Legacy of the Light by Todd Gipstein

From the author's website... "LEGACY OF THE LIGHT is a historical thriller. It is the story of two generations of lighthouse keepers at Race Rock Lighthouse off the shore of New London, Connecticut. The action takes place in 1907 and a generation later, much of it the day of the great Hurricane of 1938. LEGACY is a story of how the past influences the present, of fathers and sons, failure, guilt, love, and redemption. As the story unfolds, men and women visit the lighthouse and objects wash up on its rocks. Storms bear down on this man-made island in the middle of the sea, and those trapped at Race Rock -- the keeper, his fiancee, and a mysterious stranger -- must fight the forces of nature and the demons within that threaten to destroy them. LEGACY OF THE LIGHT takes readers into a fast-paced story full of twists and turns.
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In 1907, Nathaniel Bowen is the lighthouse keeper at Race Rock. Believing the remote lighthouse is no place to raise a child, his wife leaves with their son, Caleb. Nathaniel continues on alone, but on the night of a ferocious winter storm, fails in his duty.
A generation later, Caleb has returned to Race Rock as its keeper. On September 21, 1938, his fiancee, Jennifer Hays, visits Race Rock with an ultimatum. A mysterious stranger, Eliot McPherson, also arrives at the lighthouse, his intentions unclear. That afternoon, the worst hurricane in New England history his the area. Caleb, Jennifer and Eliot are trapped on Race Rock. The tension mounts as they battle the storm and their own conflicts. They are also trying to unravel a puzzle created by Caleb’s father that could dramatically change all their lives. All the while, ships at sea in the nightmarish storm are searching for Race Rock’s beacon to guide them to safety.
The final part of LEGACY unfolds after the storm. The events and mysteries set in motion in Part 1 and 2 are resolved, and the fates of Caleb, Jennifer and Eliot revealed."


When I read a review that starts... "This book sucked me in from the very beginning"... I immediately become a little leery and brace myself for the oncoming "gushing".

Well, honestly... this novel did just that and deserves all the "gushing" it gets! From its perfect cover to the well-written story, this novel is probably one of my favorites of 2011. Mr. Gipstein has written a story that is not just suspenseful but weaves family drama with a natural disaster thrown in. It sounds like a lot for a book but because it is so well written, it creates a story that is truly difficult to stop reading.

The characters are real... they are good and they are flawed. Each one adds dimension to the story in a way that shows that Mr. Gipstein took care to write them. Each was important to the novel and there were no "throwaway" characters nor characters that became "caricatures". That is a huge reading peeve of mine... when the author fills scenes with those characters and doesn't take care to create "real" characters. Mr. Gipstein has populated Legacy of the Light with characters that I could vividly imagine helping the story flow without taking me out of it, thinking "wow, 'Character X' reminds me of 'Character Y' in the novel I read last week."

Speaking of characters, the hurricane itself was written almost as a character and I loved that! The author weaves in the hurricane adding another layer to an already fantastic story. He does it in such a way as to not make Legacy of the Light read like a textbook. Not ever having been in a hurricane, I learned enough about them to feel the danger it presented in the story. It was the perfect character/plot device to ratchet the suspense to a conclusion that made me sorry when I turned the last page.

~Thanks to Lynn Cppotelli at Smith Publicity, Dog Ear Publishing and the author, Todd Gipstein for providing a copy of Legacy of the Light in exchange for my honest and thoughtful review.~