Visar resultat för..."Refuge"

In the heat of late summer, two New Orleans families—one black and one white—confront a storm that will change the course of their lives.

SJ Williams, a carpenter and widower, lives and works in the Lower Ninth Ward, the community where he was born and raised. His sister, Lucy, is a soulful mess, and SJ has been trying to keep her son, Wesley, out of trouble. Across town, Craig Donaldson, a Midwestern transplant and the editor of the city''s alternative paper, faces deepening cracks in his own family. New Orleans'' music and culture have been Craig''s passion, but his wife, Alice, has never felt comfortable in the city. The arrival of their two children has inflamed their arguments about the wisdom of raising a family there.

When the news comes of a gathering hurricane—named Katrina—the two families make their own very different plans to weather the storm. The Donaldsons join the long evacuation convoy north, across Lake Pontchartrain and out of the city. SJ boards up his windows and brings Lucy to his house, where they wait it out together, while Wesley stays with a friend in another part of town.

But the long night of wind and rain is only the beginning—and when the levees give way and the flood waters come, the fate of each family changes forever. The Williamses are scattered—first to the Convention Center and the sweltering Superdome, and then far beyond city and state lines, where they struggle to reconnect with one another. The Donaldsons, stranded and anxious themselves, find shelter first in Mississippi, then in Chicago, as Craig faces an impossible choice between the city he loves and the family he had hoped to raise there.

Ranging from the lush neighborhoods of New Orleans to Texas, Missouri, Chicago, and beyond, City of Refuge is a modern masterpiece—a panoramic novel of family and community, trial and resilience, told with passion, wisdom, and a deep understanding of American life in our time.

Murder and mystery spark unexpected romance in this captivating new tale from the beloved New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell.

On the surface Shaye Townsend has little in common with Tanner. He''s a hard-edged big city cop come home to the historic Davis family ranch to settle his uncle''s estate. She''s working for an environmental conservancy that acquires and protects old ranches—and she wants to preserve the Davis homestead.

When the suspicious death of Tanner''s uncle at his ranch throws the two opposites together, tempers flare and sparks fly. While they have trouble seeing eye to eye, Shaye and Tanner agree on one thing: They need to uncover the truth.

Combining their unique skills—Shaye''s low-key approach and local connections and Tanner''s experience as a homicide detective—the unlikely pair share long nights in the pursuit of justice. Before they know it, the friction they generate turns to heat, igniting a love neither ever expected to find.

They believe passion this intense cannot last. But when Shaye becomes a killer''s target, Tanner realizes he''d give up anything to protect her—including his life.

Beautiful, sweet Shay and dark, dangerous Tanner don′t have a lot in common. He′s a suspicious big city cop come home to his family′s ranch and she′s a bleeding heart who works for a group that seeks out ranches to conserve after the owners have passed away.

But the suspicious death of Tanner′s uncle at his ranch throws the two opposites together and sparks fly.

Working as a pair, using Shay′s sweet personality and town connections, as well as Tanner′s experience, they set out to find justice -- they never expected to find love along the way as well.

They both say it will just be temporary but when Shay is put in danger, Tanner realizes that he′ll give up just about anything to save the woman he loves. But will he have to sacrifice his life to save hers?