In All Deep Places by Susan Meissner

Luke Foxbourne is a popular mystery author who is currently experiencing a bout of writer's block. His normal life is interrupted when his father dies of a stroke back in Luke's hometown. Luke returns there, not only because of his father, but to also discover what happened to his old stories, hoping they will cure his writer's block. But as he reads his stories, unpleasant childhood memories surface on the waters of his mind and he remembers the girl next door to him-Norah, one of the only friends he had, and the first girl he kissed. But something happened directly before their parting that makes Luke want to mend the breach where they left off. But first, he must relive his past and reconcile it at the same time.

In All Deep Places

is heavily marketed as one of those books about an author with writer's block who begins to see his characters in real life, but it is really not that at all. It's one of those return-to-your-hometown-and-relive-your-past-books. Normally I would say this brand of book is worn out, but Susan, as usual, has found an original way to end this otherwise typical plot.

As usual, Susan has crafted a cast of realistic and imperfect characters. They all have visible flaws, and they all make wrong choices that lead to the non-typical end. Susan has learned how to write this type of plot very well, and this is an asset to her as an author.

The book spends 90% of the time in the past, which is contrary to what I've heard people say about this book. Luke and Norah live brutally realistic lives in the small town of Halycon. Things happen there that most authors are afraid to write because they don't want to scare away readers. But In All Deep Places was a book that needed to be written. The central point of the book is that God has put eternity in the hearts of men and we were created for something better. This also is backed up by the original end.

Most authors are afraid to write an end like the end of this book because they don't want to rock the boat or they are afraid they will get bad reviews. I am not going to give this book a bad review because Susan stepped out of the box of this type of story and did the realistic thing without looking back. The market has been suffering for authors like this, but there are more of these authors now than ever. The market it becoming more original with every year.

I hope authors read this original book and learn how to be original from it. I also hope Susan will continue writing books like this.

5 stars