When Crickets Cry

One of my favorite authors of all time is Charles Martin. He wrote The Mountain Between Us, The Dead Don't Dance, Where The River Ends, and my forever favorite: When Crickets Cry. I asked for it for Christmas two years ago, after the one at my library began to fall apart from my reading it so many times. It now rests on my bookcase, and has been read multiple times. He writes really deep, sorrowful, and complicated books, which is the type of books I love to read. I love being really confused the whole book, and then when he divulges whatever secret information he's been keeping from you the whole book, you have that "Aha!" moment. And then you get to go back and see how, when you have that one last piece of the puzzle, everything magically fits into place.

Depending on which book of his you're reading, the reader age differs. When Crickets Cry, I would say, probably 13 and up. 15 and up if you can't handle sadness well. There's barely any bad language in the book, and there's no violence at all. I'm saying 13 and up, because it's extremely sad.

The subtitle to the book it "A Novel of the Heart". Which is very literal, actually. The book centers around a man by the name of Reese. He meets this little girl (8 or 9) who has a hole in her heart. Her name is Annie, and she needs an operation on her heart to keep her alive, but she knows that the operation will be her last, alive or not, and she is waiting to find the best doctor. She and her aunt Cindy, have heard of this spectacular doctor, but he became a recluse years ago, and stopped talking to virtually everyone. Only a few people know why he went into hiding, and try as they might to bring him out into the world, to help people again, they couldn't. He had lost hope in himself. This man knew this little girl needed him to help her, but he was scared he would mess up. He was no longer confident in his abilities.

The name of the book (When Crickets Cry), comes from a scene in the book, where Annie tells Reese that the crickets (she sells crickets to help pay for her operation), are crying for her. Reese is confused, and tells her so. She looked at him, and says, "Only if you listen closely, and with your heart, can you hear when crickets cry." Reese turns his head towards the noise, and Annie shook her head. "No, you don't hear them with your ears, you hear them with your heart." 
 And that's the premise of the book.

I honestly love everything about this book. Which is saying something, because even my favorite book of ALL time (coming later!) I have issues with. This book isn't my very favorite, because it is full of sorrow, and it's not a book you can just read over and over again. You have to wait for the sadness to leave, and then you can read it again. ;)

I love this book, because you come to love the characters. You weep and laugh with them, you feel sorrow when something happens to them. Another thing I love about it, is that it's written in first person, which added to it, and there are also multiple flashbacks. It's a beautifully written book, and the flashbacks and real time are seamlessly woven together into this novel that will steal your heart, and leave you breathless.