A riveting new story of heroism, heartache, and the power of love to heal all wounds.Murphy Shepherd is a man with many secrets. He lives alone on an island, tending the grounds for a church with no parishioners, and he’s dedicated his life to rescuing those in peril. But as he mourns the loss of his mentor and friend, Murph himself may be more lost than he realizes.When he pulls a beautiful … realizes.
When he pulls a beautiful woman named Summer out of Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, Murph’s mission to lay his mentor to rest at the end of the world takes a dangerous turn. Drawn to Summer, and desperate to find her missing daughter, Murph is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark and dangerous world of modern-day slavery.
With help from some unexpected new friends, including a faithful Labrador he plucks from the ocean and an ex-convict named Clay, Murph must race against the clock to locate the girl before he is consumed by the secrets of his past–and the ghosts who tried to bury them.
With Martin’s trademark lyricism and poignant prose, The Water Keeper is at once a tender love story a heartrending search for freedom, and a reminder that the needs of the one outweigh those of the ninety-nine.
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In The Water Keeper Charles Martin crafts a compelling story with skill and sensitivity. Open the pages of this book and you’ll enter the world of characters caught up in a real-life drama that grips the heart. As with all of Charles’s books you never finish it — you continue to live there in your own imagination. Current fans won’t be disappointed; new readers will understand why Charles Martin is on the short list of contemporary authors I recommend above all others.
My first read by the cELebRaTeD author (ignore my ignorance abt that, but am glad I finally read his work, it’s fabulous)!
A bit lengthy, but worth every bit. A perfect page-turner with love, emotions, thrill all over the place.
A riveting new story of heroism, heartache, and the power of love to heal all wounds. Murphy Shepherd is a man with many secrets. He lives alone on an island, tending the grounds of a church with no parishioners, and he’s dedicated his life to rescuing those in peril. But as he mourns the loss of his mentor and friend, Murph himself may be more lost than he realizes.
When he pulls a beautiful woman named Summer out of Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, Murph’s mission to lay his mentor to rest at the end of the world takes a dangerous turn. Drawn to Summer, and desperate to find her missing daughter, Murph is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark and dangerous world of modern-day slavery.
With help from some unexpected new friends, including a faithful Labrador he plucks from the ocean and an ex-convict named Clay, Murph must race against the clock to locate the girl before he is consumed by the secrets of his past—and the ghosts who tried to bury them.
With Charles Martin’s trademark lyricism and poignant prose, THE WATER KEEPER is at once a tender love story and a heartrending search for freedom. A beautiful read
“The Water Keeper” is the first in the Murphy Shepherd books from Charles Martin. I was not expecting this. The plot is a subject that we as Christians should not shirk from. It involves sex trafficking. This is a very real thing in this day and time. Charles Martin manages to cover it with sympathy and grace. Lives are shattered but God’s love and grace help put the broken back together. Yes, there is violence, there has to be when dealing with the traffickers; there is also love, the biggest restorer of life.
As always the gospel message is a constant thread throughout and I thank him for that. I hope there is a “Murphy Shepherd” out there somewhere for the real victims enduring this life right now.
I’m embarrassed to admit that The Water Keeper is the first book I’ve read by Charles Martin. After finishing this story, I immediately started collecting every story I could find by him! There’s just something about his writing style that makes me want to keep reading.
I was drawn into this novel from the first page. I wanted to know everyone’s story immediately, but you have to be patient because Mr. Martin gives you just enough to keep you wanting more. The wait is totally worth it once you get to the end and see how all the threads of this story come together! Some things I guessed, but others totally threw me for a loop! The secondary characters really added to this story.
I cannot wait to catch up on Mr. Martin’s backlist that I have accumulated since finishing this story!
A hard topic to read about, but the author handled it well. Pretty predictable though. Kind of Jack Reacher/priest.
Love his books
This book is a little of everything–romance, mystery, suspense–and Charles Martin definitely knows how to tug at the heartstrings! There are so many twists and turns as new characters join Murphy on his quest, which becomes the rescue of a girl caught up in human trafficking. I kept jumping from the story to Google Earth to better picture the scenes as he journeys by boat along Florida’s rivers and Intracoastal Waterway from Jacksonville all the way to Key West, A true page-turner with a moving and fully satisfying ending.
(If you’re an animal lover, no worries. There are some scary moments, but Mr. Martin won’t disappoint.)
Charles Martin is a genius at building characters and showing how those characters relate to each other and are intertwined throughout the story. Very heart warming and draws you in deeper and deeper to know the ending.
Really enjoyed this book and will read the next in the sequel.
Amazing book! Words not enough to describe it. Must be experienced. Can hardly wait to read another by Charles Martin!
I love books by Charles Martin. His books are so informative and well researched. I always feel a little bit smarter after reading one of his books. This book was so interesting and I can’t wait for the next book in the series. I highly recommend it.
The Water Keeper by Charles Martin is a different sort of novel for this author. I started reading it with great expectations. I found the premise of the story interesting, even though it was very dark. Passages here and there were beautifully written as I expected, but the story never came together for me. The characters were not very likeable or believable. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.
I love Charles Martin’s writing style, and subject matter was timely and relevant. The ending seemed a bit drawn out, but that is more personal preference than anything. I like how he develops flawed characters that are ultimately redeemable.
Honestly, this one didn’t hit as hard as other Martin books have in the past. Maybe I’m just used to other emotional reads and this one wasn’t quite as…I don’t know…evocative, maybe?
The fact remains, however, that the plot and premise were FANTASTIC. Murphy Shepherd, a priest who is way more than meets the eye, secretly working for the government to save young girls from traffickers? Sooooo good.
Anyway. I really enjoyed Murphy’s character. Matter-of-fact, didn’t let emotions get in the way of common sense (but often throwing common sense out the window if someone needed help), huge heart for helping people. His heartbreaking backstory and how it led him to where he is now was just…*cries* GUYS THIS POOR DUDE. Such a broken lil’ cinnamon roll.
Summer was an endearing character…at first I thought she’d grate on my nerves, but nah. I actually liked her (me? Actually liking the strong female character in the story? *gasp* shocking, I know), and there was one of her quotes that I especially appreciated…something about how in a marriage, the man leads and the woman is beside him as a partner, ’cause you can’t have two leaders. Or something like that.
The one thing that bothered me the most about this book was the fact that since Murphy was hunting down a trafficking ring, there was talk of a lot of half-naked (or completely naked) people. I know it’s realistic, but it personally made me slightly uncomfortable. My hyperactive imagination didn’t leave much room for guessing, heh.
But the fight scenes? *grins* YASSSSS. I ain’t gonna lie, when good ol’ Murph got injured (I’m gonna try to avoid giving away spoilers here), I’m just like “I feel sorry for ya dude but NOW PEOPLE CAN COME LOVE ON YOU” and I just wanted to go join him in laying in hammocks. ‘Cause I haven’t lain in a hammock in y e a r s. Random but true fact that you probably didn’t wanna know.
One thing that confused me was the whole part about Fingers and Marie and all that. I know that it was supposed to be a little bit confusing, but there were a few things that just didn’t make sense until the end that I would’ve liked to have found out before that. But it wasn’t too bad so I can’t really complain. *shrugs*
Also let’s just have a moment of appreciation for Bones.
Charles Martin delivers again! An awesome read & and intense page turner.
I don’t think Charles Martin would know how to write an ugly sentence if he tried. He’s one of my favorite authors and this riveting book doesn’t disappoint. Beautifully written with a message alluding to the parable of the lost sheep.
This book seemed to be a little more suspenseful than his others, which I enjoyed. The topic of sex trafficking was difficult to read about, but important and illuminating. While I had trouble connecting with a couple of the characters, I would still highly recommend this book.
I just like Charles Martins books and style of writing. I have read all of his and not been disappointed with any of them.
This is a heart-pounding, bumpy read that is also redemptive and hopeful. Charles Martin has become one of my favorite authors. His stories tackle tough subjects, but he always manages to infuse his stories with an extraordinary imagination and literary prowess. I appreciate that this story casts a broad light on the horrors of sex-trafficking, but in the process I found characters I’d like to hang out with. I found characters who invest their lives in extraordinary sacrifice. Finally, if you appreciate the importance of setting in stories, Charles Martin crafts immersive settings alongside the energetic stories. You’ll love this book. My only thought, is that the ending puzzled me slightly. But maybe that’s the intent. It caused me to ponder various meanings. I did listen to this on audio. The narrator Jonathan K. Riggs did a great job.
Charles Martin’s books are among my favorites. This particular story took more of a suspense thread than his previous books. The characters are interesting, the action is very present, and the storyline weaves a strong thread of love and togetherness.
In all, it’s a very enjoyable read.
I loved the writing in this book. The way Martin explained love and using the healing properties of water was brilliant. I loved the way spiritual truths were layered within the plot. This is a story of broken people and the way in which they struggle to give and receive love. As mad as I wanted to get at Murph for continuing to love and forgive Marie, that is unconditional love. My one big complaint is that I felt the things Marie did in the book were way over the top and very unrealistic. For most of the book I was so glad to see the sex trafficking happening in South Florida brought out on the open because I think it is such an important discussion to be having right now but then I found myself very disappointed by some of the over the top antics in the rescues which felt more unrealistic and more to the tune of over the top blockbuster movies. I felt like it took away some from the important message on trafficking. I loved the characters we meet along the way in Summer and Clay and Gunner the dog. They brought some healing and depth to Murph’s life. Murph had been trying to heal his broken heart a long time in ways that were very healing to others but still leaving him broken.
I waffled so much in how I wanted to rate this book. It was a full 5 stars for me about 70% through and then it lost me some in the unrealistic things I felt took us so far from what the author was trying to convey that I was leaning more towards 3 stars but the ending got me again and I was really understanding the message Martin was trying to convey and I thought it wrapped up beautifully. Certainly it was not in a pretty package wrapped with a bow but life is rarely like that. I found it overall to be thought provoking and heart felt and I absolutely loved the themes of love, forgiveness, friendship, loss, grief and fighting for the one.