Just Finished Reading One Summer by David Baldacci

I've earlier read a David Baldacci novel, from his Camel Club spy series and out of sequence...afterward I promised myself to first check whether the book I'm picking up is in a series.  When I discovered his 2011 One Summer at my local public library, I examined it: no series, just a standalone novel.  It's a story about a military man who valiantly served in Iraq and Afghanistan, thrice decorated.  Jack Armstrong has returned to his family in Cleveland and adores his wife Lizzie and their three children.  Sadly, though, he has now contracted a terminal illness and isn't expected to survive to Christmas...I'd better warn you now that what follows can be regarded as plot spoilers, although I'm not going to reveal the book's ending.  In what amounts to an incredible twist of fate, Jack and Lizzie's fortunes are suddenly switched and he finds himself in the role of a single father and dealing with some serious issues with his kids, especially his rebellious and cynical teenage daughter Michelle.  Also, Lizzie's mother Bonnie presents herself as an impediment to Jack regaining his role as an active father to his children...so there's quite a bit of interpersonal angst going on between the characters in this book if that's your "cup of tea": it certainly isn't mine...

While Jack lay dying, Lizzie had planned to take the children with her the following summer to her grandmother's house on the South Carolina shore where she had spent a significant period in her childhood.  Instead Jack takes them there as he tries to reconcile himself with his grief for his wife while honoring her memory and learning how better to bond with his children.  Jack is an honorable and likeable character whose war-trained toughness and task orientation get him over his illness but present obstacles in his relationships with others, especially his kids.  I checked out some of the reviews of One Summer and discovered that readers tended to either love or despise it.  To me, it's just a sweet, albeit a little bittersweet, tale of folks just trying to make the best of their often difficult circumstances while looking out for each other.  And we can all relate to that, whether we fought in a war overseas or not...