Michael Morris

Dear Readers,

Michael Morris released a couple of fiction books about 10 years ago.  I read them both and really enjoyed them.  I knew I had found an author I was going to look forward to reading again.  I just didn't know it was going to be so long until his next one, Man in the Blue Moon, came out.

I think the thing I love the most about Michael's writing is his ability to place the readers right next to his characters.  As I was reading the story, I could almost feel the hot humid weather of the Florida summer.  I could smell the smells from the swamp area he was talking about.  I got tired alongside of the family while they were cutting down trees.  That bone weary tired that happens only when you are working hard in hot weather.  I love books that can do that.

The story is set in Florida during WWI.  To be honest the book has very little to do with the war, I only mention it for a time reference.  The story is about Ella who is struggling to hold onto her family's home and land after her husband ran off.  He had mortgage the land to the local banker who is, to say it mildly, slightly corrupt.  He wants her land in order to sell it to a revival pastor. 

When Lanier shows up in the most unlikely way, Ella has to decide if she trusts him or not.  He has an idea for saving the land, but will they be able to get the money in time to save it? 

This is one of those stories that you just kind of immerse yourself in.  You are along as a witness to what happens, so that maybe at some point you will share the story with someone else.  The funny thing about stories that are set in the Deep South during the hottest months of the year, they move at a slower pace and yet that is what makes them so good. 

Happy Reading