A Son Comes Home by Joseph Bentz

Chris LaRue has returned to his hometown in Indiana for the first time since his brother David died tragically in a car crash. Chris finds his family the same as they were when he left. His ex-fiancee is still there, unmarried. Nothing has changed. Except his sister Robin. Robin confides a dark secret to Chris-she is pregnant by one of their father's young friends, Bobby. Chris observes that Bobby has been acting as a replacement for David to their father, since his father always loved David more than Chris. Robin fears for her father, because of his recent heart attack, if she tells him.

The first half of the novel basically fills time by introducing the characters and their pasts. As usual with Joseph Bentz, most of his characters have personalities, and none of them are perfect. However, nothing else worthwhile is accomplished in the first half of the book.

At the beginning of the second half is where things start to get interesting. Several bad choices are made by main characters, leading to interesting circumstances that do not end in a perfect fashion. Chris also reveals to the reader a long, complicated story about him and David that serves to explain several previously unknown aspects.

The end tops the book off complete with the originality Joseph was lacking in Cradle of Dreams and At Close of Day. He finally learned how to write a realistic end instead of a perfect, fluffy end. This is probably why people don't talk about A Son Comes Home.

But Joseph Bentz is nonetheless an underrated author who deserves more attention than some of the more popular authors on the market. However, the wasted time at the beginning of the book keep this book away form five stardom.

4 stars

Cradle of Dreams by Joseph Bentz

Bentz seems to be settling into his new genre pretty well. He has a talented way of crafting interesting family situations filled with good characters.
Cradle of Dreams is one of those such books. It tells the story of a couple nearing their forties with a dilemma on their hands: they have no children. They can't have children. The book tells of how they try everything they can think of the have children: in vitro, surgery, pills, patience. But none of it is working so they finally come down to their last straw: adoption. This begins a whole new world for the two of them.
Both of them being such good characters makes this book interesting to read. If they weren't any good, than this book would have been a waste of time. Bentz does a good job of sprinkling other events into this book besides just trying to have children.
The main problem with the book is the end. I think Bentz panicked on this one. Where the plot was imperfect, the end made it all perfect. Everything turned out crystal clear and smooth. There were several things he should have changed about it.
Even though this book is not an Elite book for that reason, it's still not a bad book and is worth reading.
3 stars

At Close of Day by Joseph Bentz

At Close of Day consists of several first-person accounts, each one being the member of a certain family whose father has just suffered a severe stroke. While in the hospital, he lets a secret he and his wife had been keeping for over twenty years out of the bag: he has a second family, one that preceded the one he has now. His three grown daughters are shocked that they now suddenly have two living siblings who want to see them.
This is a character based plot, though the characters are not on the level of Kristen Heitzmann's Secrets and Unforgotten. At times, they are actually annoying. But every body's human. There was one character in particular that was a little overdone and not believable, however.
There are several surprises in this plot, but otherwise, it's just realistic, everyday life. Basically, Joseph Bentz is a better author than some authors on the market that are more popular than him.
3 stars