Book Review, 0617 GABJ, GSB Vol. 22, No. 7, Pg. 74
| Author | John Lueder, 323 pages, Mountain Arbor Press |
Daufuskie Island
John Lueder, 323 pages, Mountain Arbor Press
REVIEWED BY DONALD P. BOYLE JR.
There are two types of people in the world—those who have 10 weather apps on their phone, and those who don't. In this first novel by Georgia attorney John Lueder, the story gets going when lawyer Evan St. John heads back to Atlanta to put in a few days at the office while his wife, Caris, and their three children remain on vacation at the beach house on Daufuskie Island, between Hilton Head Island and Savannah. Golf carts seem to outnumber automobiles on Daufuskie, and you have to use a ferry to get to and from the mainland.
Evan obviously works hard, because he has no idea that a hurricane is approaching the island until the return trip on Thursday. He calls from the Interstate near Macon to check in, and Caris gives him the news that the hurricane, which the weather forecasters had expected to hit Miami, had taken an unexpected turn and smacked into Daufuskie with enough force to knock out the power and destroy a neighbor's house. The high waves make ferry service impossible, so that Evan now has no way to get to the island, and Caris and the children have no way to leave.
The morning after, Caris tries to make the best of it and takes the children for a hike. Amongst the flotsam they find a small wooden chest, exactly what you might find at the Black Dagger, a cheesy pirate cove attraction on the mainland. When they open the chest, they find that it contains a key and a note granting "one wish made in private known only to God." Everyone makes a secret wish. When they get back to the house, they find that Evan has found his way back after all, on the only working ferry boat. Will says that this was his wish. Katie's wish soon becomes evident when she is able to levitate, and then to fly.
A disaster greater than the hurricane befalls them when Abby's wish comes true and her pesky little brother disappears. The parents pry Abby's wish out of her and determine that if the impossible really has happened and Abby successfully wished him away, then he probably is in—Hawaii!
The key in the chest opens a mysterious door in Haig Point lighthouse, and Evan finds himself in Revolutionary War Savannah, and then Civil War Savannah. Every passage through the "magical revolving door" ends up in another time. A local history teacher, Dan Rose, travels with Evan and is there...
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