Double Redemption: The Story of Mike and Emma

Mike and Emma have both survived horrible childhoods and have both been emotionally wounded by events in their adult lives. As a result, they have become competent but relatively unfeeling as adults. When they meet by chance in a parking lot, however, each experiences a subtle attraction to the other, leading to a painfully tentative relationship wherein each one is afraid to reveal—or feel—too much. A touching spiritual journey about the fear of taking chances, Francis Gene Collins’s debut novel is full of surprising emotional turns that capture the blossoming hearts and awakening souls of two people who are destined to re-engage life and love—together. Emma's adult life has been punctuated with bad choices in men, especially her abusive ex-husband, and she tells one of her friends, "I'm done with men. I'm going to be a nun." Mike's adult life includes service with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan and his experiences there have left him emotionally shattered. The inexplicable attraction they feel toward each other leads them into a thrust-and-parry relationship, but both have a dark secret that makes them wary of firm commitment. As their relationship develops and as they learn more and more about each other, they discover that their lives are intertwined to a degree they couldn't possibly have imagined and that each holds the secret to the other's redemption. A story of tremendous depth and sincerity, Collins reveals deeper forces connecting us all through the fragile lives of closed and emotionally delicate characters. Empathetically portrayed with careful precision, smart dialogue, and incisive narrative deliver finely detailed portraits of quiet desperation, illuminating deeper universal truths. Affecting and sincere, Double Redemption: The Story of Mike and Emma reveals our inherent hope for connection and our need to listen to our hearts.