A Bend in the Road
   Nicholas Sparks
   (Guest Reviewer - Sandi von Pier)
  2001 Warner Books
  ISBN: 0446527785


Miles Ryan's life felt like it ended the day his wife, Missy, was killed in a hit & run accident. For 2 years he continues to get up each morning to numbly take care of Jonah, their young son & carry out his duties as deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina.

Guest Reviewer Sandi von Pier writes:

He struggles with the unanswered question of who killed his wife & finds it easy to blame Otis, the town troublemaker; he just can't prove it. There's always been bad blood between them, but even Otis has never gone this far before.

Jonah has suffered with nightmares ever since the accident & has been struggling in school. The teachers haven't wanted to push him after all he's been through & although he's smart, academically he's fallen behind the other students. So a parent teacher conference is called.

That's how Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah's second grade teacher. Sarah is new to the town. She's a woman trying to rebuild her own life after a disappointing first marriage. Sarah & Miles work together to help Jonah catch up. They fall in love slowly, tentatively. They discover that their newfound love starts to soothe the pain of the past & they begin to think of a future together.

But something else binds them together beside their love.

This story is told from a unique viewpoint -- that of the driver of the car that killed Missy. Written in a journal of living with the guilt & the nightmares; of the waiting for the knock on the door; waiting to be discovered.

The murderer is unveiled late in the book when the secret can be kept no longer. Can Miles' & Sarah's new love withstand what is revealed?

A Bend In The Road is another example of why Nicholas Sparks is America's best loved & bestselling author of stories of the heart.

I understood Miles' need to know in order to move on & Jonah's feelings of loss for his Mother. I smiled when Sarah realized that Miles was trying to ask her out & helped him along. I got teary eyed when Miles & Sarah realized they were in love.

Nicholas Sparks has written a heart

breaking mystery & I highly recommend it!

More from Nicholas Sparks: Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember & many more.
(11/11/01)

Sandi von Pier
A RebeccasReads.com Guest Reviewer