Water's Edge by Robert Whitlow

Book Description:  Sometimes small towns hold the biggest secrets.

Ambitious young attorney Tom Crane is about to become a partner in a high-profile Atlanta law firm. But first he must clear one final matter from his docket-the closing of his deceased father's law practice in his hometown of Bethel, Georgia. Killed in a mysterious boating accident, John Crane didn't appear to leave his son anything except the hassle of wrapping up loose ends.

But instead of celebrating his promotion, Tom finds himself packing up his office, having suddenly been "consolidated." To add insult to injury, that same night his girlfriend breaks up with him . . . by letter.

Returning to Bethel with no sense of his future and no faith to fall back on, Tom just wants to settle his father's final affairs and get back to Atlanta. But then he runs into an unexpected roadblock-two million dollars of unclaimed money stashed in a secret bank account. And evidence that his father's death may not have been accidental. Worse still, a trail of data suggests his father played a role in an international fraud operation.

Tom follows the money into a tangled web of lies, theft, and betrayal. Along the way, he meets a woman who is as beguiling as she is beautiful. And her interest in the outcome of the case is just as high as his. She challenges Tom's assumptions . . . and his faith. Now he has to decide who he can trust-and how far a father's love can reach.

My Review:  I like the way this story begins...Tom is at his desk stunned that his boss called him and basically tells him he's in for a great life at the firm ... "Future potential always outshines faded glory."  This one sentence "tells" the story of Tom's life.  Then everything starts to go down hill~fast!

Tom begins to lose everything dear to him-his father passes away unexpectedly during a fishing trip, his employer makes cutbacks due to the economy-eliminating Tom from his job and his girlfriend, Clarice, breaks up with him and takes his cat! That's all in the first two chapters!

Then Tom decides to leave Atlanta and go back to his hometown of Bethel, a small community where Tom's dad had a law office.  Tom decides this is a good time to take care of his dad's things. To begin clearing up and cleaning out the office. When a mystery appears.  "Things" in one certain case aren't adding up. Where did "this" money come from and was his dad as honest as he should have been? Here begins the suspense and the mystery!

Robert Whitlow is a master at legal suspense.  He takes an ordinary, everyday  young lawyer like Tom and turns his whole life into a thrilling tale of action packed suspense, thrilling turn of events and christian values.  

Tom's baptism made me teary eyed... his pastor asks him if he is willing to walk the paths of the ancient ones ... just like we read in Jeremiah 6:16.  This is one read that will make one take a look at your own spiritual life.  

A most EXCELLENT read!  Don't miss this newest book by Robert Whitlow!

*This book was provided for review by BookSneeze/Thomas Nelson Publishing*

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About the Author:

Robert Whitlow grew up in north Georgia. He graduated magna cum laude from Furman University with a BA in history in 1976 and received his JD with honors from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1979. A practicing attorney, he is a partner in a Charlotte, NC law firm. He and his wife Kathy have four children and two grandchildren.

Robert began writing in 1996. His novels are set in the South and include both legal suspense and interesting characterization. It is his desire to write stories that reveal some of the ways God interacts with people in realistic scenerios.