Between Skies

by Rick Murcer

Everybody dies. Kate Bennett knows that. But it was never supposed to hit this close to home. Never. Horribly, she loses her forty-one year-old husband, Pete, a Pastor growing a fine church in Orlando, Florida, to a sudden heart attack.
After the funeral, Kate is faced with two realizations. She’ll have to vacate the church’s parsonage, leaving her, her two teen-aged children, and her grandmother without a place to call home. The second dilemma is far more subtle, but growing steadily. Her anger has a strange new life.
A knock on her door addresses the first issue. The second isn't so easily solved.
Kate’s old boss, Caleb Moore, wants Kate to come back to work for him as an investigator in his bail bonds firm, something she did extremely well, but hoped she’d never have to do again. At first, she refuses, even after he explains they have an opportunity to solve a thirty-five-year-old cold case murder of three teenagers that could pay them a cool million dollars.
She eventually accepts the offer, believing that God hasn’t taken care of her and her family, so it’s up to her. She doesn’t want or need His help.

Kate and her family arrive in Northern Michigan to begin work. But after only hours in Cedarview, Michigan, she discovers there are those who don’t want the case reopened, let alone solved. Murder is still murder and some will do anything to make sure that fact stays hidden. Kate is determined, but her adversaries are willing to steal everything from her to keep their secret, even her life. The conclusion will set you back, the lesson will change your life.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 9, 2018

About the author

Rick Murcer lives in Michigan and like many in that part of the country lost his job in 2008 due to a decline in the economy. An experienced executive, he sent out over 600 resumes without success. With unemployment benefits waning and savings nearly depleted he did the only logical thing he could think of...decide to become a writer.

Fortunately for Rick, he defied all conventional wisdom about self-publishing and literally became an overnight sensation. His first three books Caribbean Moon, Deceitful Moon, and Emerald Moon sold more than 300,000 copies between April and October 2011. He had two books in Amazon's top ten for many weeks and became both a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author.

Rick graduated from Michigan State University and is fairly new to the game of writing. Proving his knack for storytelling, the first piece he had ever written, Herb's Home Run, was published by The Writer's Journal in 2002. Rick attributes his success to hard work and God's blessing and believes that you can achieve any goal you wish if you just set your mind to it.

Rick has been married longer than his wife likes to admit, and they have two grown children, three grandkids, and a blind, black Lab named Max, who serves as Rick's "writing" dog. Each morning Max pushes Rick to his writing room so that the dog can snore on his rug while Rick ponds away on the keys. And pounds away he does. Rick is one of those amazing writers that are so energized by the stories in their heads the words just flow onto the page. He has many works in progress so expect more titles from him in the near future.

Reviews

[Andrea Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a miss for me. There were no references given for the theme/verse quotes, and there was one profanity and another curse word in the POV of a preacher’s wife in chapter one.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A puzzle

Kate's husband passed away and now she is bitter against God. Since she needs the money she accepts a job investigating the murder of three teenagers who died 35 years ago. Yeah, its complicated.

[Jeff Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. Allan Hyde wants to try and put to bed the murder of his children thirty-five years ago. Why? Because his time on Earth is being measured in months. He finds a detective agency in Florida willing to take on the case, Big Reach Investigations, owned and operated by one Caleb Moore. He knows he can’t do it on his own and calls on his bereaved friend, Kate Bennett to help him sole the case, if they’re successful, the pay off is one million dollars. That’s a pretty penny. One problem, Kate’s husband Peter has recently died from heart failure and she is not a please with her God by any stretch of the imagination. Her husband, Pete was a God- fearing man and didn’t need to be taken to his Kingdom at such an early age. That is the plot in a nutshell.
If you aren’t a religious person or a believer in God, you will not like this because the main theme is, no matter how tough you think times are or how lost you might seem to be, God has a plan and only he knows how it will play out.
Will you be surprised by the ending? Yes. You will get an idea of who some of the key players are if you read between the lines, but you will not know them all until the last chapters. For that, it was well worth the time.
Found some grammatical issues, but they don’t detract from the story.
I can’t say the cliffhanger at the end would entice me to continue with the series. It felt forced.

Three and-a-half stars

[Clara K Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between Skies

Loved this book. It was Fast paced with lots of suspense, twists and turns. It kept me guessing right to the end. There were several surprises as well. The only problem I had was with the few times the language wasn't to my liking,especially the one time use of 'by God'. I felt he could have chosen a different way of letting the reader know what was said. However the spiritual parts were excellent so I applaud the author for that. Highly recommend.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book

I love Rick Murcer's Manny Williams series, so I was excited to try this one. I found it waaay to churchy! All the God conversations made the book unrealistic and became distracting. And I absolutely Hated the ending! I would not be inclined to read more of this series.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing, suspenseful mystery!

This book is full of surprises. Trying to figure out a 35 year old cold case is a definite challenge. Rick Murcer does a wonderful job with the characters and plots in this book. He keeps your attention to see what will happen next. It is very difficult to put down this book. If you like mysteries, you will like this book. Happy reading! 😊

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed

I really enjoyed this book, even though it was a very strange story. I did figure out who had killed the children before the end of the book. But other parts of the story really surprised me. Read it you will like it.

[Patricia Hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read keeps you thinking.

Throughly enjoyed this book. It was a different take then the Manny series. I like it very much. I hope there will be more of Kate and Caleb. Plus her nana.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

I just couldn't put it down! I read it in one afternoon. it is awesome and entertaining lock with a message that cannot be denied

[Carrie Hebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy read and real page turner. I had a hard time putting this one down.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff.

A little creepy, but a complex who-dun-it with developed characters. Faith, wrestling with God. You might not agree with the ending but then you might.