Book Review: They Almost Always Come Home

At the foundation of each relationship resides the need to know love can survive even when feelings fade. In Cynthia Ruchti’s debut novel, They Almost Always Come Home, readers feel the desperation of this foundational yearning in a marriage clearly pulling loose from its moorings. Compounded by other issues—an unrewarding career and mismatched dreams—it’s enough to drive a man into the arms of the Canadian wilderness. When Greg Holden doesn’t return home from a wilderness canoe trip, his wife Libby wrestles with survivor guilt, a new layer of grief, and the belief that she was supposed to know how to fix her marriage. She planned to leave him—but how can she leave a man who’s no longer there? He was supposed to go fishing, not missing.

Libby has to find him before she can discover how their marriage ends. She plunges into the wilderness on an adventurous and risky manhunt, unsure what she will do if she finds him…or if she doesn’t. She expects to meet hardship, discomfort, and danger in the wilderness. She doesn’t expect to face the stark reality of her spiritual longing and a faint, but steady pulse that promises hope for reviving her marriage. If Greg’s still alive.

They Almost Always Come Home provides a glimpse into common, however uncomfortable, marital conflicts. Cynthia weaves a page-turning story, suspense building scene by scene. Her characters mirror ordinary people, living real-to-life situations, allowing readers to relate and sort through a myriad of emotions and life decisions. If fiction can contain adventure, riveting self-awareness, and romance all between the same covers, this is the book!

Cynthia Ruchti writes stories of “hope that glows in the dark.” She writes and produces The Heartbeat of the Home, a syndicated drama/devotional radio broadcast, and is editor for the ministry’s Backyard Friends magazine. She also serves as current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia married her childhood sweetheart, who tells his own tales of wilderness adventures.

If you are looking for a summer adventure novel that will also encourage you in your marriage – this would be the book for you.
Walk with the King!
*Thank you KathyCarltonWillis.com for providing me with this complimentary copy to review.

8 Comments

  1. Thanks, Courtney! I just checked my local library and they have 3 copies on order so I placed a hold on one. Hope to get to read it soon. Heather

  2. I just found your blog through Angela over at Confessions of a NonDomestic Housewife because of her post on the summer Completing Him Challenge. I am going to be joining you on this challenge, I feel it is God's timing. Thanks also for this review, it sounds like a great book and my library is the only one in the system with the book and it is available. I put a hold on it.

  3. Hi Courtney,
    In light of your recent post on your summer reading, I thought I'd update my thoughts on this book. I really enjoyed it – it was one of those that I kept reading when I knew I should have been sleeping :>. The ending was one I didn't expect. The only thing that's still bugging is that they saw smoke from a fire and that's what drew them to extend their trip. Yet, it was also stated that a fire was not possible. Sometimes having a editor's brain is detrimental to reading and watching media. All in all, it was a very good book and I'm glad your review led me to it. Thank you!

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