The Water Keeper

By: Charles Martin

Narrated by: Jonathan K. Riggs

Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

A riveting new story of heroism, heartache, and the power of love to heal all wounds.

Murphy Shepherd is a man with many secrets. He lives alone on an island, tending the grounds of a church with no parishioners, and he’s dedicated his life to rescuing those in peril. But as he mourns the loss of his mentor and friend, Murph himself may be more lost than he realizes.

When he pulls a beautiful woman named Summer out of Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, Murph’s mission to lay his mentor to rest at the end of the world takes a dangerous turn. Drawn to Summer, and desperate to find her missing daughter, Murph is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark and dangerous world of modern-day slavery.

With help from some unexpected new friends, including a faithful Labrador he plucks from the ocean and an ex-convict named Clay, Murph must race against the clock to locate the girl before he is consumed by the secrets of his past - and the ghosts who tried to bury them.

With Charles Martin’s trademark lyricism and poignant prose, The Water Keeper is at once a tender love story and a heartrending search for freedom.

"I’m telling you, it’s an action-packed, classic Charles Martin romance novel unlike anything I’ve ever read. And remember...the day you pick up this book is the day you become temporarily unavailable to the world." (Charlie Martin, son of Charles Martin)

"Charles Martin fans rejoice, because he’s done it again...a multilayered story woven together with grace and redemption, and packed tight with tension and achingly real characters." (Lauren Denton, USA Today best-selling author of The Hideaway)

"In The Water Keeper Charles Martin crafts a compelling story with skill and sensitivity. Open the pages of this book and you’ll enter the world of characters caught up in a real-life drama that grips the heart. As with all of Charles’s books you never finish it - you continue to live there in your own imagination. Current fans won’t be disappointed; new readers will understand why Charles Martin is on the short list of contemporary authors I recommend above all others." (Robert Whitlow, best-selling author)

The first story in a new series from Charles Martin.

Full-length novel (c. 110,000 words).

Also by Charles Martin: The Mountain Between Us, Send Down the Rain, Long Way Gone, When Crickets Cry.

©2020 Charles Martin (P)2020 Thomas Nelson

Best read in a long time!

Great story! Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Narrator is perfect for the tone of the book.

Injustice

This is a novel that I added to my list based on a recommendation from Annie F. Downs, who is an author/podcaster/influencer my wife follows. Considering the source, I didn’t expect the action/adventure/rescue/masculine side of this book. The book is about Murphy Shepherd, who is the water keeper. He finds the lost or stolen or missing. He rescues them when he can. He has considerable training and resources and still struggles against those criminal types who make tons of money exploiting those less powerful. Murph is headed south along the coast of Florida to scatter the ashes of his mentor, Fingers. As he travels, he attracts those who need help like a magnet. By the time he makes it to his destination, his boat holds a desperate mother searching for a lost teen daughter, a teen girl looking for her past, an old man headed south to say goodby to his past, and the smartest dog he’s ever met. Most of the story takes place on Murph’s boat as he travels down the coast, which makes this desert kid nervous and self-conscious about all the boat skills I never learned. Here are some of the lessons I pulled out of this story: Water absorbs all kinds of abuse and heals quickly- in people this type of resilience and healing is only possible with love. People have an unbelievable capacity to harm, abuse, and objectify others (trafficking, drugs, greed, flesh, fear, neglect). This is the world we live in. All darkness and evil need to thrive is for good men to do nothing. This book tells stories of injustice in a way that is easy to emotionally relate to. It goes with Just Courage (reviewed below) in a powerful way.

I recommend this book to adventurers and those wanting to learn about injustice.
(Rated PG-13, Score 8/10)

Exceeded expectations

Bravo bravo bravo. Why does it ever have to end??? I could listen to Charles Martin 24 hours a day. The little things he brings out and the characters are wonderful. This was a hard listen just thinking about the sex slave traffic and how many girls are destroyed and sold as a result. Charles handles this delicate situation very well. Thank you for another book well written without cursing, sex and other junk so many authors think they need to write a story! And Jonathan Riggs is perfect as narrator. Highly highly recommend

super engaging

the story was very compelling, about a disturbing topic, but handled well. violence was there but not graphic which is refreshing, characters each well developed.

Shockingly Consistent Excellence

Charles Martin does it again and again and again. He turns your life upside down and into full view as you turn each page (or play it in your app). His words expose your own battle with life and death and pain and hope. And you leave washed and filled. Phenomenal book about family and past and hope for a future. Starts and ends craftily. And all the in between is right on the money. You are ready to read this one again immediately after finishing. Well done Charles.

great read

author new to me but will read more of his writing. absolutely loved it. couldn't put it down until done.

Great

That was a tremendous read!
I think I have a new favorite book and character.

Speechless

I don't know what to say. I really don't know what to say. It made me feel more emotions than I've possibly felt from a book.
And the narrator did a fabulous job tho, cannot imagine anyone better for it.

Wonderful Read/Listen!

Don't start this without a clear calendar because you won't want to put it down! Full of suspense and action, but a wonderful love story!

The water keeper

Excellent- what will be next for them ???
First time I read this author- gotta have more !