BOOK REVIEW
In Every Issue
A different kind of love story
By Terri Schlichenmeyer Syndicated Book Reviewer
Not a whisper . Don ’ t breathe one word of what you ’ re about to hear , not to anyone living or dead . This is Top Secret information , for your eyes only . Keep it quiet . And in the new book “ The Redemption of Bobby Love ” by Bobby and Cheryl Love with Lori L . Tharps , hope that everyone else does so , too . At that time of day , a rap on the door was never good . It was 6:30 a . m . and Cheryl Love was just finishing up her morning routine , preparing to wake her husband , Bobby , for work , and their son for school .
She looked through the door ’ s peephole and saw several policemen ...
Walter Curtis Miller was born in the fall of 1950 in North Carolina , his mother ’ s “ lucky number seven ” of eight children . The family was poor but young “ Buddy ” had a good childhood until his father died in 1959 and that changed everything : his mother took any job she could to feed her brood and with little supervision , Buddy started acting out , fighting , stealing .
By 12 , his light-fingered habit turned into major theft and taking cars .
At 15 , he was sent to a “ Training School ” from which he walked away and headed to Washington DC , where he couldn ’ t stop stealing ; caught again , he was sent to a facility for juvenile offenders . Shortly after his release from there at age 17 , he robbed a bank and that was it . Miller went to prison with a 25-year sentence . But Buddy Miller couldn ’ t do that kind of time and he made plans to run when he could . He jumped off the prison bus , changed his name to Bobby Love because it was the first thing that came to mind , and he sneaked off to New York . As Love , he kept mum about his past , settled down , got a job , fell in love and married , volunteered in his community , helped folks , and raised four good kids . His family never knew about Buddy Miller . Until 40-some years after Miller ’ s “ one big heist ,” and there was a rap on the door ... Seems like a movie plot , right ? Like you ’ d catch this on your big-screen with some popcorn , but no , “ The Redemption of Bobby Love ” is a true story and it ’ s incredible .
Part of that is because half of this book belongs to author Cheryl Love , whose tale accompanies Bobby Love ’ s in all its tumultuousness . Together , they make a breathless story , told with no apparent desire to keep it all under wraps anymore – and that ’ ll knock the breath out of you , too . It has a Catch Me If You Can feel , as you race through this account with an empathetic feeling of doom , the urgency of being one step ahead , and the terror of waiting for that hand on your shoulder . Whew , the grace that eventually comes is sweet relief .
Fans of “ Humans of New York ” will recognize this tale , and be glad it ’ s finally fully told . Anyone who wants a good book needs to read “ The Redemption of Bobby Love .” Truly , it ’ ll make you shout . “ The Redemption of Bobby Love ” by Bobby and Cheryl Love with Lori L . Tharps , 288 pages , c .
2021 , Mariner Books / HMH Books $ 28 .
• Terri Schlichenmeyer of The Bookworm Sez is a self-syndicated book review columnist . Schlichenmeyer ’ s reviews include adult and children ’ s books of every genre . You may contact her at bookwormsez @ yahoo . com
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