A troubled young student demolishes a professor's carefully arranged life in this disturbing yet compelling story of love and loss. Since the death of his daughter, Randi, professor Travis Harrison has built a sheltered life for himself. Only now, things are taking a turn for the better as he is engaged to be married and his first novel is climbing the best-seller lists. Enter 19-year-old redheaded waif-fatale Layla Sommers, who notices Travis giving money to a homeless man and latches onto him as a savior from her chaotic self. Apparently, she has no one else in her life, and in a spectacularly ill-advised move, Travis agrees to take Layla into his home to help her. When it finally dawns on Travis that Layla physically resembles Randi, his deceased daughter, his emotions become even more raw. He is confused by her mixture of sexual come-on and little-girl lost vulnerability and unnerved by his responses. Yet even as things deteriorate to the point of Layla effectively turning his life upside-down, she also produces moments of incredible tenderness, compassion, and love. And above all, she is able to help him see the devastating truth about the death of his daughter, Randi. As Kirkus said about this sterling debut, Lalya mesmerizes with her hair-trigger mood swings and manipulativeness; the fiancee is both a controlling monster and a friend in need; Travis walks the tightrope of propriety while longing to lose his balance and topple over into a world of feeling and desire. With the deeply-etched characters and the many unexpected turns, the reader will find Resurrecting Randi impossible to put down, and the ending impossible to forget.
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About the Author
After his father and brother died young with unfinished manuscripts on their bedside tables, Shepherd found the incentive and the emotion to pen this novel of extraordinary depth, loss, and ultimately, hope. Shepherd lives and writes in Austin with his wife. His second novel is in progress.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Novel,
This review is from: Resurrecting Randi (Hardcover)
Okay, since the last book I read was Harry Potter (and before than I
can't even remember!) people warned me that Resurrecting Randi would be too dark or too "mature" for me. Well, I started it on a flight to California and have to say that after about 10 pages of the book I was completely hooked. Truthfully this book was amazing. It made my three and a half hour flight literally fly by. The entire time I was thinking, "wow! This is really, really good, this will be my girlfriend's favorite book." I mean I don't want to go into detail but the imagery was great, and the characters were explained in such detail that at the end of the novel I couldn't believe the enormous transformation. This would make a killer movie and I have been pestering my girlfriend to read this book because I want to talk to her about it but she said that she is saving it for when we go on a trip in the middle of this month. She is only 18 but I guarantee she will love it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Amateur, stereotypical, unbelievable,
This review is from: Resurrecting Randi (Hardcover)
While I admire anyone who takes on the task of writing a book, I am not sold on this first effort. I received a copy of of it after signing up for the publisher's advocates group on Craigslist. While I think the advocates group is a brilliant way to promote new publications, I can't be an advocate for this book because it is so frustrating to read. It has some decent moments, but the characters are stereotypical, especially the women. Who wears purple lipstick and a see-through tank top to school with no bra??? Who leaves calendar instructions in a love note??? The plot is like a an after-school special series, the situations are not believable and the story overall seems like the fantasy of a college instructor rather than a reality I can be convinced of. I might pay attention to Shepherd's second effort at a novel, just to see where his writing goes, but I can't finish this one. Sorry!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lolita on Steroids,
By TimeTravel21 (Wyoming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Resurrecting Randi (Hardcover)
This is a dark tale of one man's descent into obsession. Layla is everyman's worst nightmare....Lolita on steroids. A few rough spots and improbable leaps in this first novel by David Shepherd, but nonetheless a frothy page turner. Don't be surprised if you see Harrison Ford or Kevin Costner turn up in a movie version of this book.
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