A Letter from the Author
I’m sometimes asked how I came up with the idea for The Walk series. The simple answer is, I was walking. The better answer is that I was walking the four-mile dirt road to my ranch near Zion National Park when the idea came to me to write a story about a man walking across America. The mental conversation that followed went something like this:
Why did the man cross America?
I don’t know.
Does he really need a reason?
I’ve always wanted to walk across America.
Then why don’t you?
Because I’m married, I have a family, a home, a job. I’m tied down to responsibilities.
What if you lost all that?
That’s when the potential of the series hit me: if you take away everything a man lives for, then what does he live for? That was a question worth writing about.
As I sat down to write this story, I soon realized it could not happen from my den; I would have to make the journey myself. I asked my eldest daughter and writing assistant, Jenna, if she would make the trip with me, and she happily agreed. I hadn’t realized at the time what a blessing it would be to drive from coast to coast with my daughter.
Driving more than three thousand miles across America was a remarkable adventure. In Yellowstone we were trapped in a herd of buffalo. In Missouri we were forced to take shelter from a tornado. We stopped in the hometowns of people who have changed the world. We walked through fields of potatoes, corn, and cotton, hiked through canyons and swamps, and even held alligators. We climbed lighthouses and walked through cemeteries at night. We took notes in hospitals and met scores of people who shared with us their life stories. One of our most interesting interviews was with Israel, a hitchhiker we picked up outside Hannibal, Missouri, who shared his experience of fourteen years on the road and taught us the difference between tramps, hobos, and mountain men.
But all journeys must come to an end. After five years of writing and researching The Walk, the emotions that crossed my heart when I reached the Key West sign were a powerful mix of accomplishment, finality, and nostalgia. I was grateful that I had made the choices that led me to the end of this road—literally as well as figuratively.
It’s difficult for me to completely fathom how much this series has meant to many of my readers. Ultimately, The Walk is about hope, and on multiple occasions I’ve heard how the series has interrupted someone’s plan to commit suicide. I’ve seen tough old men, war veterans, cry as they told me how the series had given them hope to carry on after losing their sweethearts.
And we’ve had dozens of people call from their deathbeds wanting to know how the series ends before they die.
To all those reading this series, whatever city or country you’re in, thank you for joining me on this sojourn and search for meaning and hope in a vast, mysterious world. I hope you have enjoyed the read. But even more, I hope it has brought some illumination to help you on your journey along the difficult and unsure paths of life that each of us must walk.
Sincerely,
Richard Paul Evans
About the Author
© DEBRA MACFARLANE
Richard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box and Michael Vey. Each of his more than twenty novels has been a New York Times bestseller. There are more than seventeen million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Mothers Book Award, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel of the Year Award, the German Audience Gold Award for Romance, three Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards, the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award, and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children.
You can learn more about Richard on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RPEfans, or visit his website, at www.richardpaulevans.com.
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ALSO BY RICHARD PAUL EVANS
The Walk Series:
The Walk
Miles to Go
The Road to Grace
A Step of Faith
A Winter Dream
Lost December
Promise Me
The Christmas List
Grace
The Gift
Finding Noel
The Sunflower
A Perfect Day
The Last Promise
The Christmas Box Miracle
The Carousel
The Looking Glass
The Locket
The Letter
Timepiece
The Christmas Box
For Children and Young Adults
The Dance
The Christmas Candle
The Spyglass
The Tower
The Light of Christmas
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25
Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen
Michael Vey 3: Battle of the Ampere
Simon & Schuster
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Richard Paul Evans
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition May 2014
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Interior design by Aline C. Pace
Jacket design by Jackie Seow
Artwork by Donna Geissler
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933520
ISBN 978-1-4516-2831-9
ISBN 978-1-4516-2835-7 (ebook)
Photograph on page 89 © Archive Holdings, Inc./Archive Photos/Getty Images. Photograph is for representative illustrative purposes only.
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CONTENTS
Map
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
/> Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Epilogue
Reading Group Guide
The Four Doors Excerpt
About Richard Paul Evans
Contents
Acknowledgments
Map of Florida
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Epilogue
A Letter from the Author
About Richard Paul Evans
Richard Paul Evans, Richard Paul Evans: The Complete Walk Series eBook Boxed Set
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