A broken father-daughter relationship . . . a soul that needed guidance . . . and the power of forgiveness and redemption.
He arrived unannounced, where and when she needed him most . . .
Forty-year-old Sandy Richards is a successful music teacher, wife, and mother living a comfortable middle class life in a small Midwestern town. But behind her warm smile and easy laugh is a heavy burden she cannot release.
During her childhood, Sandy (or Shadow as just about everyone knew her) was inseparable from her larger-than-life father, a World War II hero she adored. Sandy followed him everywhere, hung on his every word, and loved him with all her heart as only a young child can. Sometimes loving him was more difficult than others, especially when he was there and then he was gone right in front of her eyes without ever leaving the house.
For reasons she would not fully understand until many years later, something went horribly wrong and their relationship fractured, seemingly forever, when her father died of lung cancer on one long hot summer evening. His passing left Shadow alone to sort through his warehouse of junk, an old storage facility jammed with emotions so overwhelming they balanced her on the edge of suicide. Then, when and where she needed him most, a stranger entered her life. And everything changed once more.
The Final Service offers a riveting story about human nature, emotional abandonment, and how unfulfilled dreams left a middle-aged woman on the brink of personal destruction until one event forever altered the core of her belief system and her life. It is a story of faith, family, and forgiveness, and the realization that forces larger and more powerful than ourselves are at work in our lives in ways we are unable to fully understand.
REVIEWS
Advance Praise for The Final Service
Gary W. Moore has a knack for telling our stories. Whether it s a dream interrupted in Playing with the Enemy or a personal journey of discovery in Hey Buddy, Moore tells us about ourselves while writing about others. Never is that more true than in The Final Service, where a father s misunderstood love nearly tears his daughter apart. Love doesn t always come in the shape we expect. If we re lucky, we realize that before it s too late. Steve Bertrand WGN Radio, host of Steve Bertrand on Books
A poignant story of redemption, the power of forgiveness, and the wisdom that comes later in life when we see our parents as they really are. Regine Schlesinger, WBBM Radio, Chicago
The Final Service is a song of pain and grief and life and death. Author Gary W. Moore highlights the impact of war not only on the combatants themselves but on their families. Decades of sorrow, loss, and guilt erode human connections, but loyalty, understanding, and memory are the magical ties that reach beyond the grave. The parable of Sandy and her father Tom celebrates the complexities of love. Bravo to Gary for touching my crusty old heart. Joyce Faulkner, the award-winning author of In the Shadow of Suribachi and Windshift, and former President of Military Writers of America
A compelling and endearing story about what matters most in a time when it matters most of all. James Riordan, author of Break on Through: The Life & Death of Jim Morrison
The Final Service is a vivid reminder that the hand of God is in all things. Kieth W. Merrill, Academy Award-winning Hollywood producer and director"
