Heaven Again — H.C. Turk

Six-year-old Jeanine Alden is murdered by Frank Hynek. He is tried and convicted. During the sentencing hearing, the girl's father, Glenn, kills Hynek. Though tried for this killing, Glenn is acquitted. During a news conference, Frank's sister, Sarah Tolbert, swears vengeance against Glenn. A radio DJ by profession, Glenn quits talking and walks away. He ends up 200 miles from home on a ranch.

Glenn also walked away from his wife, Janet. She is left to pay for their new home on her salary working at a women's clinic. Unlike Glenn, Janet will not give up on her life. She receives ugly calls from strangers who blame Janet for her daughter's death. She works seven days a week to occupy her mind. She wears the same outfit each day because Glenn bought it for her. After Janet reviles a woman for not paying her bill, the clinic owner tells Janet to attend counseling, or quit. At the counseling session, Janet has a nervous breakdown.

The story portrays Glenn's slow emotional healing and Janet's simultaneous deterioration. After nine months without speaking, Glenn is ready to return home, and Janet can no longer survive without him. On his way home, however, Glenn sees his daughter. Glenn follows her to a motel, where Sarah Tolbert waits. Intending to torment her brother's killer, Sarah found a girl who closely resembles dead Jeanine. But deluded Glenn is convinced that his daughter never died. He barricades the three in the motel room.

Death, despair, and revenge are the three evils that Glenn and Janet Alden defeat in HEAVEN AGAIN, a novel that ultimately is ingratiating and uplifting in depicting the profound reunion of husband and wife.

{see Amazon reader reviews of my previous novel, BLACK BODY: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0517068893/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1}