Amazon PerryPerkinsBooks PerryPerkinsBooks Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Publish America ISBN-10:  1413709141 Type: Fiction Pages: 364 Copyright: Jan 23, 2004 After a drunk driver leaves young Cassie Belanger an orphan, a cryptic letter, found among her mother's belongings sends her on a desperate journey in hopes of finding the man who fathered her but chose not to be her father. Driven by her anger, her bitterness and her desire to confront the man who abandoned her, Cassie meets Jack, a crusty old bachelor headed in the same direction. In his face Cassie begins to see what can happen to a heart that refuses to forgive. Will she forgive her father, or turn away from him and remain an orphan? Who is Jack, and how is his own shadowed past linked to her own? Will Cassie Belanger find the power that lies in forgiveness and the miracle of God's unwavering mercy? The answers lie... Just Past Oysterville. Chapter One "I am an orphan," she whispered. Cassie Belanger watched as her mother’s casket was lowered into the sandy desert soil. The sky was blue, bright and sharp at noon; already it was nearly seventy degrees and still February in Bowie, Arizona. By June, Cassie knew, the heat at midday would be unbearable. A dry north wind whispered sand over the toes of her shoes, carrying the faintest scents of juniper and sage. It seemed very quiet, standing there on the wide marble-pocked lawn listening to the squeak of the pulleys as they brought the body of forty-two year old Kathy Belanger, clad in her best purple only-for-church dress, to her final resting place. A single blue carnation, from the high pile of flowers heaped atop, slipped from the casket lid and fell softly into the concrete lined grave below. Cassie watched as it tumbled end over end into the darkness that waited to receive her mother’s body. Her mind was still in free fall, her world had changed so suddenly, so dramatically, and she couldn't, at least she hadn't yet, been able to grasp the enormity of it. The service had been brief. Pastor Williams intoning the Lord’s blessing on Katherine Belanger, his voice echoing flatly in the thin desert air. He spoke of her mother's life, of her faith and her sudden tragic end. A step from a dark curb; from the same corner of the same street that she crossed five nights out of seven, coming home in the early morning hours, her heavy wool jacket hiding starched nurse’s whites. A mile-long walk from Bowie’s Adventist Hospital to the Desert Rose trailer park where a dozen and a half decaying trailers housed the most desperate rung of Bowie's dwindling population. “A step from the curb and into the arms of God” Guy Williams had said, as he stood at the pulpit and addressed the handful of somber clad co-workers, neighbors and friends. Cassie had cringed at this; it wasn't the arms of God that had awaited her mother as she stepped into the street, not by a long shot. She heard again squealing tires and the sickening crumple of metal on flesh, the sounds that haunted her dreams. She’d listened, dry-eyed. Her heart aching, her eyes burning to weep, but it wouldn't happen. * Sheriff Pranger had knocked on the tin door of the old singlewide that she and her mother shared. Cassie had opened the door and there he’d stood, in the predawn darkness, nervous hands turning his hat over and over, his eyes never meeting her own as he mumbled an uncomfortable greeting. “Better go get your coat, Honey,” he’d said, fighting the urge to look away, “and come with us.” Over his shoulder, Cassie had seen Guy and Grace Williams in the shadows, clothing rumpled as though thrown on in haste. Pastor Williams stood, tight-lipped and pale, as his wife pressed her face into his shoulder and wept. Cassie had known, as she turned to find a coat and shoes, that her mother was dead. She had shed her tears, weeping silently into her pillow, as she lay awake on the twin bed in the Williams’s spare room. Then, this morning, she’d dashed from the arrangement office of the mortuary and into the ladies room, overcome by a storm of tears. She’d sat on the cushioned bench, her head lain against the cool wall of the restroom, her small frame wracked with sobs, and her face burning with tears until she felt as though she were choking on them, drowning in her grief. She was an orphan. Excerpt A Child Abandoned... A Life Destroyed... Two Hearts, Unable To Forgive... Just Past Oysterville.

Christian fiction for the real world
Even before I read JUST PAST OYSTERVILLE, I knew Perry Perkins was an amazing writer from reading one of his short stories, but this book placed him permanently within the group of authors whose books I will buy immediately upon release.

This book is so much more than the usual hyper-censored, unrealistic story to be found in Christian fiction. The characters are real people with strengths and weaknesses, and they live real lives filled with anguish, love, mistakes, and triumphs. And the underlying message of God's love is relayed so effortlessly and so poignantly that it comes through loud and clear and leaves the reader with such a wonderful feeling of hope--just the way I believe Jesus would have done it.

I encourage everyone who loves a good story to read this book, and I can't wait to read the next installment in the series!

Reviewer: Joyce Scarbrough

Simply stated, I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Just Past Oysterville was an excellent read. Mr. Perkins utilizes simple yet colorful dialogue that will entrance you. He pays attention to detail, quotes appropriate bible verses at appropriate moments and he will take you on an amazing journey. A journey through pain, loss, happiness and closure. This is called Shoalwater Book one, and it would be an honor to review the continuation of this series. Just when you think that you have this story figured out, Mr. Perkins will gently push you one step further and open your eyes to the possibilities that make up your destiny.

Simply stated, I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Reviewed by Tyrone Banks

BRILLIANT FIRST IN SHOALWATER SERIES
JUST PAST OYSTERVILLE shares with the reader the story of Cassie who has just lost her Mother in tragic circumstances. Determined to track down her Father whom she has never known, she sets out on her journey. Whilst on her travels to find her Father, she meets Jack, an interesting character, who has carried around a lot of emotional baggage of his own for a lot of years! As well as being a physical journey, it is also a journey from anger and bitterness to forgiveness and peace and although it is a work of Christian Fiction, would have a message for anyone struggling with the problems that Cassie and Jack have carried around with them for so long.
The story has all the ingredients of a good suspense novel and fans of DEE HENDERSON or TERRI BLACKSTOCK, I think, would find this very enjoyable.
I for one can't wait for the second book in the series to be published!

Reviewer: WKF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND