Fragile Love (ePub)

Nathan Rutherford has been framed by the Allied petrochemical company and is facing serious jail time for violating provisions of the federal Clean Water Act. He takes advantage of the chaos in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to flee New Orleans, but finds himself stranded in the small town of Rabb Springs, Mississippi. Seemingly safe from the law, he assumes a fake identity as Nathan Bolton and settles in.

While there, he finds himself drawn to Maysie Raymond, a young woman who is labeled by the townsfolk as "retarded" due to a genetic defect, but in whom Nathan sees surprising glimpses of a bright, coherent, and very adult mind that simply has not been challenged or trained. Therefore, when local business mogul Jim Waycross offers him a job as the manager of his underground frack water disposal operation in the local oilfields, Nathan overcomes his reluctance to be involved again in the environmental business and accepts the position.

However, he soon begins to wonder about Jim's company, which has ties to Allied Petrochemicals, and there is clearly more than just frack water being pumped into Jim's disposal wells. Nathan also starts to believe that Maysie's mental ability has been purposely downplayed, for nefarious reasons, by some of those who claim to care for her. It is up to Nathan to prove to the town that Maysie's disabilities have not prevented her from developing into a capable, functioning adult.

Fragile Love is an action thriller for adult readers of all ages who like fast action, plenty of plot twists, vibrant characters, and authentic local ambience-but above all, it is a love story.