Hunter's Moon (Review)

The description of Hunter's Moon, by Don Hoesel, made me want to read it!  From Bethany House Publishers:

Every family has secrets.
Few will go as far as the Baxters to keep them.

Bestselling novelist CJ Baxter has made a career out of writing hard-hitting stories ripped from his own life. Still there's one story from his past he's never told. One secret that's remained buried for decades.

Now, seventeen years after swearing he'd never return, CJ is headed back to Adelia, NY. His life in Tennessee has fallen to pieces, his grandfather is dying, and CJ can no longer run from the past.

With Graham Baxter, CJ's brother, running for Senate, a black sheep digging up old family secrets is the last thing the family and campaign can afford. CJ soon discovers that blood may be thicker than water, but it's no match for power and money.

There are wounds even time cannot heal.

My review:

This was a good book, but it was not a page-turner until three-fourths of the way through.  Once it got to that point, I didn't want to put it down.

CJ, the main character, is a likable guy with a family of secrets...and one so big that it impacts every part of his life.  When he returns to his hometown, he comes face to face with his own personal problems along with his family's.  His character is well developed, as well as several others.

Something to note is the amount of time CJ, a new Christian, spends in the local bar, drinking.  Some readers may not like that, knowing this is a Christian author and publisher.  Chapter 19 begins addressing it, to a point.  "He was beginning to think that a bar was the only place where he could think clearly.  Since becoming a Christian, he'd wondered if he was supposed to find the sort of focus he found in a good bar in a church instead...."  But it's never really resolved more than that.   

The story ends with a lot of forgiveness.  An amazing amount, really.  Spoken-aloud-forgiveness in a moment where you know it is true forgiveness.  

Thank you, Bethany House, for providing this book for review purposes.