Imagine walking unaware into your house and overhearing your best friend Candy and your husband Logan arguing in your bedroom about the baby they've made, and conspiring not to tell her husband O.B., since it would kill him to know that his best friend Logan has betrayed him. That is the situation in which pharmacist and independent mother of two, Keri Slater finds herself the day before her husband, combat medic Logan ships out on his fourth tour of duty from their idyllic home in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Both men are part of the last deployments to Afghanistan before the president's draw down of troops in the spring of 2014, and the two couples have been friends and neighbors for four years. Four long, convenient years. Could it be that Logan has deftly concealed his affair with Candy from Keri since she's known him, or is this just a grave misunderstanding that she lets spin out of control, leaving Keri second guessing everything she's said, done, and seen during the last six years of her life? A wall has always surrounded the silent side of Staff Sergeant Logan Slater, but Keri has attributed his reticence to his introverted personality, along with his altruistic desire to protect her from the horrors of war he's experienced, not to covering up an affair with her neighbor and best friend, Candy O'Brien. Keri must endure the enigmatic silence further when Logan returns home as a decorated war hero, rendered without speech from an injury, until Keri figures out the truth for herself--the truth that could destroy all four of them as the story unravels. Her children, three-year-old Cole and five-year-old Lacey challenge her to pledge her allegiance to her friends, the way Keri and Logan have always taught them, but are they too young to understand such abstract concepts, and to fathom what really goes on in the lives of grownup men and women?
Industry Reviews
"Mary Flinn's Allegiance is a beautiful glimpse into the lives of characters so rich and authentic you feel every heartache, triumph, loss, and gain. A story of fidelity, heroism, friendship, and family, Flinn leaves you in complete bliss but still wanting more long after you've turned the last page." - Sabrina Stephens, author of Banker's Trust and Canned Good "Allegiance is the kind of novel that gets under your skin. Infidelity is not an easy or fun topic, but Mary Flinn turns it into a transformative lesson about love, honesty, patience, and understanding that supersedes the characters' initial pain. I guarantee you will be stunned when all is revealed, and perhaps even a little emotionally healed." - Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place "Cheers for Allegiance! A great work penned by a writer with an acute sense of social and emotional depth. This is a powerful story that quickly had me questioning my own humanity. This book is also a beacon of hope. Most of us have experienced the range of emotions woven into this story at one time or another. Keri and Logan's journey is a roadmap showing all of us how to treat our fellow man. Mary Flinn at her finest!" - A.W. Hammock, former U.S. Army Ranger and author of Night of the Hatchet
