Monday, April 18, 2022

"Water from My Heart" by Charles Martin


It says something about author Charles Martin that he could successfully turn the character of a drug runner into a sympathetic hero. 

But that’s what he does in Water from My Heart, first published in 2015. And that’s what Charlie Finn is – a drug runner. Finn is a crackerjack poker player, holding an MBA from Harvard, with experience at high-flying hedge fund, and he’s making a living from running drugs for his friend Colin. If all those wealthy marks in Miami want to snort white powder up their noses, someone’s got to do it, right?

 

And it works, until it doesn’t. Colin’s 18-year-old son takes his little sister for a ride, shadowing Uncle Charlie and helping himself to the drop-off – and the suppliers come looking, with a pit bull. The sister ends up in the hospital, and the 18-year-old takes off for Central America, unable to face his parents, his sister, or Charlie.

 

Charles Martin

Charlie follows, and all of Charlie’s sins will soon find him. Because Charlie has a history in Central America, especially Nicaragua, where years before he helped destroy a thriving coffee plantation employing thousands of people – all because the hedge fund owner wanted it, and the plantation owner refused to sell. Charlie’s looking for his friend’s son, but he finds his own past in the process.

 

Water from My Heart has all of the classic Charles Martin hallmarks – a broken hero, complications with the people he loves most, a bit of low-key romance, a dash of violence, facing past sins, and the discovery redemption even when the hero’s not really looking for it. In the afterword, Martin explains there the story is based upon some actual events.

 

Martin, who lives with his family in Florida, has published numerous novels, and if he’s written a bad or mediocre one, no one can find it. He tells an enthralling story every time, and Water from My Heart is no exception. 

 

Related:

 

River Road by Charles Martin.

 

Charles Martin talks about River Road.

 

Send Down the Rain by Charles Martin

 

Unwritten by Charles Martin

 

Charles Martin’s Where the River Ends

 

Charles Martin’s The Mountain Between Us

 

Charles Martin’s Wrapped in Rain

 

Crying with Them Crickets

No comments: