Innocence Denied, by Mike Garrett, is an emotionally charged story of a young lady, Larissa, who is charged with murdering her husband and an older man, Derrick, who takes her away to avoid going to prison. This is a great story that kept me reading it to find out what happens. It is a great story of dealing with past mistakes and hurts while trying to move forward.
Derrick has traveled to Arizona to get away after the death of his wife. While there, the daughter of an old friend is charged with murdering her husband. Remembering concerns his friend had of his daughters marriage, Derrick develops a plan to get her away from the situation. He convinces her to go away with him, leaving with just the clothes she is wearing. Not knowing where to go, she decides to go home with him to Alabama.
There are so many good points in this book. One of them is how Derrick feels about marriage after his wife cheated on him. “The secret of a happy marriage, is to never do or not do anything that will cause your partner to look elsewhere. Love has to be constantly nurtured.” Another is Derrick’s thought on death, “Believers don’t fear death”. “Death is just a transition point. It’s just the next step toward eternal happiness.”
I really enjoyed reading this story. I enjoyed the similarity between Derrick trying to save Larissa from prison, and bringing her to God and eternal salvation. The Christian aspect of this story is so light, it is easy to read yet still understand Derrick’s strong beliefs. I also enjoyed how their relationship grew from total strangers to very good friends who gave of themselves to protect each other. I highly recommend this story for adults.
I received a copy of this book from BookCrash Blog program. This is my honest review.
232 pages
ISBN: 9781633571464
Mike Garrett is a book editor and published author. He wrote humorous scripts for church dramas (“The Thirteenth Disciple.”) and a short film (“Mysterious Ways”).
This book is due to release on February 21, 2019. It can be pre-ordered at:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/innocence-denied-mike-garrett/1129618191#
lakesidelivingsite 
Many thanks for your kind review of my novel, Innocence Denied. I truly appreciate it.
WIll you consider posting it on Amazon?
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