it down!!!
I love all of Charles Martin books.