I really enjoyed parts of this book. The stories of the people of Moab were so well told. Dietrich's style in this part of the book reminded me of Fannie Flagg- so engaging, sweet, and homey. However, the parallel story about Jessie and Ada's escape from their cult community was distracting. I ended up with a bunch of unresolved questions about their lives before coming to Moab. I don't think that whole side story was necessary for Jessie to be adopted into Moab's culture. It honestly ruined the book for me.

I honestly was expecting another cookie-cutter “curmudgeon with a heart of gold finds life before death”. Instead, I fell in love with a town and its cast of characters. Harrowing, tragic, funny and uplifting...best book I’ve read in quite some time.

3+ Stars
Setting is Moab, Florida 1950 where the local entertainment is baseball the Dodgers in particular. They think of the team as family not as professional baseball players.

I am a big psychological thriller fan so this is not my typically genre. I did grow up in a small town where everyone knew your name. There is no doubt I could relate to these characters.
Winston Browne is the local sheriff and proves that a somewhat ordinary man can do extraordinary things.
This story is a nice ‘feel good’ story and a break from my typical read.
There are many amazing reviews ~ 99.5% of the reviewers totally ‘love this’!

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction – Ballantine for this uncorrected e-galley granted to me for an honest professional review. Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 2, 2021

The Incredible Winston Browne is a slice of life in Moab, Florida during the fifties. The Dodgers have a chance at the World Series and Sheriff Winston Browne, a man with chocolate coins in his pocket, and a love for Mark Twain is finding life anew. He has been given the ultimate diagnosis of lung cancer, one that doesn't slow down his love for Lucky cigarettes and now he's beginning to live life as it should be. He's a town patriarch who coaches the little league team, helps the young man whose grandfather is an alcoholic and pays attention to the town spinster. It's about old friendships and new and the value of living life to the fullest. I loved this story and the beautiful way Sean Dietrich told it. The reader feels the heat, the mugginess, sees the anxious faces of the little leaguers, and sees love in the eyes of a woman unloved. Beautiful and uplifting.

I obtained this book from Net Galley and have left an honest review.

What a wonderful heartwarming book! It is a beautifully written story that will keep you turning the pages. This is the first book I've read by this author and I loved his style of writing. He brought the book to life, you could feel all of the emotions and the characters become your friends. This book was a joy to read. Thank you Thomas Nelson--FICTION via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is my first book by this author. His writing is incredible. He has portrayed small town Florida perfectly. I definitely will be reading more of his books. I highly recommend this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

I loved that the book was set in a small town in the Panhandle of Florida. Where the main activities are scrabble games and going to church. Yet the characters are bigger then life and wrestle with all of the human emotions that can come with just living.
I love Eleanor and Jimmy. I especially loved the Incredible Winston Browne. Thoughtful, trying to live life without regrets, and dealing with mortality.
The only downside to this book would be Jessies story. Why did the people want her back? What was going to happen if she went back. I felt that there was more to be told here.
Overall a great book about a small towns triumphs, struggles and characters.

“Throughout his life and career, he’d seen enough senseless tragedies to know that wallowing in self-pity was a death sentence in itself. Some folks never quit wallowing once they started, and it killed them early. Self-pity was like a dangerous painkiller; it felt good somehow, but it turned you into its slave. So he made a promise to himself, right there, right then. He was not going to wallow. Not anymore. One morning of wallowing was enough. Winston Browne was going to live right up until he died.”

The Incredible Winston Browne is the fourth novel by American columnist, podcaster, speaker, and novelist, Sean Dietrich. After a lot of poking and prodding by the doctor in Pensacola, fifty-two-year-old Winston Browne has a diagnosis, a decidedly unenviable one. He has been the Sheriff of Okeauwaw County in the Florida Panhandle since he returned from the war, and the prospect of a shortened future is unwelcome news: he’s not yet ready to “go to Glory”, as the obits put it.

His job is not terribly challenging: Moab, population 912, elevation 17ft, is a tiny town that sits on the Escambia River, home to mill workers, drunks, gossips and old biddies making jellied salads, people who engage in church ice cream socials and complain about the unsightly new neon sign over Ray’s Café.

Win and his moderately incompetent deputy, Tommy Sheridan spend their time doing odd jobs for local elderly people and widows, and delivering sacks of groceries to shut-ins. Win coaches the baseball little league and plays scrabble with his good friend, Jimmy Abraham. And, of course they all listen to the baseball: it’s 1955, and almost all of Moab is Dodgers mad.

But just then, nine-year-old Jessie, strangely dressed and resolutely reticent, lands in Moab after an extended journey involvinga coded sentence, from a place to which she fervently wants not to return. She knows not to talk about it. People took risks to help her escape, and she’s not sure how she feels about what Ada wrote in the letter. Will she ever see her again? Will Ada make it out alive?

Jessie is surprised at the genuine welcome she receives: even those people she initially fought off are kind to her; Eleanor Hughes, the Sunday School teacher, takes her in; Sheriff Browne takes an interest but respects her refusal to say more. Win makes enquiries far and wide, failing to find Jessie’s family. But when some strangers try to abduct Jessie, the townspeople close ranks around her.

This disturbing little drama plays out against a background of fairly ordinary small-town happenings that include: a wedding, the town drunk drowning in the river, late mail deliveries because the Postmaster has no staff, a teen who’s quit school to support his polio-damaged mother, a magic spot under a tree festooned with coloured bottles, petrol theft, an unexpected love triangle, a tenacious red dog and a persistent gray cat.

The Moab Social Grace column in the Moab Messenger is merely one (very entertaining) device that authenticates Dietrich’s rendering of the era and the town’s mindset: Margie Brach’s commentary is usually gossipy, often inane, and occasionally quite pointed: “Mr. Leonard Bradley and Miss Sylvia Grantham are engaged and are rushing the wedding.”

Dietrich’s tale is wonderfully atmospheric: clearly, he is a talented storyteller, of the calibre of Stephen King, but without the paranormal aspect. He gives the reader a slow build to an exciting climax, but there’s also plenty of humour, some lump-in-the-throat moments and a beautiful resolution. A heart-warming and uplifting tale, brilliantly told.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction.

I requested to read and review by Thomas Nelson registered trademark of Harper Collins Christian Publishing Inc. This is the first book I have read by Sean Dietrich. This is a powerful story about life, death, and how you live your life. This story takes place in the South. Can you measure what a life worth. Everyone has a story to tell who. Who will listen and learn and who will walk away. Death is a part of life for all of us. Death can be dark or it can be light. This is a powerful story of one man's life story. This is for any type of reader and can be read anytime.

I had not read anything by Mr Dietrich before this book. But I will be reading more and I’ve signed up for his blog. This man can tell a story so well that you think you are a part of it.

Winston Browne and the characters in his town feel like real people with their problems, loves and lives. Mr Dietrich can turn a phrase that makes you either cry or laugh out loud and sometimes both. He especially is a favorite just because he knows how to add a dog into his story!

If I could give this amazing book 10 stars, I would. What happens when a young girl in need of help arrives in a small southern town in the 1950s? An amazing, unforgettable cast of characters take her in and keep her safe from a threat that seems almost unbelievable- that’s what! The description of one of the characters passing away, may well be some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful words you will ever read.

In the 1950's, Moab, Florida was a miniscule, one horse town in the Florida Panhandle. Population 912. Elevation 17 feet. Everyone in town was obsessed with baseball. "Kids in Moab chose allegiances early in life. A boy decided which team he would root for on the day he was born. The majority became a Dodger fan, but some traitors rooted for Mantle and Berra." Winston Browne, town sheriff, had persuaded WWLA to broadcast Brooklyn games since Mobile's minor league team, the Mobile Bears, were part of the Dodgers farm system." On tinny sounding radios "...boys from the rural corn cribs and remote farm communities could hear about the fantastic...feats of Jackie Robinson...".

Three older men worked on Moab's first community ball field. As reported in the town's weekly gossip column, "The Moab baseball field is nearly completed. Lights were erected last week by Mark Laughlin, Sheriff Browne, and Jimmy Abraham." Sheriff Browne aka "Win" had been watching over and patrolling the town since returning from WW II. Win however had a secret. "He'd endured gunfire in muddy European trenches...but...was frightened by a little old man in a white frock coat...[who said] get your affairs in order. Wallowing in self-pity was a death sentence in itself...He was not going to wallow...Winston Browne was going to live right up until he died." His changing priorities had a ripple effect on the community of small town Moab.

"Eleanor Hughes did almost everything at Moab Methodist except preach the sermons. [She] had been Jimmy Abraham's steady girl...he didn't romance or marry her." It was the end-of-summer social and Jimmy was late. Winston appeared. "I could use some company tonight...consider me Jimmy's pinch hitter...You'd be doing me a favor, Miss Hughes." "Life. It could change so quickly...being dipped on the dance floor by a sheriff in a salt-and-pepper suit."

"The scenery outside the train window...trees, fields, horses, cows, rivers, valley. [Ten year old Jessie] had no idea the secular world was so big with wide-open farmland and sunlight." "In some ways the infidels seemed more at ease with themselves than the temple brethren." Tangled in a homemade booby-trap in the henhouse behind Jimmy Abraham's Mercantile, she tried to defend herself with a spoon. A mystery child, a child soon to be lovingly ministered to and mentored by Eleanor and Winston. Baseball, a segway to unlocking the challenges faced by Jessie. Baseball, encouraging Buz Guilford to excel in what he did best. Baseball, Winston mentoring his little league baseball players.

"The Incredible Winston Browne" by Sean Dietrich is a wonderful novel that depicts small town rural life. Dietrich is an inspirational storyteller who reminds us that "sometimes ordinary people do the most extraordinary things of all". I laughed. I cried. I thoroughly invested myself in the lives of the residents. Everyone deserves a second chance. Winston's kindness and compassion made him truly incredible. I highly recommend this tome.

Thank you Thomas Nelson-Fiction and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

"Sheriff Winston Browne has some heroic things to do. He finds romance, family, and love in unexpected places."

Winston is a likeable guy with the small town of Moab and its citizens his foremost concern. I could have read a whole story just about him. The secondary story of Jessie and the cult she came from was almost too much background and I think it distracted from Winston's story.

Overall, an okay read and I would recommend this book.

3.75☆

What a wonderful, heartfelt, uplifting story!!

As always, Dietrich writes so that the reader knows the hearts of the characters, so that the reader experiences their feelings – of pain, joy, hunger, fear, confusion. The reader can’t help but be a part of the situation.

The scene is set in a very small town in the Florida panhandle, close to Pensacola in 1955 when the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the reigning NY Yankees in the World Series. It’s a marvelous book for baseball lovers of that era, but just a marvelous book for anyone.

I’m thankful for the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Put this one at the top of your list – you won’t be sorry!

I think what drew me to try to read this book is that it takes place in the South, a place near and dear to my heart. I tried really hard to get into this book and just couldn't. Sean Dietrich has a folksy writing style that is easy to read, but for some cause it didn't resonate with me.

There are two plots in the book that dovetail about halfway through. One is that of a child being rescued from an abusive cult in Pennsylvania, and the other is small town life in Moab, Florida. When they meet in the middle, the child has been abandoned and for her own safety has been deposited in Moab. The people draw in the child, fall in love with her, adopt her into the town and protect her to the best of their abilities. Winston Browne is the sheriff of the town and the leader of the protection unit for the child. He has had a soft spot for the down-and-outers of his town, especially taking interest in the children.

This book has a lot to offer for people who like the writings of Bailey White and Fannie Flagg (for more contemporary comparisons). It could be my own reading mood that kept me from liking this book as much as I thought I would, but the things that drew me to this book in the first place still have a lot to offer other readers who will like it. The writing is high quality; the characters, settings, and plot lines are believable and understandable. Even though I didn't enjoy the book as much as I expected to, I can still give it four stars.

HarperCollins and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have been a fan of master storyteller, Sean Dietrich aka Sean of the South, for quite awhile after a friend introduced me to his writing. I am eternally grateful to her for that and am thrilled that his latest book, The Incredible Winston Browne, found its way into my life. This is a book that I will re-read and cherish -it's that good.

Mr. Dietrich has won the hearts of many with his down to earth heartfelt stories and this piece of fiction, his 10th book, is one that will stir all of the emotions in you. I went from chuckling out loud to full out tears at times and loved every word on every page. Yes, I am a fan.

Winston Browne is the proud sherriff of a small town in Florida named Moab. Home to around 800 residents this Florida Panhandle town takes the reader back to life in the 1950's where everyone knows everyone, goes to either the Methodist or Baptist church in town, and loves baseball. Baseball is a predominant theme in the book and it is fun to see how the story weaves around the Great American game.

Winston Browne is sick but this book is about so much more than Winston's illness. It is an ode to the strength of the American spirit, the love of the small hometown, and the bonds of love that endure the most difficult situations. Each character in the book has grit and heart and I found myself loving each of them. From Jimmy to Eleanor to Bus --Jesse and Ada --they all stole my heart and I felt as if they were in my living room sharing an Ovaltine with me. (Sorry - no Lucky Strikes allowed in my house. )

Mr. Dietrich has a magical way of telling a story and this book is the perfect example. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson as well as the author for a advanced digital copy for my honest review. I honestly would give this one 10 stars if I could. Make sure this one is on your 2021 reading list.

Sean Dietrich writes a novel that will simultaneously break your heart and fill your heart with good emotions. The stories and people who encompass the months of Winston Brown’s life will both humor you and grip you. A great novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have never read anything by this author before but it kind of reminds me of Frederick Backman or Charles Martin.

Winston Brown is a well respected sheriff in the town of Moab, Florida but all of the Moabites lives are changed when 10 year old Jessie comes in to town.

Sheriff Brown impacts the lives of so many of the residents of this quirky town where most of the talk is of the Dodgers and neighborhood gossip.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

This book blew me away! Sean Dietrich is an awesome writer. I loved the characters, the plot, and the writing. Parts will make you laugh out loud, and others will make you want to cry. This is the first book I've read by Sean Dietrich but I will be looking for more now.

Winston Browne is the Sheriff of Moab, a small town in the Florida panhandle. He has just gotten some bad news from his doctor when a runaway shows up in town. The runaway will give no information about who she is or where she's from, but the town takes her in as one of their own. This mystery has to be solved. Winston seems to play babysitter to the whole town and his good deeds abound. Also, there are a lot of baseball fans in Moab rooting for either the Dodgers or the Yankees. Winston is involved heavily with the town's baseball team and mentoring the players.

The writing puts you in the story, you get the full picture of your surroundings - the sounds, smells, and the scenery; I felt like I was there. This book was so much more than I expected when I picked it up.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson - FICTION through Netgalley - I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Sean Dietrich, master storyteller, is back with a book that will tug at your heartstrings, make you chuckle, then have you crying like your favorite coon dog died. Feel like your emotions are numb or blocked? This is the story to bring you back to life. And yes, I loved every moment of this story.

In his tenth book Mister Sean takes us to Moab, Florida, in the Panhandle near Pensacola. (This area has been referred to as the “Redneck Riviera”, but we’ll assume that’s a compliment.) It’s the 1950’s and the 800 residents of this small southern town go to covered dish church socials (Methodist or Baptist), play or watch baseball (Dodgers or Yankee fans) and keep their yards and gardens mowed and trimmed. Everybody minds everybody else’s business.

Babysitting the whole bunch is the county sheriff, Winston Browne. He proudly served in World War II, and he loves his community. He’s the grownup everyone can count on. All the characters in this story are colorful, loveable, real, imperfect, and trying to live their lives the best way they can. Jimmy is Winston’s best friend, Eleanor runs the Sunday School, young Buz is poor and over his head. They think their lives are disrupted when a young girl, Jessie, mysteriously comes to town. Yes, their lives will be changed, but it’s due to something else. Winston has a bad cough.

What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to have an incredible life? Read this beautiful book and find out. Yes, there are 9 books before this one, but each is a standalone book. If you don’t know Sean Dietrich, start with this book. It’s one of my all-time favorite stories. Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for a digital advance review copy. This is my honest review.