Sorrow Wood

by Raymond L. Atkins

When the charred body of a promiscuous, self-proclaimed witch is discovered at a farm called Sorrow Wood, nearly everyone in the sleepy town of Sand Valley, Alabama, is drawn into the case. As the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193475563X
• ISBN13: 9781934755631
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Medallion Press
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Should win Pulitzer

This epic tale will stay with me for a long time. As a librarian, I read several books a year but I have to say, I don't want to read anything else for a while. Nothing else could compare to this book. It was that wonderful.

Excellent story, lives up to its title in several different ways

Who said small-town life couldn't be exciting? Raymond L. Atkins paints a vivid landscape with expansive, yet small Sand Valley, Alabama, a town monitored by policeman Wendell Blackmon and his wife, probate judge Reva. Together, the pair maintain the town's order, keeping animal-fighting rednecks Otter and Deadhand in line and the extramarital issues of many a townsperson behind closed doors. However, when Sorrow Wood, a nearby farm, catches ablaze and leaves behind a charred body, Sand Valley is turned upside down, making even the unlikeliest of folks a suspect. What's most interesting about the story is the way in which it is told; using alternating chapters to jump from the present time to the past and back, the reader gradually becomes more and more well-acquainted with the Blackmons and their history together, opening the door for the shocking and unexpected ending. Beautifully written with bouts of hilarity only a small-town native could truly appreciate (and perhaps relate to), Sorrow Wood is another ballpark home run for Atkins. - T.C. Robson

on a par with the epics of Barbara Delinsky and Danielle Steele

Wendell Blackmon left home when he was sixteen after he tossed his abusive father into a well. Reva lost her parents and had her leg amputated due to a drunken train engineer. Wendell is sailing in the South pacific, but comes home because his ship needs repair. He and Reva meet in a bar and feel an instant connection as if they lived and loved in past lives. On the second date, Wendell proposes because he loves her and wants to be a father to her son. She accepts and they marry before he has to ship out again. When he returns, they start their life together, but just as they adapt, he is called up again and sent to Korea. When he returns this time, they move to Sand Valley, Alabama where he becomes the police chief. After decades of no violent crime, a murder occurs of a woman who claimed to be a free spirited witch; her burned remains found on Sorrow Wood land. Wendell investigates only each clue about the mysterious woman and her violent death leads back to his and Reva'spast. This is the story of two ordinary people who fall in love and marry. Yet as everyday as that sounds; their tale is very poignant reminiscent of Erich Segal's Love Story. The story line takes place during WW II, the Korean Police Action, and up to 1995 when the homicide occurs. Though the police procedural suspense comes late, fans will enjoy love through the ages on a par with the epics of Barbara Delinsky and Danielle Steele. Harriet Klausner

Better than anything else I've read this year!

What could be better than great Southern fiction that includes both a love story and a mystery told with humor and emotion? I read this book in four hours, and then wanted to pick it back up and read it again. Atkins is a wonderful storyteller,he has a gift for creating characters that you would love to spend time with.

Phenomenal!

I opened this book last night and couldn't put it down! Raymond Atkins is the Bard of Northwest Georgia! His dry sense of humor, intelligent prose and charming observations are like jewels being mined by your brain. After marvelling at what you have read and how it is written, surprise! You've found another. Roll over, Mark Twain!