En route to a reporting job in Little Rock, car trouble forces Bob Smith to spend the night in Lazarus, Arkansas. Suspecting the town is hiding some bucolic Fountain of Youth, his curiosity and investigating skills take him close enough to the town's secret to fall victim to it. He manages to get away with his life, his car repaired well enough to get him to Little Rock, and a twenty-four hour gap in his memory only to be drawn back by nightmares and puzzling deja vu flashes to Lazarus where he finds the love of his life and danger as he hunts for those lost hours.
Bob Smith arrives at his new reporting job and enjoys his work and the opportunity to learn more about photography. In spite of a disturbing stop en route to Little Rock which left a twenty-four hour gap in his memory, he uses his camera to mask his
intentions of finding out what happened to him in Lazaras and pursue the story his gut feeling insists is there. He meets a beautiful girl who steals his heart, not knowing her very presence is synonymous with danger or that the people who helped him get away with his life are still hovering, trying to protect him. Fascinated to the point of enchantment, he stays until his mentor who taught him photography comes looking for him. They face a 200 year old nemesis, a couple of muscle men the mafia would love, and a bomb before they can send up a flare and celebrate a happy ending - or hopefully, a beginning!
Excerpt
Bob turned his attention to the door, his stomach feeling like it was dropping on a fast elevator ride. He smiled as his left hand caressed the surface of the sun warmed door, his right hand holding the key to - what? A scientific breakthrough, a story worthy of a Pulizer, a sip from the Fountain of ourh, or just a local legend, nothing more than a hoax...
Professional Reviews
Darrell Award
This novel (Welcome to Lazarus) won an Honorable Mention in the 2002
Darrell Awards for Best Midsouth Novel. It was very favorably viewed by the
Awards Committee, and might have placed even higher on the final ballot
had its fantasy or science fiction aspects been stronger. In any case, it is quite
well written and the characters really come to life. We are all looking forward
to more fantastic literature from Ms. Griffey.
For more info on the Darrell Awards, please see http://darrellawards.org . For more
info on the Memphis SF Association (sponsors of the Darrell Awards), please
see http://www.pseudoworld.net/msfa .
-- Tim Gatewood, webmaster, darrellawards.org
member, Darrell Awards Committee of the
Memphis SF Association
