Guest Review: THE FRONT PORCH PROPHET by Raymond L. Atkins

The Front Porch Prophet
By Raymond L. Atkins
ISBN-10: 1933836385
ISBN-13: 978-1933836386
Hardcover, 400 pages
July 1, 2008
Medallion Press
Reviewed by Barbara McDuffie

The Front Porch Prophet is one of the most unusual books I have read. It is also one of the best. The quirky characters, even at their worst, are thoroughly entertaining. Their words and actions are consistently unexpected and yet so human. These are the kind of people I would like to know; yet in many ways they very much are the kind of people we all know. If these remarks seem rather cryptic, read the book and you will understand.

The story revolves around two lifetime friends; A.J. Longstreet and Eugene Purdue. Eugene sells bootleg alcohol from a bar he owns in the town of Sequoyah, Georgia. He lives alone on a mountain in a cabin built around a stolen school bus. A.J. was raised by his father and grandmother when his mother died of cancer shortly after his birth. He was taught the importance of hard work, respect, duty, and family by his father and was nurtured and loved by his grandmother. He has a wife and children and a home of his own. Eugene is dying of pancreatic cancer and he asks A.J. to help him end his life when the pain becomes too much. A.J. has to battle with his own beliefs and his love for his friend to decide what to do, and during this process we are taken on a trip through the past the two have shared. While A.J. gathers groceries and medicine to take up the mountain to Eugene, Eugene sits on his front porch drinking alcohol and shooting holes in his Jeep.

The Front Porch Prophet is a book about living and dying. It is a book about unforgettable characters. Wormy is an alcoholic helicopter pilot. Doc Miller sees patients at his home wearing pajama bottoms, a T-shirt and old bedroom slippers. Truth Hannassey is a lesbian real estate entrepreneur who makes things even more difficult for A.J. when she begins a new romance. And these are only a few of the people you meet in the town of Sequoyah, Georgia. Each chapter of the book begins with a short message that Eugene leaves for one of the people who were are part of his life, and each one is hilariously appropriate. Raymond Atkins writes with heart and The Front Porch Prophet is a delight to read.