A combination of an historical story (perhaps a mystery of sorts) and the modern story of Homer and Mary searching for the historical story. The jumping back and forth was fine but the overall story lacked something. It never really engaged me, I got a sense of who the different characters were but their stories didn't feel very real and then it just petered out and ended with no sense of conclusion. Not badly written but just dissapointing.

Flits back and forth in time between now and a Civil War era mystery story ... hard to put it down!

Protagonist: Homer Kelly
Setting: present-day Massachusetts
Series: #18

First Line: "The wind was blowing gently west-southwest."

Nothing like diving into a series with the eighteenth book! Homer Kelly is an author whose book about New England churches shockingly skyrockets to #1 on the bestseller list. Everyone's after Homer to write a follow-up...oh! And make sure it has plenty of sex and violence in a new batch of churches, will ya? The sex and violence will make sure this one goes to #1, too. Homer starts his research, and finds plenty of people who've heard of his book, but none of them have actually read it.

The characters in this book didn't really do much for me. What *did* was the second storyline revolving around two churches, two men of the cloth, a couple of hot-air balloon riding photographers and a small New England town following the end of the Civil War--but the entire book tasted like one of those low-cal frozen dinners when they first appeared on the market. I've been persuaded not to meet up with Homer again. ( )