Expiation

by Greg Messel

In 1968, Dan and Katie are one of the hottest couples at Ballard High School in Seattle. He is the hero football player, and she is the beautiful cheerleader. These high school sweethearts believe theirs is a love that will never die. Life changes when Dan leaves Washington to start college at the University of California Berkeley and pursue his dream of working for a big time newspaper in the glamorous city of San Francisco. The quest for his dream occurs against the turbulent background of Berkeley and San Francisco in the 1970s as Dan and Katie go their separate ways. Now, thirty years later, Dan is back in his hometown of Seattle attending his mother's funeral. He's never stopped thinking about Katie, his long-lost love. But the two former high school sweethearts reconnect in a most unexpected way as the rest of the world grows more fearful of Y2K and the dawn of the twenty-first century. They are hoping that their love, once lost, can now be reclaimed.

Genres: Contemporary

292 pages, Hardcover

First published March 28, 2010

About the author

Greg Messel has spent most of his adult life interested in writing, including a career in the newspaper business as a reporter, a columnist and news editor. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist and has contributed articles to various magazines. Greg lives in Edmonds, Washington on Puget Sound with his wife Jean DeFond.
Greg has written eleven novels. His latest "Dreams That Never Were: is a historical fiction political thriller about the events surrounding the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Greg has also written a mystery series set in 1959 San Francisco including "San Francisco Nights," "Shadows In The Fog," "Fog City Strangler," "San Francisco Secrets," "Deadly Plunge" and "Last of the Seals." His other three novels are "Sunbreaks," "Expiation" and "The Illusion of Certainty." For a more detailed summary of Greg's novels go to www.gregmessel.com
Greg is currently working on his eleventh novel "Dreams That Never Were" which is not part of the mystery series. .

Reviews

[Heavensent1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expiation is a romantic rekindling between high school sweethearts.

Dan was the All-American dream boy in high school. Great at football, decent grades, popular, had a perfect girlfriend and great friends and family around him. His plans included graduating high school, attending Berkley in San Francisco studying Journalism, working an internship for the Chronicle and marrying the girl of his dreams.

Katie was the All-American dream girl in high school. She was a friendly, beautiful cheerleader and girlfriend to Dan. She was going to go to school for a year in Seattle and join Dan after he got situated in San Francisco where they planned to build their future together.

However, the course that life flows had other plans and the two drift apart and marry other people and lead their lives separately. On the day that Dan's mother dies, the two meet again after 30 years. The sparks fly and the two try to determine what path their future shall take. Will their love be rekindled so that the two can spend the rest of their lives together? Or will the fates continue to keep them and their love apart?

I didn't mind this read. I liked Katie and enjoyed reading about her. She was personable, likeable and determined. I wasn't as impressed with Dan however. After leaving her with many promises, in which he continuously broke, he walks back into Katie's life with arrogance. I didn't like how he spoke to her upon their first initial meeting. He hasn't seen the woman in over thirty years and proceeds to oogle and salvitate over her. It would make me uncomfortable to have a man talk to me in such a manner, especially one who left me without any explanations and a load of heartache.

I did like how Dan remembers the memory of his deceased wife, Wendy. Even though he has always loved Katie, his memories and heartache are real and I was pleased to see this. I also liked the interactions between Dan and his daughter, Vickie.

I felt that the dialogue was a bit cliched and would've enjoyed seeing something new and fresh in the handling of Dan and Katie's reunion. I also thought having them meet again after 30 years at Dan's mothers funeral to be a bit tacky.

I liked the background history of events that occurred, such as the WTO protest that broke out in Seattle in the late 1990's or the Zodiac Killer which plagued San Fran in the 70's. I equally enjoyed reading about the Y2K scare that folks were going through at the time of the books setting. I never felt that Y2K would amount to anything and to see the panic mongers as they were written was comical to me. I remember the talk at the time and many of the things shared were quite similar.

I found that the read was easy and the flow was great. The editorial issues were infrequent and didn't hinder the read in any way. If you are a romance reader and especially enjoy those stories about long lost loves, then this book will be enjoyable for all who read such.

[Kathleen (Kat) Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

ex-pi-a-tion: 1. Definition: [noun] compensation for a wrong; to make amends or reparation for (wrongdoing or guilt); atone for; satisfaction. 2. To pay the penalty of: suffer for; the act of atoning for sin or wrongdoing.

To many times at the end of our lives we look back and often times wish we could have a second chance, an opportunity to do things different, take the road less traveled. However in hindsight we also see that the good things that come from those choices would also have to be altered or in some cases wouldn't exist as well.

Dan and Katie were high school sweethearts. He was the all-American boy who played football as the quarterback and baseball, while Katie cheered him in as the popular cheerleader who every boy had a crush one. Everyone assumed that they would marry and live the proverbial, happily ever after, part of their lives with one another but that is not what happened.

Upon graduation and college preparations each had their own desires to make it in the world, of course they always expected that they would marry and be reunited at some point but as often happens, plans change.

Dan's ability in high school to write has earned him an internship working for the San Francisco Examiner, a very prestigious position while he attends Berkley. His father isn't happy with this decision being a WWII veteran and believes that his sons should do their part in the war efforts. Only Dan can't support the war in Vietnam and believes he can help more by taking this opportunity to San Francisco.

Katie is working towards her dental career while remaining in Seattle with her family attending UDub. If their plans work out, Katie will join Dan in a year in San Francisco and then they will both work hard at making something of their lives. But nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

In the heartwarming story of Expiation by Greg Messel, we get to see what happens to high school sweethearts when life gets in the way and an odd series of events will keep them apart for more than thirty years. Now on the brink of the Y2K scare, they are both going to be handed a unique opportunity for a second chance. Seeing life through their eyes over thirty years is a unique look at how strong love can be. At times you are happy for them and crying right along side them as you see where their lives have paralleled at points even though miles separated them.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tour and Greg Messel for my honest review. I loved how this romance book took a different path than your traditional love stories. Dan and Katie's provides a different twist in what happens to a great romance that isn't meant to die. I LOVED this book and found myself falling in love all over again. This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me and provides a look back into the history of events from the 70's to current times.

[melydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dan and Katie are high school sweethearts who break up during their first year apart, attending college in different states. They completely lose touch with each other for thirty years, then reconnect and fall in love again. Their friends and family are completely supportive. And that's pretty much the entire story, but it's not a spoiler because it happens in the first two chapters. In fact, most of the book is thoroughly summarized in early chapters, then again right before being described in detail. Dan is narrating, and considering both he and the author are former newspapermen it wasn't so surprising this novel was laid out much like a news article. I felt like I was having a story described to me, rather than actually reading it first hand. With so much advanced warning for every event, I felt no emotional response whatsoever. Of course, it didn't help that Dan and Katie were completely devoid of personality. I have absolutely no idea what they saw in each other because the only thing they ever talked about was how in love they are and how attractive they still find each other. I remember having similar conversations with beaus in high school, but I can't imagine being satisfied with such empty talk in my late 40s.

It wasn't all bad, of course. I liked Dan's first wife Wendy and his brother, who both had strong and memorable - if a touch stereotypical - personalities. The reading was reasonably fast, allowing even a slow reader like me to plow through multiple chapters in a sitting. The issue was mostly a lack of conflict, which led to a lack of plot. I really wish more had been done with the pack of letters, or Dan's marital troubles, or even Diana's financial woes. If you like simple romance novels, you may enjoy this one, since that's essentially what it is: a story about a romance. I, alas, am a more demanding reader.

[iamjenai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expiation. Huh? Intriguing. I honestly didn't know the meaning of it until I read the definition inside the book. The book is about two high school sweethearts, Katie and Dan who who were separated by fate. Dan left Katie because he had to follow his ambition of working in a newspaper company while attending school in San Francisco.

While the story and characters are fictional, the author managed to include some cultural and historical facts/events on the dates depicted in the fictional story. It was well written and it seemed so real, it made me cry while reading it. It wasn't a tear jerker but some parts of the book like Dan meeting other woman and leaving Katie behind made me cry. At first, I was so against Dan meeting the other woman - Wendy but after a while, I started to like Wendy and felt sorry not for Wendy or for Katie but for Dan because he had to go through that kind of situation where choosing one of the two would break his heart.

I loved the story, if you like long-lost love storyline, then this is for you.