Indebted

Braxton can't lay claim to wanting to be a writer all his life, although his mother and seventh grade English teacher were convinced he had what it would take.  He went to Duke University, earned a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Engineering with a major in Bio-Medical Engineering, and found his way into medical school at the University of Cincinnati.  Following a residency in Emergency medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center, he served tours as the Chief, Emergency Medical Services at Fort Campbell, KY and as a research Flight Surgeon at Fort Rucker, AL.  Who had time to write?
By the late 1990's, his professional and family life had settled down, somewhat and his mother once again took up her mantra, "Write a book.  Your're a good writer."  Yet, with no experience in writing anything other than technical articles, he hesitated to try his hand at fiction.  That changed in 1997 when the local newspaper held a writing contest for Valentin's Day.  Out of 1100 entries, he made it to the top five finalists and realized that maybe ha could write fiction after all.
The next ten years saw him learning the craft of writing through local writers' groups, seminars, critique groups and more.  Indebted marks his second formal publication.
Fifteen years after that first hesitant start, he can't find enough time to write as much as he'd like.  He now lives in Missouri with his wife, Paula.  Their two children are grown and with three grandchildren nearby, "Papa" wears a number of hats.

You can read more about Braxton and his books by visiting his website found at www.braxtondegarmo.com.

It's the late 1960's and life with an alcoholic father in rural western North Carolina couldn't get worse for young Alice Cummings, until she gets pregnant our of wedlock and her father "sells" her baby.  She flees, resolved to find her child, but more tragedy derails her search.  Yet, her life turns around in a most unexpected way...before she disappears from the face of the earth.
For current day, mega-selling author, Myra Mitchell, the "Diva of Disaster," a life of hard work and harder partying falls into a tailspin after a life-changing diagnosis.  In pursuit of a final book, she sets her sights on the unknown story of Betsy Weston, her favorite cartoonist, who appeared from nowhere in Ashville, N.C. in 1969.  Myra finds herself racing death to pay back a debt unveiled by her hunt.


My Thoughts:
I was honored to chat with Mr. DeGarmo just last evening during an event held online at The Book Club Network.  If you love books and like connecting with the authors of those books, you will want to visit bookfun.org!  Along with an amazing Reader's Only group, TBCN offers many opportunities to join in discussions with the authors who work hard to perfect their craft of writing some amazing books.  I received a complimentary signed copy of Indebted from Mr. DeGarmo through my connections with TBCN for the purpose of this review.
Indebted is a multi-layered "story within a story".  DeGarmo has extremely well developed characters and intricate plot construction.  While the story is told by going back and forth from the past to present day, it unfolds fluently.  Although I was able to figure out where the story was headed about half way through the book, DeGarmo's writing is so at such a level that this did not hinder me from wanting to finish the book...quickly!  He has written a page turner that carries the deep themes of restoration, hope and perseverance.
DeGarmo says this about his writing on his website:  "In addition to entertaining, I strive to present a theme in each book.  I write from a Judeo-Christian worldview, but you won't find my books preachy."  With that said, Indebted does contain some offensive language.  While off-putting at first, the further into the story I read, the more I saw the language in context with the characters.  I can't say I just loved this aspect of the book, but I can appreciate where the author is coming from in using it as part of his writing.  I actually asked Mr. DeGarmo his motivation for including such language last evening during the chat to which he responded that he writes about real life and strives to make his characters and his stories realistic.  I can appreciate that and I think you will too.

You can order Indebted (eBook download) from Deeper Shopping Christian Books and Bibles:

Christian Book Store

Happy Reading,
Jennifer