Allow me to steal a paragraph from Amazon.

Sheldon Horowitz—widowed, impatient, impertinent—has grudgingly agreed to leave New York and move in with his granddaughter, Rhea, and her new husband, Lars, in Norway—a country of blue and ice with one thousand Jews, not one of them a former Marine sniper in the Korean War turned watch repairman. Not until now, anyway.

I like the book. It is beautifully written with vivid characters and plenty of action. Caution: if you want non-stop action, this book spends time giving us an understanding of the characters, including great descriptions of Sheldon’s past. Sheldon, at 84, is still a marine and steps into the middle of a domestic dispute that ends in murder. He saves a Serbian child who, if I remember right, does not speak in the book.

For his part, Sheldon speaks no Norwegian but manages to cross the country undetected with a boy in tow. The ending is well worth the wait.

Sheldon is Jewish but wishes God would stop picking on him. He is like so many of us these days. He believes in God but has no relationship with Him.

I think Derek Miller handled that whole religious issue very well. The tendency for many Christian writers would be to have Sheldon realize he is lost without God, and for good measure have him “come to Jesus.”

It is precious to have a character who remains true to himself, including his willingness to help the helpless. I would be proud to have Sheldon be the hero of my book.

Mike Lawrence