When Crickets Cry

I was unprepared for this story. It’s one I saw in a book list one day, decided it sounded interesting enough to put on my someday/maybe audiobooks list, and not long after, I remembered it and decided to give it a try. This book had so much more depth than I anticipated!

It took a while to start understanding Reese and where he was coming from, but once his backstory started being revealed, I fell in love with the guy—and hurt for him. This book is written in a very slow-burn style—it felt like it took ages for anything to be revealed, but I never once lost interest in what was happening or what was behind it. I loved watching Reese change and grow as the story went on, and enjoyed getting glimpses into what made him Reese.

I also show more loved all the other characters in this book! It doesn’t have a big cast, but the ones that are there are vivid and unique. There’s the little girl who just stole my heart, Reese’s sidekick with a great sense of humor and a pile of determination, the lost young man who just needed some love and care, and the older man who had a unique way of running a bar and restaurant. It was all intriguing, and I loved meeting each one.

The story itself…what can I say? It pulled me in, and wouldn’t let go until I got to the end with a sigh. And yes, I may have stayed up a bit late one night to finish the audiobook, just because—like a stubborn 7-year-old—I couldn’t stand to wait until morning to find out what happened.

If you enjoy stories with a lot of internal conflict, a touch of the medical side, some sweet friendships, a hint of romance, and a strong faith journey, you’d likely love this book. I’m already eager to dive into something else by Martin, because if it’s anything like this one, I already know I’ll love it. show less

I usually avoid books with a medical based storyline, but this is Charles Martin! How could I pass this book by? I am so glad that I didn't. The beautiful language in this book is a key reason for not missing out on When Crickets Cry. The intriguing storyline is another reason. It moves between the main character's earlier years and his present day circumstances, allowing readers to understand the decisions that led him to live the life he is currently living, a life that has seemingly lost purpose and meaning. The story explores the theme of hope, its perseverance in lives where one might see little reason for its continued presence, and its resurgence when it would appear all hope is lost. The heart in this story is viewed not only as show more an organ that gives the body life, but also as a spiritual organ that impacts how one lives the life they've been given. There are many lessons here for one whose heart is inclined to listen.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of When Crickets Cry from Thomas Nelson without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. show less

I highly recommend this 5-star read of a book! It's a love story. No, I don't mean of the romance genre, though there's romance in it. It's a LOVE story -- with a lot of heart, literally, and on many other subtler but profound levels. It's a book, that in one story, paints a picture using the palette of the human condition -- of our ability to love, to alienate, to forgive, to punish (ourselves or others), to hope, to be frustrated, to have closure, and to begin anew. It's a story that will move you to tears or make you choke up, because something in you *will* resonate with the story, associating with one or more of the characters in the book. If you feel nothing (I don't mean that you share the same sentiments as I do for the story), show more if this story does not touch you in some way, read it again, for you really need a change of heart. show less

The thing about literary fiction, Christian or otherwise, is you have to love the language. To be done right, an author needs to value things like sentence structure, placement of words, and economy of prose. In WHEN CRICKETS CRY, Charles Martin gets two out of three right. His sentence structure is perfect. He manages to build scenes so startlingly real that you can remember them as if they're your own memories. His word placement is brilliant. You can tell he's honed this story down to the most beautiful couplings of words that then copulate and birth vivid visuals. But he's far from sparse. I'm a firm believer that the fewer words used to describe something the better the end result. Especially in literary fiction. Now, this might show more seem the exact opposite of what most people think of when considering literary fiction (most believing that the genre, by definition, is verbose) but I disagree. I think wordy authors only prove their lack of skill. If it takes you four sentences to describe someone throwing a door open, you've failed at your task. Here, and only here, does Martin fail. Charles Martin likes listing stuff. He wants you to know every single detail down to the brand of every appliance/tool/toiletry used by his characters. Although, sometimes, the brand is all he tells you and you have to guess at what the fuck he's talking about (yes, even though this is a review of Christian fiction, I still dropped the f-bomb, because Hey-Zeus died for my right to be offensive!). The book is bogged down by paragraphs that resemble brick walls slathered with text which have no purpose other than reciting the Sears catalog's chapter on boat-building hardware, or the most boring bits of the New England Journal of Medicine. The author didn't bother with any flair or fireworks during these sections, which led me to believe he might have been copying directly from GRAY'S ANATOMY or BLACK & DECKER DO DALLAS. The prose farted along or was completely none-existent during every list, was basically stripped down to the most commonplace verbiage. Boo! Hiss! *tosses tomatoes at author* This is only so glaringly obvious because the rest of the book is gorgeous. Seriously, I wanted to have this book's babies.

What Martin does best is scene building. He stacks the beginning of every chapter with enough detail so that the hops back and forth in time are not jarring or confusing. Then he lets his characters exist in that space. The dialogue is some of the best I've ever read. These people talk like real people. They react like real people. They love and hurt and breathe and walk like real people. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have deleted this book from my Kindle. Which brings me to...

The fact that I'm an atheist. I'm not even agnostic. I firmly and unflinchingly believe that there is no creator, no invisible man in the sky who grants wishes, and sends people to a lake of fire for not listening to him like some amateur parental figure. Honestly, to me, God and Santa are made of the same thing: fairy dust and children's wishes. That alone should speak volumes as to the quality of this book. Charles Martin makes it very clear, from the first page on, that this book is about the power of God and blah, blah, blah, other religious stuff and things. But, even though I believe in Martin's god as much as I believe in Tolkien's hobbits, I enjoyed this book for the journey, much like I did while reading THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Martin didn't make my belief a necessity, and for that, I applaud him.

SPOILERS OF WAR! (SPOILERS AHEAD)

The ending was... meh. This is personal preference over something that the author did wrong. I do believe that, had Annie died and Reese been able to get back on the horse, so to speak, even though he couldn't save her, the story would have benefited far more. If anything would have proven the strength of the author's faith, that would have. In my eyes, having him save Annie was far too convenient and easy an ending. This is why I don't like happy endings. There's no risk involved, and, for the most part, everyone expects them. In the end, Reese seemed weak because he had to save Annie to redeem himself instead of focusing on his faith to bounce back.

THE END OF SPOILERS!

In summation, this book didn't convert me to Christianity, nor did it try, and I commend Martin for that. He celebrated his faith without being preachy. The author can get long winded where product listings are concerned, but this book is mostly smexy (smart and sexy) prose that makes one want to lick the pages. I kid, I kid... but, seriously, schnozzberries. If you can stomach religiously devout characters and happy endings, read this book for the journey, not the destination. show less

I was prepared to like this book because it was set in my beloved Rabun County. What I was not prepared for was how much it would move me, how much I really loved the story and the whole package. I picked it up on the recommendation of George, the onwer of Prater's Books on Main Street in Clayton. The corner at the start of the story is just a few steps out his door and just a few miles from where our place is in Clayton. He knew I like books about the local area or by local authors and thought I should give this one a go.

There are many levels on which I found this book satisfying. It captured the flavor of the area quite well. The story itself was interesting, and drew me in, not just because of my cardiac nursing days or my days as a show more coxswain, but because of the way Charles Martin shaped his characters and crafted the tale. The interweaving of the backstory with present day was skillfully done as well.

But I think that the thing that charmed me the most was the way the character of Reese was revealed, and his love for Emma-- how she kept him human and opened his heart to love. Their communication and private language filled with the words of the greats: Shakespeare, Longfellow, Wordsworth...every time I'd hit a quote, I'd smile with the perfectness of it.

But I also cared about the characters I met and then join them all for a "Transplant" burger at Davis's restaurant, The Well. I want to sit on the shore of Lake Burton and see the boats Reese and Charlie worked on, or watch the two of them out in a shell on the lake, or Charlie steering a boat and waving to the folks they pass (now, don't go telling him he's blind!) And I want to revel in the braveness of Annie, selling lemonade and raising crickets to sell for bait so she can raise the money she needs for a heart transplant.

The book could have so easily gone to maudlin or sappy, but, for me, it didn't. When the cover says When Crickets Cry is a novel of the heart, it didn't lie. show less

Absolutely beautiful writing, beautiful story.
Reese (Dr. Jonathon Mitchell) is hiding away in GA, when he rescues a 7 year old girl, Annie, who has been hit by a truck. He discovers that she is awaiting a heart transplant, and lives with her guardian, Aunt Cindy, since her parents were killed. Annie has the same heart disease that Reese's wife, Emma, had. Emma and Reese were childhood best friends who grew up and were married. Emma's condition made Reese want to be a heart surgeon, but when he couldn't save Emma, he abandoned his calling. Emma's brother, Charlie, begs Reese to return to his work, read Emma's letters that she wrote to be opened after her death, and to open his heart again.
The story is full of love and heart. I highly show more recommend it. show less

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin is a 2006 Thomas Nelson publication.

I have been wanting to try a book by this author for a long time. I picked this book out at random, probably because it was brought to my attention from a book related email, or something,

This one is nearly twenty years old at this point, but honestly you can’t tell it. Good stories, ones that both break your heart, then heal and fill your heart, are often timeless like that.

This story is centered around Reese, a superstar heart surgeon who walked away from his lifelong ambition when he failed to save his wife who had been born with a congenital heart defect.

Now living in a small, quiet town with his blind brother-in-law nearby, Reese is pulled out of his life show more of isolation by a little girl named Annie, who also has a heart condition like his wife’s. He’s probably the only surgeon who could save her, but he’s not sure he has the emotional wherewithal to take the risk….

Naturally, this is an incredibly emotional story. Reese’s bereft posture, his doubts, guilt, and self-recrimination reach a crisis point as Annie softens his aching heart with her brave journey and unfailing optimism.

The story is obvious all about the heart. Not just the heart that beats in our chest, but the emotional heart- the part that gives us a big, brave, soft heart- the kind that Annie has, the kind she shares with all who know her… the kind that brings healing, hope, and most importantly- faith.

An amazingly beautiful story, full of redemption, faith,healing, hope and love. The story left me smiling through tears and that’s the mark of some good story telling.

I am so glad I finally took the plunge with this author. I can’t wait to read more of his books!!

4.5 stars show less