Wednesday, September 5, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: MAN IN THE BLUE MOON by MICHAEL MORRIS







Man in the Blue Moon
by



ISBN:                 978-1-4143-6842-9
Release date:  September 2012


About the Book . . . 

“He’s a gambler at best. A con artist at worst,” her aunt had said of the handlebar-mustached man who snatched Ella Wallace away from her dreams of studying art in France. Eighteen years later, that man has disappeared, leaving Ella alone and struggling to support her three sons. While the world is embroiled in World War I, Ella fights her own personal battle to keep the mystical Florida land that has been in her family for generations from the hands of an unscrupulous banker. When a mysterious man arrives at Ella’s door in an unconventional way, he convinces her he can help her avoid foreclosure, and a tenuous trust begins. But as the fight for Ella’s land intensifies, it becomes evident that things are not as they appear. Hypocrisy and murder soon shake the coastal town of Apalachicola and jeopardize Ella’s family.


Book Trailer . . . 



About the Author . . .          

Michael Morris is a Southern Book Critics Award finalist whose work has been compared to Harper Lee and Flannery O'Conner by the Washington Post. His debut novel, A Place Called Wiregrass, won a Christy Award and was named an Indie Next List Great Read. His second novel, Slow Way Home, was nationally ranked as one of the top three recommended books by the same organization and named one of the best novels of the year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Michael is also the author of a novella based on the Grammy-nominated song, Live Like You Were Dying, and his work has appeared in Sonny Brewer's Stories From The Blue Moon Cafe II and in Not Safe, But Good II, an anthology edited by Bret Lott. A graduate of Auburn University, Michael also holds an MFA in creative writing from Spaulding University. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Melanie. Visit him online at www.michaelmorrisbooks.com.   



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Reader Review . . . 

Harlan Wallace has disappeared; first into an opium-induced haze, and now he has disappeared completely.  His wife Ella has been left on her own to finish raising their three sons in the Florida Panhandle town of Dead Lakes, just outside of Apalachicola. The banker, Clive Gillespie, can't wait to get his hands on Ella's property, and when it seems that Ella won't be able to meet the mortgage, a mysterious man appears and begins to help.  Soon, everyone is talking about the new man in town and his healing gift.  When his past catches up with him, the town of Dead Lakes is changed forever.

If Mark Twain and Flannery O'Connor had a son who was taught by Harper Lee and he sneaked a few Stephen King novels when they weren't looking, you would have Michael Morris.  Since I assume this didn't happen, I was left speechless.  First , it was set in my favorite Florida town, Apalachicola, and even mentioned my favorite island, St. George Island.  The Florida Panhandle has a feel and a flavor to it that you will never find in The Land of the Mouse or farther south in Miami.  Michael Morris has captured that feeling and flavor in one fantastic novel.  I could see the swampy areas, the cypress, the Spanish moss hanging from the trees in the town, and the bay emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.   His characters are so well-drawn that I could see them.  And he has developed some really quirky, interesting characters.  Characters like this only come along once...well, once in a blue moon!   

5 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Tyndale Blogger Network <http://www.mediacenter.tyndale.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”       


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