in a wee, obscure part of backwoods georgia, ill-educated dru sullivan and his precocious six-year-old nephew bo forge a sustaining relationship in this multi-faceted book. a tragic love affair, two brutal murders, belly-gripping humor, and conflicts centered on deep philosophical issues -- religious and otherwise -- and vivid writing and character development keep the reader involved. one critic described chaper 8 as the best written and most engrossing chapter he had ever read in any book. the boy-man, man-boy relationship is the thread binding sullivan road into a gripping tale of one irish-american family and its struggle to survive in a racially diverse but sparse farming community during world war ii. dealing with a wagon-load of how-comes and a couple of pigsty murders, prayer and unflagging faith could be all the sullivans and their neighbors of both races have left. readers in mexico, israel, scotland, canada, and all across america are calling for a sequel, saying dru and bo deserve a place in american folklore. one newspaper reviewer writes, "by mixing in a drop of 'to kill a mockingbird,' a pinch of 'tobacco road' and some juice from 'the grapes of wrath,' pierce lehmbeck paints a stirring portriat of life on a hardsdcrabble south georgia farm during the 1940s... he promises a sequel ... i can't wait."