Saving KC by Grinnell Desjarlais is a story that explores the restorative power of love on broken human beings. Kelly Chase was a Montanan cowboy, the son of a full-blooded Blackfoot Native American and his beloved blonde mother. Desperate to escape the strictures of farm life and his father’s domination, Kelly dreamt of visiting California. When he finally achieved his dream, he met, fell in love with, and got engaged to the gorgeous Rita. Drafted into the army to serve in Vietnam, Kelly was captured and for three long years was held by the North Vietnamese, tortured and beaten regularly before being rescued, near death, by an American patrol. It will take years for Kelly to recover, to heal, and to reintegrate into an American society that had given him up for dead. When Kelly discovers his beloved Rita believed he had died in Vietnam and had since married someone else, his world falls apart. A chance encounter with Kaitlin, a young singing sensation, in a church one day leads Kelly on a new path that will change both of their lives forever. Kaitlin is struggling to cope with the sudden fame of stardom and is naturally suspicious of any man seeking her interest, wondering if it is her he is interested in, or her money and fame. Can these two struggling, broken young people find in each other the peace, support, and love they are both so desperately looking for, or will their traumas prove too much for even love to conquer?

Saving KC is a thought-provoking read from both main characters’ perspectives. So many soldiers returned from Vietnam unable to cope in a society that had changed dramatically since they left. Similarly, Kaitlin comes across as a typical young singer, dominated by her mother’s determination for success and unable to step off the escalator to superstardom, and unable to accept her success and adulation, as deserved. Author Grinnell Desjarlais has created a believable and moral character in Kelly Chase who, despite the trauma he has suffered, has somehow managed to maintain his humility, dignity, and morality. The author pulls no punches in the description of the brutal treatment received by Kelly from his captor, nor the horrific injuries inflicted on him. The struggles Kelly endures to reenter a society he no longer feels a part of and the suffering of his alcoholism is truly heart-rending. Similarly, with Kaitlin, her inability to trust and the feeling that she is being used by everyone around her is well written and totally believable.

What I particularly liked about the story was the strength of the relationships that were built between Kelly’s closest friends, Rita’s family, and the character of Kelly’s father who would play such a large part in the couple’s ultimate salvation. The close similarity between Kaitlin and her brother Ramon and a famous historical brother and sister act of the ’70s was certainly not lost on this reader and it definitely added to the growing tension as Kaitlin’s problems became more apparent later in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and can highly recommend it.