Library Journal
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Moab, FL, is barely a dot on the map, but it is all that most of the motley cast have ever known. In the mid-1950s, everyone shows up to church socials and keeps their ears glued to the radio to hear Jackie Robinson and their beloved Brooklyn Dodgers hit it out of the park. Town favorite Sheriff Winston Browne is dying of lung cancer caused by a steady diet of cigarettes, but faced with the possibility of his last baseball season, he leans into his ordinary life and ends up changing the trajectory of two orphans for the better. The various characters strengthen their connections to one another in the midst of tragedy, although they surprisingly don't go deeper in their relationship to the Eternal. VERDICT Dietrich (Stars of Alabama) imbues plenty of Southern charm and colloquialisms in a read that will appeal to people of all genders, and especially to fans of small-town living. Readers who enjoy well-developed, realistic characters similar to those from Charles Martin and Lauren K. Denton will want to watch for more from this author. —Christine Barth, Scott Cty. Lib. Syst., IA

Publishers Weekly
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Dietrich (Stars of Alabama) lovingly depicts 1950s small-town life in this excellent outing. Winston Browne is long-serving sheriff overseeing rural Moab, Fla., and a veteran of WWII whose fiancée married another man while he was off at war. Upon returning home, Winston threw himself into his job, but after he receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, he starts to reprioritize. When runaway child Jessie finds her way to Moab, Winston tries to build a relationship with the girl to find out who she is and where she came from. The answers seems to be tied to a religious cult, and as Winston investigates, his newfound energy and perspective on life inspires him to open up to a chance at love, allows him to make peace with his past, and leads to justice for the dangerous cult set on harming Jessie. Dietrich meshes mystery and romance beautifully in this moral tale about one man set on using what is left of his life to enrich the lives of others. Dietrich’s fans will love this rip-roaring, dramatic inspirational. (Mar.)