What Follows After - by Dan Walsh

About the book:

In 1962, life was simple, the world made sense, and all families were happy.
And when they weren't, everyone knew you were supposed to pretend.
For the past year, Scott and Gina Harrison have been living a lie. While they show up at family get-togethers in the same car, they've actually been separated for over a year. To keep up the charade, they've even instructed their sons, Colt and Timmy, to lie--to their grandparents, their teachers, and their friends.

Colt, for one, has had enough, so he hatches a plan. He and his little brother will run away from their Florida home, head for their aunt's house in Georgia, and refuse to come home until their parents get back together. But when things go terribly, terribly wrong, Scott and Gina must come to grips with years of neglect and mistrust in order to recover their beloved sons, their love for one another, and their marriage.

In this emotional story, bestselling author Dan Walsh takes you on a journey to rediscover the things that matter most in life--love, truth, and family. With profound insight into the heart of a hurting child, he reminds us that a time will come to look back on hard times and smile, because we'll know that what follows after . . . is not what we expected at all.

My review:

This is an enjoyable, suspenseful novel set during a very scary time in our nation's past.  I can't imagine how horrible it would be to have a child missing and for it to happen during the Cuban Missile Crisis would be even worse.  It was frustrating to see their situation not get the attention it deserved while everyone wondered if the world was going to end.  I felt for the family going through this and liked the different viewpoints, from the parents and sons to the FBI agents to the help.  It was well-written and I liked how the story wasn't just about a missing child, but about a marriage in trouble and how the whole situation caused the parents to really look at what their lives had become.  It was also interesting to see the varying levels of faith the characters displayed.  The historical details really made me feel like I was back in '62.  I would recommend this book if you like historical fiction!

I received this book free from Revell in exchange for an honest review.

Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of several books, including The Unfinished Gift, The Discovery, and The Reunion, as well as The Dance and The Promise with Gary Smalley. He has won three Carol awards, and three of his novels were finalists for RT Book Reviews Inspirational Book of the Year (2011-2013). Dan lives with his wife in the Daytona Beach area, where he's busy researching and writing his next novel. Visit www.danwalshbooks.com for more.