in print …
who she believes is the Second Coming of Christ. The reporter prides himself on his objectivity, and though at the outset he’s full of misgivings, he pitches in to learn as much as possible about the young man’s life. Despite his initial doubts, he slowly begins to believe the young man’s sincerity. The deeper he digs, the more unsettling his work becomes. He’s trained to pull together the strands of a story, and he’s good at his job, but every question seems to lead to a deeper one. The Bible verses he learned as a boy came back to haunt him. “… Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.” (Matthew 24:36–44) Has the young man been sent to Earth by a higher power? Will he save us from our transgressions or punish us for them? Such questions underpin the narrative. John Sherman is an investment banker in Charlotte, N.C. His book is available in e-book format through Amazon and iTunes.
90 UVA LAwyer / Fall 2012
Husband in Waiting Robert J. Woolsey ’67 Xlibris
There are lots of ways to prove your love is true. In Husband in Waiting, Kurt Hanrahan, a political reporter working in Vienna, meets Toni, the love of his life, at the office. Young and vivacious, she captures his imagination and his heart. He’s told other women he loved them, but he realizes he never really meant it until he met Toni. He takes the leap and proposes, and to his delight she accepts. There’s one condition, though—his bride demands they have a “test year” in which they keep their marriage absolutely secret from friends, family, and casual acquaintances. She wants Kurt to get used to being married before they share the news with the rest of the world. “I want to save you from the torture of suddenly having to help me pick out drapes for the living room,” she tells him, “and the shock of seeing my pantyhose hanging from the shower bar in the bathroom.”
An extended period of adjustment would bolster their marriage, she thinks, and help them beat the odds of divorce over the long haul. “After this first year of marriage,” she declares, “you’ll think that the remaining ones are a vacation!” Hanrahan protests, but what can he do? Besides, he realizes that Toni’s headstrong nature is one of the things he loves about her. Reluctantly, he agrees. After tying the knot they did their best to keep it a secret and set out on an adventure that would test their patience, their love, and their wits. Robert Woolsey recently retired from his practice as a trusts and estates attorney in New York and New Jersey. His first book, No Fighting in the War Room, describes his experience as a briefing officer for Army intelligence at the Pentagon during the Vietnam war.