Book Review: Expiation by Greg Messel

Title: Expiation
Author: Greg Messel
Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: Trafford Publishing (March 8, 2010)

Ratings:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

My thoughts:

Expiation. Huh? Intriguing. I honestly didn't know the meaning of it until I read the definition inside the book. The book is about two high school sweethearts, Katie and Dan who who were separated by fate. Dan left Katie because he had to follow his ambition of working in a newspaper company while attending school in San Francisco.

While the story and characters are fictional, the author managed to include some cultural and historical facts/events on the dates depicted in the fictional story. It was well written and it seemed so real, it made me cry while reading it. It wasn't a tear jerker but some parts of the book like Dan meeting other woman and leaving Katie behind made me cry. At first, I was so against Dan meeting the other woman - Wendy but after a while, I started to like Wendy and felt sorry not for Wendy or for Katie but for Dan because he had to go through that kind of situation where choosing one of the two would break his heart.

I loved the story, if you like long-lost love storyline, then this is for you.

Synopsis:

In 1968, Dan and Katie are one of the hottest couples at Ballard High School in Seattle. He is the hero football player, and she is the beautiful cheerleader. These high school sweethearts believe theirs is a love that will never die.


Life changes when Dan leaves Washington to start college at the University of California Berkeley and pursue his dream of working for a big time newspaper in the glamorous city of San Francisco. The quest for his dream occurs against the turbulent background of Berkeley and San Francisco in the 1970s as Dan and Katie go their separate ways.


Now, thirty years later, Dan is back in his hometown of Seattle attending his mother’s funeral. He’s never stopped thinking about Katie, his long-lost love. But the two former high school sweethearts reconnect in a most unexpected way as the rest of the world grows more fearful of Y2K and the dawn of the twenty-first century. They are hoping that their love, once lost, can now be reclaimed.

About the Author:

Greg Messel himself is married to his high school sweetheart, Carol. Expiation is largely based off his life as he grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, experiencing historical events such as the Vietnam protests at U.C. Berkeley in the 70s and the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle. He attended Brigham Young University and worked in the newspaper industry for several years. After retiring in 2008, Messel was able to focus on his writing career and begin publishing his novels. He is also excited to announce Expiation’s availability in eBook format. For more information visit www.gregmessel.com. 

Note: I received a review copy of this book free from Author Solutions. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.