Just Before Heaven

About the Book

Kimberly Jordan had watched her life fall apart. She left home after college to begin an exciting career in business and was driven by a clever and evil man, that she thought she loved, into corporate prostitution where she slowly develops a drug habit to escape her misery. When she founds out that both her parents have recently been killed in a car accident, she escapes and drives up a snowy mountain pass, above the little town of Summitville, until she runs out of gas. There she plans to wait in the freezing cold for death. Ray Tanner, a hardened Vietnam veteran and current Forest Ranger, finds Kim unconscious in the snow and their relationship begins. They struggle to overcome their initial aversion to each other as they learn to live in a peaceful coexistence in his mountain cabin until the road clears. Eventually, Ray completes her rescue from the mountain and takes Kim to town to stay with another couple, Harold and Mary Anderson. Mr. Anderson is an old preacher that serves the little community of Christians. Both Kim and Ray feel this separation acutely. Their new adventures help them overcome their past as they learn to trust and love each other. Most importantly they learn that no matter how horrible or hopeless life may be, God can forgive a repentant heart and love them anyway. Kim and Ray become involved in their community, and everything seems idyllic until problems of the past, a mysterious surgery, and problems of the present, a forest fire, test their faith and their determination to serve God. Both must learn to trust God completely, for only then is there a peace that passes all understanding.

About the Author

J.L. Jantz now lives near Jackson, Mississippi with his wife. He has four grown children. He attended York College in Nebraska and Harding University in Arkansas. After serving twenty six years in the U.S. Army Special Forces and the Mississippi Army National Guard, he retired from the Army and spends most of his time writing adventure novels.