Nothing is
perfect
Even snowflakes have tiny flaws
But if we look
only for these mistakes
We miss the breathtaking miracle
of one of Nature's most marvelous
creations
And its
contribution to the winter-whitened earth
sparkling in the sunlight
The Footpath is my fourth novel
published by SynergEbooks.
Dr.
Avrial Woodsen, a prominent New York psychiatrist and well-known author of a
series of children's books, suffers a nearly fatal heart attack as the result
of the stress that follows the murder of his wife by a psychopathic former
patient. Ordered by his cardiologist to give up his practice and begin a
healthy regimen that includes walking, he moves to Tomque, Arizona where the
climate is more accommodating and a local park includes a footpath. On his
walks, he meets several of the village's residents who share their problems,
hopes and sorrows with him. Although friendly he is not outgoing, preferring a
quiet, almost reclusive lifestyle, and reveals little about his former life.
Even though he lives in the age of cellphones and computers, he still relies on
his landline for communicating with the outside world and pen and paper for
writing his stories; that is until he meets Bridget McMillan, a beautiful and bright young woman with
psychosomatic problems that he helps her resolve. When she discovers that Dr.
Woodsen is the author of Campfire Stories,
books she loved as a child, and that he has several unpublished manuscripts,
she offers to repay him for his kindness by transcribing them—if he will
provide her with a computer and printer. With determination, patience and wit,
she encourages the very reluctant psychiatrist to accept these tools of the
modern age.
Avrial's
tranquility is further disturbed when on one of his walks he meets Alexis Marie
St. Pere, a comely, and intelligent
middle-aged widow who reawakens feeling he thought had died with his wife. She
returns his interest and slowly frees his heart from the anger and grief that had kept it prisoner since
his wife's murder. With love and perseverance she helps him to rediscover love
and sex, and to finish remaking himself.
Read reviews of my books on my web-site, http://www.bfoswaldauthor.com.
Suddenly
Avrial and Alexis find themselves in grave danger when his wife's killer
discovers them on the footpath. Ron Etterman, who had been sentenced to life in
an institution for the criminally insane on Dr. Woodsen's recommendation,
escaped and began to search for his nemesis seething with the desire for
revenge. For several weeks he engages the couple in a game of cat and mouse
that reaches its climax when Etterman kidnaps Avrial, Alexis, and Alexis'
daughter and hides them in an abandoned mine from which there appears to be no
means of escape. Alexis reveals her resilience and ingenuity as she cares for Avrial,
who has suffered another heart attack, strives to keep her daughter from losing
her wits, at the same time searching for a means of escaping their prison. When
her final attempt fails, she stoically accepts defeat. But the story doesn't
end there.
I
drew the color and tone for The Footpath
from several areas of my background. Although the story begins in New York
City, the main location is the northwestern Arizona desert. Tomque, AZ, the
site for most of the novel, is a fictitious town built from the ground-up in my
imagination, but I believe I was faithful to the local color when so doing.
Also I relied on my background in law enforcement, my counseling practice, and
anecdotes contributed by my students for subtext, and some of the characters
are modeled after either patients or students. For the reader who enjoys
stories about people triumphing over adversity, The Footpath is the book for you.
For
more information including reader's reviews, visit The Footpath at my website: http://www.bfoswaldauthor.com or purchase it from one of the
following retailers:
Genre Suspense; ISBN 978-0-7443-2007-7; 203 pages,
74,263 words
Tags: Terror, Suspense,
Romance, Arizona, Murder, Police Investigation, Sex, Psychiatry, Psychopath,
Internet
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