Review
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Title: Last Wish, Passage of Promise
Author: Tom Roulstone
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 244
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59811-546-8
Price: $15.95

Reviewed by Jaymie Reynolds

Throughout our lives, each one of us will face tragedy in some form or another. For Ken Sanderson, tragedy strikes when his beloved wife of five years dies after giving birth to their third child. As he struggles to work through his grief and to care for the small children that Karen left behind, Ken finds himself playing a game of hide and seek with a man who desires nothing more than to send Ken back to Karen's side.

While visiting Scotland five years earlier, Ken finds himself accosted by a kind and beautiful actress named Nell Keene. She is fleeing the advances of the murderous brute, Stephen Langton. The boat in which Ken and Nell flee the island where she is being held captive begins to sink in the icy water and they realize that Langton has sabotaged the vessel. Both Ken and Nell go on to testify in court that Langton has attempted to murder them. It is on their testimonies that he is sentenced to jail. Through Nell, Ken meets Karen and their life together begins.

Now five years later, as Nell is visiting Ken and Karen, they learn that Stephen Langton has escaped from prison and is doing all that he can to carry out his own vendetta against Nell and Ken. Just before Karen passes away, she urges Ken to remarry so that he and the children will not be alone. She recommends Nell for his consideration. Their story unfolds as Nell and Ken each seek to both find and avoid Langton and his threats.

Last Wish, by Tom Roulstone, is an easy read. The flow of this book is very smooth. At the same time, the subject matter is thought provoking and will lead the reader to consider similar aspects of their own lives. Roulstone does a good job of including enough romance to keep female readers involved. At the same time, there is enough of the murder and mystery theme to keep male readers interested. The target audience for this book is readers in the adult age range. There is enough of a religious theme that those who enjoy this book will be members of the LDS religion or those who are tolerant of it.

When tragedy struck, Karen did her best to prepare her family to carry on without her. While it struck a discordant note for her to recommend a candidate for Ken's future happiness, it was also fitting as most mothers and wives would want to know that their family was taken care of and as happy as possible in such a situation. Overall, Tom Roulstone does a good job of blending the different themes of this book. In Last Wish, it is illustrated that although tragedy strikes each of us, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we can find peace and happiness as we grow through our trials.