True Believer

March 21, 2005
Charming, divorced Jeremy Marsh is a rising star. As a dashing, successful 37-year-old Manhattan science journalist, his skeptical scrutiny of ineffective antidepressants, cults and television clairvoyants has caught the eye of North Carolina restaurant owner Doris McClellan, who invites Jeremy to bucolic Boone Creek to scoop the story of eerie mystery lights appearing in an ancient cemetery. A diviner who can predict the sex of unborn babies, Doris suspects the lights are a ghostly curse. Her beautiful librarian granddaughter, Lexie Darnell, makes a lovely, if guarded, tour guide as Jeremy revs up his electromagnetic equipment for the ghost hunt. After witnessing the ethereal graveside lights, both grow closer, much to the chagrin of local deputy Rodney Hopper, who wants Lexie for himself. Guided by sage Doris and manipulated by meddling mayor Tom Gherkin, big-city Jeremy and smalltown Lexie find that trepidation about their differences somehow manages to bloom into love. Jeremy eventually uncovers the hidden truth behind the glowing graveyard fog and departs the lush gothic environs for New York. Can love bridge the gap? Sparks (The Wedding
) delivers another shrink-wrapped, reliably uncomplicated romantic confection that's light as air, smooth as silk and gloriously sweet. Agent, Theresa Park
.

December 1, 2004
Science journalist Jeremy Marsh may have fallen for the daughter of a psychic, but will he become a "true believer"? With a 15-city tour.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2005
After co-writing his first work of nonfiction with his brother, Micah ("Three Weeks with My Brother"), Sparks is back with another novel about finding one's true love. Jeremy Marsh is a science writer who specializes in exposing supernatural frauds and hoaxes. Following some flashy national exposure, the New Yorker is invited to investigate mysterious lights in an old cemetery in little Boone Creek, NC. In a classic romance plot, the attractive yet sensitive Jeremy is attracted to the beautiful yet stubborn town librarian, Lexie Darnell, who is also the granddaughter of a local diviner. Both Jeremy and Lexie are skeptical people -but not about the same things. Despite some nice plot twists, the mysteries and conflicts are resolved in largely predictable ways that will still satisfy Sparks's many fans. Purchase wherever the author is popular. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 12/04.] -Rebecca Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2005
New York skeptic Jeremy Marsh makes his living exposing frauds in the articles he writes for " Scientific American" . His latest target is a famous psychic who claims to speak to the dead. The acclaim he receives for his expose places Jeremy in the public eye with an appearance on national television. Jeremy then travels to Boone Creek, North Carolina, to search for the truth behind the mysterious lights that appear in the local cemetery. The legend is that an old curse causes the spirits to wander, and now the town wants to capitalize on the phenomena to bring in badly needed tourist dollars. But Doris McClellan, the local psychic, wants the lights debunked, and asks Jeremy to investigate. What Jeremy doesn't count on is falling for Doris' granddaughter, Lexie, the town librarian. Lexie has had enough of smooth-talking city men, and shields her heart, but Jeremy keeps trying to penetrate her tough shell. Lexie never wants to leave Boone Creek, and she believes that Jeremy will never want to stay. Although Sparks' latest starts with great potential, the main characters feel cool and distant; it is the secondary characters who embody the warmth and verve that usually mark Sparks' best-sellers. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)