What Blooms from Dust - TLC Book Tour Review

What Blooms from Dust by James Markert

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 26, 2018)

Just as Jeremiah Goodbye is set to meet his fate in the electric chair, a tornado tears down the prison walls, and he is given a second chance at life. With the flip of a coin, he decides to return to his home town of Nowhere, Oklahoma, to settle the score with his twin brother Josiah. But upon his escape, he enters a world he doesn’t recognize—one that has been overtaken by the Dust Bowl. And the gift he once relied on to guide him is as unrecognizable as the path back to Nowhere.

After one jolt in Old Sparky, Jeremiah sees things more clearly and begins to question the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murders he was accused of. On his journey home, he accidentally rescues a young boy who follows him the rest of the way, and the pair arrive at their destination where they are greeted by fearful townspeople. When the Black Sunday storm hits the very next day, the residents of Nowhere finally begin to let the past few years of hardship bury them under the weight of all that dust.

Unlikely heroes, Jeremiah and his new companion, Peter Cotton, try to protect the townspeople from themselves, but Jeremiah must face his nightmares and free himself from the guilt of flipping the coin on those men who died.

Filled with mystery and magic, What Blooms from Dust is the story of finding hope in the midst of darkness and discovering the beauty of unexpected kindness.

Purchase Links

Amazon | iBooks | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

My Opinion: 

I knew when I started reading that I would love this book...I couldn't help but think about Stephen King's The Stand and The Green Mile as I read.  This isn't a horror historical fiction by any stretch of the imagination...except it's pretty scary that these dust storms did indeed exist and were caused by misuse of land.  It felt as if the earth was getting revenge on the settlers in some way...so I guess that is kindof Stephen Kingy. ;)

The story is a complicated one...as is any story that involves family...love...poverty...survival...prodigal sons...past relationships...decisions made...memories...all mixed with a meteorological phenomenon difficult for most of us to imagine.  

Mysterious voices, coin-flipping, children from the past and present, and slow, creeping death.  

See...Stephen Kingy :) 

About James Markert

James Markert lives with his wife and two children in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a history degree from the University of Louisville and won an IPPY Award for The Requiem Rose, which was later published as A White Wind Blew, a story of redemption in a 1929 tuberculosis sanatorium, where a faith-tested doctor uses music therapy to heal the patients. The Angels’ Share is his second novel, and he is currently working on his next historical, All Things Bright and Strange. James is also a USPTA tennis pro, and has coached dozens of kids who’ve gone on to play college tennis in top conferences like the BIG 10, the Big East, and the ACC.

.

Connect with James

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

.