"The Shepherd" by Benjamin Laskin

Jesse Tanner is on vacation with his parents and his Uncle Owen, staying in a remote cabin in New York. Jesse is 9, and the rain which hasn’t let up since they arrived is about to drive him crazy. Instead of adventures on the nearby lake and in the woods, the Tanners are housebound. And Jesse, bouncing off the walls, is increasingly driving his parents to distraction. 

Uncle Owen, his father’s oldest brother who’s considerably older than his siblings, seems content to sit in the rocker on the porch and sleep in the hammock. After the deaths of their parents, Owen raised Chase and his younger brother. He doesn’t talk much; Jesse thinks he’s rather weird.

 

The rain continues. Jesse’s electronic devices were left at home; Chase and his wife Holly also forgot their phone chargers. And Uncle Owen doesn’t mess much with any kind of electronic device. When the sheriff and a park ranger stop by, warning the Tanners about two escaped convicts from the next county over, the family doesn’t think much of it. 

 

And then trouble arrives. Young Jesse will learn things about his uncle that he never dreamed of. More importantly, he will learn things from his uncle – about survival, fighting back, and about himself.

 

Benjamin Laskin

The Shepherd by Benjamin Laskin is the story of the Tanner family and what happens to them one week while on vacation. It’s a story about family, about protectiveness, and how sometimes violence has to be met head on (and The Shepherd has considerable violence). At the same time, the story of Jesse and his uncle is completely enthralling. 

 

Laskin has previously published numerous stand-alone and series novels, including the Murphy’s Luck series, the Emuna Chronicle series, the Coinworld series, and The Will series. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, he lives in the town of Safed in the Upper Galilee region of Israel. 

 

The Shepherd is a riveting, edge-of-your-seat story. Laskin knows exactly how to hook you into a tale and keep you reading. 

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Saint…Who? – Paul Kingsnorth at The Abbey of Misrule.

 

The Full Life of Empty Rural Spain – Lenny Wells at Front Porch Republic.

 

Saving the Farm: How One Southern Family Has Long Championed the Radical Power of Rural Life – Jason Kyle Howard at Garden & Gun.

 

“I’ll Never Find Another You” by The Seekers – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

The Rooms of Fiction – Dustin Illingsworth at Obstructive Fictions.