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RED'S SECRET
Little Billy Rankin is standing on the back porch when Red arrives unexpectedly at the Rankin farm in 1957. Five-year-old Billy is shocked—the tall man wearing a railroader’s cap has no fingers on his left hand. Red moves into the room at the top of the stairs and lives there as his dad’s hired hand.
Red’s past life, including the reason for his missing fingers, remains a mystery about which Billy’s curiosity only grows. Inquisitive by nature, Billy ventures into Red’s bedroom on a rare day when he is home alone and makes a startling discovery inside a large trunk, which he has to keep to himself. The only thing scarier than getting caught snooping is what the items he discovered might be used for!
In the early 1900s, young Red was facing his own personal tragedies. Orphaned alongside his brother Bart, they toil away long days in the mines before getting drafted to fight in WWI. When they finally return to their farm, they find everything in shambles. Red and Bart are eventually torn apart by world events, and Red is left to fend for himself. He learns that survival is not always based on doing the “right thing.”
By sheer coincidence and chance, sixty-something Red moves in with Billy and his family to hide his past and live out his life with no one relying on him. However, Red watches as Billy grows up and becomes entangled with things beyond his control, like he had experienced as a young man. The standoffish Red begrudgingly finds himself in the middle of Billy’s dilemma.
The characters in RED’S SECRET grow and evolve as you switch between Billy’s early years in the fifties and sixties and Red’s teenage years, fifty years earlier. The young men both face extraordinary challenges and are forced to make difficult decisions. This coming-of-age thriller will take you back to those times in your own young life when you discovered that making decisions is not always clear-cut. In the end, some things have to remain a secret.
Red’s past life, including the reason for his missing fingers, remains a mystery about which Billy’s curiosity only grows. Inquisitive by nature, Billy ventures into Red’s bedroom on a rare day when he is home alone and makes a startling discovery inside a large trunk, which he has to keep to himself. The only thing scarier than getting caught snooping is what the items he discovered might be used for!
In the early 1900s, young Red was facing his own personal tragedies. Orphaned alongside his brother Bart, they toil away long days in the mines before getting drafted to fight in WWI. When they finally return to their farm, they find everything in shambles. Red and Bart are eventually torn apart by world events, and Red is left to fend for himself. He learns that survival is not always based on doing the “right thing.”
By sheer coincidence and chance, sixty-something Red moves in with Billy and his family to hide his past and live out his life with no one relying on him. However, Red watches as Billy grows up and becomes entangled with things beyond his control, like he had experienced as a young man. The standoffish Red begrudgingly finds himself in the middle of Billy’s dilemma.
The characters in RED’S SECRET grow and evolve as you switch between Billy’s early years in the fifties and sixties and Red’s teenage years, fifty years earlier. The young men both face extraordinary challenges and are forced to make difficult decisions. This coming-of-age thriller will take you back to those times in your own young life when you discovered that making decisions is not always clear-cut. In the end, some things have to remain a secret.
Kindle Edition
Published February 3, 2025
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