Simple Honorable Man

This novel by one of America’s foremost writers—and perhaps the most truly American of all—is rock-based in values and virtues which most of the time seem to have disappeared from our fiction, if not from American life itself. The story of a storekeeper turned minister, A Simple Honorable Man is the fictional record of a life spent in the service of others, a life bringing the power of simple goodnessto obscure, sometimes earthy and violent people. Harry Donner (the father in Mr. Richter’s previous novel, The Waters of Kronos) stands in this novel as a man of integrity engaged in the day-by-day activities of son, husband, father, friend, and counselor in an age when home and family exerted moral conviction and social authority. Written with Conrad Richter’s customary grace of style and purity of vision, A Simple Honorable Man joins the long list of his moving and evocative portrayals in fiction of American life.

John Restin, Frank Smith, Russ Johnson, and Wade Ross were brought together by the Kennedy campaign. Now they are all Kennedy loyalists and beginning to live the life they have always wanted. Things change when they find out that John F. Kennedy is slowly dying from a concealed health problem. With his death, all of JFK's work and the men's hopes would go down the drain. That is, unless they make him die a hero. Wade has no doubt that assassinating Kennedy is the best plan. Russ isn't so sure. If everyone isn't in agreement, the plan will be shot down. Wade can't take that risk. Russ would have to die. Once the obstacles are eliminated, Wade begins a foolproof plan to assassinate JFK. He would need to make sure his name never came up at all; the blame would have to be on someone else. Lee Harvey Oswald is the perfect scapegoat. Succeeding in the assassination gives Wade a sense of accomplishment, and he feels more satisfied than ever before. He knows that it's just a matter of time before he kills again. When Wade reads about Martin Luther King Jr.'s planned Poor People's Campaign march on Washington, Wade knows it is time again. The black civil rights movement isn't finished; if King leads another movement, the civil rights movement will die from lack of leadership. Martin Luther King Jr. would have to die. Robert F. Kennedy might know too much. He would have to die too. It doesn't take long for Wade's friends, Frank and John, to catch on. Their knowledge threatens his very existence. Will Wade succeed in killing them too, or can someone put a stop to Wade's madness? What will happen to the Five Honorable Men?

Each vol. contains the sermon preached on the anniversary.

Tolan must rescue his sisters from the shades who slaughtered his family, but he cannot save them without first finding an honorable man upon the mountain. A story from The Unshut World. Part of The Ridge of Earth Collection. (~10000 words)