A MILLION MILES FROM HOME by Mike Dellosso, reviewed by Susan Snodgrass

Mike Dellosso's was the very first launch team I joined. This book was so incredibly powerful! One of my top reads of the year.

'I was already bitter and angry, and not just angry but downright mad. Both at God and myself.'

I have read every single one of Mike Dellosso's books. He has a special gift of drawing the reader right down into the characters' hearts. He can cross genres seamlessly as well. This one I read in hours! It broke my heart, made me burst into tears several times and get leaky eyed at others. It was very full of emotion that my heart filled right up to the brim and splashed over. 

Ben Flurry, his wife Annie and 7 year old daughter Lizzy are incredibly happy in their home and life in Pennsylvania. They have created something special. Ben has loved Annie since he was 13 years old and she would come to his tree house after her dad beat on her, which he did regularly. Ben vowed to always protect Annie. But a day came when he could not. A horrific car accident takes Annie from him and horribly injures sweet Lizzy. Ben is so incredibly bereft he can't even see straight. He can't understand why this happened and doesn't see how in the world he can go on, especially now that Lizzy has such a long road of recovery ahead. He decides to go back to their hometown of Boomer, NC, where his parents still live. This is a move which takes a lot of courage because Ben's alcoholic dad was always verbally abusive to him, all his life. But his dad has suffered a stroke and Ben's mom says he is a changed man and has found Christ. Ben very much doubts it and sees no point in trying to form a relationship with his dad after all this time. But Ben is struggling and desperately wants to not be the kind of dad his own dad was. Will Ben allow bitterness and unforgiveness to mar his own future? Can he find the strength and grace to open his own heart?

Written with such a depth of feeling, this book is destined to be read over and over again and is definitely one for the keeper shelf. Mike Dellosso writes with such heart and compassion and grief that it moves the reader in ways they never expected. Truly, this book touched my heart in a profound way. It will be one of my top reads of 2018. Highly recommended. 

*I purchased this book and was under no obligation to review, nor provide a positive review.

Back Cover Blurb:

After suffering tragic loss, Ben Flurry must confront the past and his own grief to become the father his child needs.

Ben and Annie Flurry have the perfect family, until an accident takes Annie's life and leaves their daughter severely injured. Now Ben struggles to come to terms with his own grief and guilt.

As the past he tried to leave behind threatens all he holds dear, Ben makes the difficult decision to move back to his childhood home to seek the help of his mother — and the father he remembers as abusive and an alcoholic. His mother claims his father is a changed man, but Ben isn't so sure. Can he find the strength to be the dad and man his father never was? Or will the wounds of the past ruin Ben's chance to love again?

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