Seldom can you find a book with a collection of such superb stories as this one contains. Even though each story is unique, they each share the common theme of the subtitle: Hope and Light.
Escape from the dark with these tales of love and the supernatural.

LATE TO PROM

I can’t find enough words of praise for this fine little ghost story. It reminds me of the kind of story you might find in a GHOST WHISPERER episode, only better. With its supernatural elements combined with a murder mystery, it's reminiscent of another great show--Cold Case. Underwood’s superlative prose creates an atmosphere of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the most satisfying, wonderful ending. Ghost stories don’t get any better than this.

SUMMER PICNIC

Whenever I pick up a story written by Bobby Underwood, I know I’m in for a real treat. It’s no different this time with his latest venture into the supernatural. What makes this one so special is the romantic underpinning written with such style, it’s pure reading enjoyment. Combining romance with the ethereal atmosphere in a small town is a brilliant and winning recipe. The 62 pages of this wonderful, uplifting story are full of some of the smoothest writing I’ve ever encountered. Underwood’s ability as a master story-teller is on full display here.

“Her smile was a small-town smile; friendly, genuine, dreamy without trying--in other words, a nice girl. The feminists won’t let you call them girls any longer but that’s what she was--the pretty, proverbial girl next door. She was all grown up now and beautiful, yet she’d retained that youthful niceness; that pleasantness before the big ugly world gets ahold of it and tries to take it away. Hers was the combination of pretty and niceness that, as a junior high and high school student, made your day at school bearable when any girl of her ilk smiled at you in passing in the hallway, or waved to you on campus during lunch.”

“She must have been watching for me from the foyer because as soon as I turned into the small driveway behind her car--a Ford Granada--the screen door opened and she came out. The porch light was on and afforded me a glimpse at the kind of girl who makes you think of Henry Mancini’s music.”

“Sandy paused, then said, ‘This must be so hard for you, Mike.’ And then she leaned forward and threw her arms around my neck.
Somehow Sandy had sensed, or perhaps just perceived, what a burden it was; as if I was supposed to do something, but didn’t know exactly what it was I needed to do. Sandy had understood, and as she held me in comfort and I wrapped my arms around her waist I realized I was falling in love with her. I didn’t know what to do about that, either.”

JOY ISLAND

Reading this short story is like watching Bryce Harper hit a home run, or Muhammad Ali throw a jab, or Pele perform one of his classic bicycle kicks for a goal. An all-the-way beautiful thing to behold. Joy Island, the story, is like the actual place that Bobby Underwood so lovingly and vividly creates. It’s a story of life and love that transcends our world that oftentimes throws some hard things at us that can become too tough to handle. Underwood beautifully and magically reminds us that hope and love can overcome even the worst things.

ATELIER

My favorite story in the collection.

“A Moment in Time. A happy summer Saturday after the War, in the place I love most in the world. May it remain like this forever, sans one thing…”

If you’ve grown weary of reading the popular crap that today’s big publishers push as good writing, Underwood provides balm for your soul.
In ATELIER, as in all of his many wonderful novels and stories, Underwood gives us an uplifting dose of hope and escape from the backwards and upside-down world in which we now find ourselves.
Dip into the refreshing waters of a time and place before the world changed; when values meant something; when the American dream and patriotism were celebrated, and when we recognized and knew the importance of beauty, love, and hard work.
ATELIER is something really special. It is a mysterious tale with an ethereal element that is so lovely and inviting, it soothes the soul.
At the center of the story is a painting, “A Moment in Time”. It was created by a wonderful woman artist in 1946. When the narrator, Mike Grant first sees the painting in the present day, it opens up a whole new world for him.

“The painting was so vibrant and alive with summertime that it seemed to fill the entire room with light. It depicted a small town on a summer day, and the people going about various tasks and activities. Over here was a picnic and happy children playing games, over there a postman delivering letters and chatting with a woman in curlers who was touching her hair in a way that suggested she was quite fond of the postman. Two boys in overalls and a young girl in a gingham dress were fishing by a stream beneath a big oak tree. A country church stood quietly at the end of town as if watching over all the people who would surely be sitting in its pews come Sunday morning.”

At the time I picked up this treasure, I was in a fairly depressed state of mind. As I began to read and sail across these calming pages, my mood changed from melancholy to joy.
As the great novelist Robert Nathan once said,
“What I really want is to give comfort to people in this wilderness of death and trouble. And to myself, too. So, when I can, I take the poison and hate out of my books.”

In the same vein as Nathan’s classics, PORTRAIT OF JENNIE and THE BISHOP’S WIFE, Bobby Underwood carries on the Nathan tradition. He gives us a world where good always wins, the way it was meant to.
This is a book everyone should read, especially those weary with the insanity and depravity of the 21st century.
If you are fortunate enough to read this book, make sure you also read Underwood’s GROVER’S CREEK. It’s really similar in style and feel, and a treasure all its own.

OUTWARD BOUND is one of the finest collections of stories I’ve ever read. ( )

Seldom can you find a book with a collection of such superb stories as this one contains. Even though each story is unique, they each share the common theme of the subtitle: Hope and Light.
Escape from the dark with these tales of love and the supernatural.

LATE TO PROM

I can’t find enough words of praise for this fine little ghost story. It reminds me of the kind of story you might find in a GHOST WHISPERER episode, only better. With its supernatural elements combined with a murder mystery, it's reminiscent of another great show--Cold Case. Underwood’s superlative prose creates an atmosphere of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the most satisfying, wonderful ending. Ghost stories don’t get any better than this.

SUMMER PICNIC

Whenever I pick up a story written by Bobby Underwood, I know I’m in for a real treat. It’s no different this time with his latest venture into the supernatural. What makes this one so special is the romantic underpinning written with such style, it’s pure reading enjoyment. Combining romance with the ethereal atmosphere in a small town is a brilliant and winning recipe. The 62 pages of this wonderful, uplifting story are full of some of the smoothest writing I’ve ever encountered. Underwood’s ability as a master story-teller is on full display here.

“Her smile was a small-town smile; friendly, genuine, dreamy without trying--in other words, a nice girl. The feminists won’t let you call them girls any longer but that’s what she was--the pretty, proverbial girl next door. She was all grown up now and beautiful, yet she’d retained that youthful niceness; that pleasantness before the big ugly world gets ahold of it and tries to take it away. Hers was the combination of pretty and niceness that, as a junior high and high school student, made your day at school bearable when any girl of her ilk smiled at you in passing in the hallway, or waved to you on campus during lunch.”

“She must have been watching for me from the foyer because as soon as I turned into the small driveway behind her car--a Ford Granada--the screen door opened and she came out. The porch light was on and afforded me a glimpse at the kind of girl who makes you think of Henry Mancini’s music.”

“Sandy paused, then said, ‘This must be so hard for you, Mike.’ And then she leaned forward and threw her arms around my neck.
Somehow Sandy had sensed, or perhaps just perceived, what a burden it was; as if I was supposed to do something, but didn’t know exactly what it was I needed to do. Sandy had understood, and as she held me in comfort and I wrapped my arms around her waist I realized I was falling in love with her. I didn’t know what to do about that, either.”

JOY ISLAND

Reading this short story is like watching Bryce Harper hit a home run, or Muhammad Ali throw a jab, or Pele perform one of his classic bicycle kicks for a goal. An all-the-way beautiful thing to behold. Joy Island, the story, is like the actual place that Bobby Underwood so lovingly and vividly creates. It’s a story of life and love that transcends our world that oftentimes throws some hard things at us that can become too tough to handle. Underwood beautifully and magically reminds us that hope and love can overcome even the worst things.

ATELIER

My favorite story in the collection.

“A Moment in Time. A happy summer Saturday after the War, in the place I love most in the world. May it remain like this forever, sans one thing…”

If you’ve grown weary of reading the popular crap that today’s big publishers push as good writing, Underwood provides balm for your soul.
In ATELIER, as in all of his many wonderful novels and stories, Underwood gives us an uplifting dose of hope and escape from the backwards and upside-down world in which we now find ourselves.
Dip into the refreshing waters of a time and place before the world changed; when values meant something; when the American dream and patriotism were celebrated, and when we recognized and knew the importance of beauty, love, and hard work.
ATELIER is something really special. It is a mysterious tale with an ethereal element that is so lovely and inviting, it soothes the soul.
At the center of the story is a painting, “A Moment in Time”. It was created by a wonderful woman artist in 1946. When the narrator, Mike Grant first sees the painting in the present day, it opens up a whole new world for him.

“The painting was so vibrant and alive with summertime that it seemed to fill the entire room with light. It depicted a small town on a summer day, and the people going about various tasks and activities. Over here was a picnic and happy children playing games, over there a postman delivering letters and chatting with a woman in curlers who was touching her hair in a way that suggested she was quite fond of the postman. Two boys in overalls and a young girl in a gingham dress were fishing by a stream beneath a big oak tree. A country church stood quietly at the end of town as if watching over all the people who would surely be sitting in its pews come Sunday morning.”

At the time I picked up this treasure, I was in a fairly depressed state of mind. As I began to read and sail across these calming pages, my mood changed from melancholy to joy.
As the great novelist Robert Nathan once said,
“What I really want is to give comfort to people in this wilderness of death and trouble. And to myself, too. So, when I can, I take the poison and hate out of my books.”

In the same vein as Nathan’s classics, PORTRAIT OF JENNIE and THE BISHOP’S WIFE, Bobby Underwood carries on the Nathan tradition. He gives us a world where good always wins, the way it was meant to.
This is a book everyone should read, especially those weary with the insanity and depravity of the 21st century.
If you are fortunate enough to read this book, make sure you also read Underwood’s GROVER’S CREEK. It’s really similar in style and feel, and a treasure all its own.

OUTWARD BOUND is one of the finest collections of stories I’ve ever read. ( )