USA TODAY Bestseller | ECPA Bestseller A riveting story of heroism, heartache, and the power of love to heal all wounds by New York Times bestselling author Charles Martin that combines the intrigue of John Grisham with the heart-wrenching emotion of Nicholas Sparks. 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, a heartrending search for freedom, an exploration of the terrible cost of human trafficking, and an anthem to the power of love to create change when it show up regardless of the cost. "Martin excels at writing characters who exist in the margins of life . . . Readers who enjoy flawed yet likable characters created by authors such as John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks will want to start reading Martin's fiction." --Library Journal, starred review "The Water Keeper is a wonderfully satisfying book with a plot driven by both action and love, and characters who will stay in readers' heads long after the last page." --Southern Literary Review "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 The Murphy Shepherd series: Book 1: The Water Keeper, Book 2: The Letter Keeper, Book 3: The Record Keeper, Book 4: The Keeper (coming April 2025!)

チャールズ・マーティンが描くのは、深い喪失を抱えた魂が他者を救うことで自らも癒えていく、崇高な再生の物語です。主人公マーフィの寡黙ながらも高潔な生き様は、グリシャムの緊迫感とスパークスの叙情性を見事に融合させています。水辺を舞台にした詩的な文体は、静謐な孤独の中に、逃れられない過去と向き合う勇気を力強く灯してくれます。 本作の核心は、現代の闇である人身売買という過酷な現実に抗い、人間の尊厳と無償の愛を信じ抜く筆致にあります。傷ついた人々が境界を越えて繋がり合う姿は、単なる冒険譚を超えた、魂の救済を求める讃歌です。読み終えた後、あなたの心には、絶望の淵にいてもなお輝きを失わない、深い慈愛の余韻が刻まれることでしょう。