The road to grace The third journal of the walk series

In the third book in Evans' The Walk series, which chronicles a man's journey across the country on foot after the devastating loss of his wife, Alan Christoffersen is forced to face his demons. Picking up where Miles to Go (2011) left off, Alan is confronted by Pamela, the mother of his dead wife, McKale. Pamela left her husband and daughter when McKale was just a child, and Alan wants nothing to do with her. But Pamela refuses to give up, doggedly tracking Alan, determined that he hear her out. The question of forgiveness comes up more than once on this leg of Alan's journey. As he continues on through South Dakota and Missouri on his way to Key West, he encounters a Holocaust survivor and a lonely single mother. Some of the twists are predictable, and some of Alan's encounters are more than a little saccharine, but there's no doubt that Evans knows how to keep the pages turning. A cliff-hanger conclusion ups the stakes, putting Alan's journey in jeopardy and ensuring that readers will come back for the fourth outing. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: There's no stopping now; readers of the previous titles in Evans' best-selling series will be eager for this installment.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2010 Booklist

Evans' third novel in a series (Miles to Go, 2011, etc.) about a troubled man who must learn to forgive. Alan Christoffersen is well into his walk from Seattle to Key West. He's a widower who still grieves. Friends had cheated him out of home and business, so he up and walked away from it all. Maybe at the farthest point on the map he will find grace in his heart. Along the way, a series of interesting people test his character and help illuminate his soul. His mother-in-law, Pamela, is the first of them as she tracks him down along the road and begs to talk. Alan refuses, but she will not be denied. Although well told and moving, this part of the plot tests credulity. Pamela had abandoned her young daughter McKale, who years later married Alan. Now Alan is so bitter at her treatment of McKale, he won't give Pamela five minutes to talk. Really? Maybe earlier books make this premise easier to buy. Anyway, this is at the core of the story. Who needs forgiveness more: the offender or the offended? If Alan can forgive, perhaps he can shuck his burden and find grace along his path. In one small town, a lonely woman comes to him in the night and begs for his love. Perhaps no other scene in the book better shows his character. Although the book is not specifically religious, Alan clearly shows his spirituality and cares deeply about who he is. A fast and pleasurable read with plenty of local color and enough sentiment to evoke a tear or two. Although this installment can stand on its own, a reader's best bet is to begin with the earlier books.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

PROLOGUE Note The sun will rise again. The only uncertainty is whether or not we will rise to greet it. Alan Christoffersen's diary Several months after I was mugged, stabbed, and left unconscious along the shoulder of Washington's Highway 2, a friend asked me what being stabbed felt like. I told her it hurt. Really, how do you describe pain? Sometimes doctors ask us to rate our pain on a scale from one to ten, as if that number had some reliable meaning. In my opinion there needs to be a more objective rating system, something comparative; like, would you trade what you're feeling for a root canal or maybe half a childbirth? And with what would we compare emotional pain--physical pain? Arguably, emotional pain is the greater of the two evils. Sometimes people will inflict physical pain on themselves to dull their emotional anguish. I understand. If I had the choice between being stabbed or losing my wife, McKale, again, the knife has the advantage--because if the knife kills me, I stop hurting. If it doesn't kill me, the wound will heal. Either way the pain stops. But no matter what I do, my McKale is never coming back. And I can't imagine that the pain in my heart will ever go away. Still, there is hope--not to forget McKale, nor even to understand why I had to lose her--but to accept that I did and somehow go on. As a friend recently said to me, no matter what I do, McKale will always be a part of me. The question is, what part--a spring of gratitude, or a fountain of bitterness? Someday I'll have to decide. Someday the sun will rise again. The only uncertainty is whether or not I will rise to greet it. In the meantime, what I hope for most is hope . Walking helps. I wish I were walking again right now. I think I'd rather be anywhere right now than where I am. © 2011 Richard Paul Evans Excerpted from The Road to Grace: The Third Journal in the Walk Series: A Novel by Richard Paul Evans All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.