The Water Keeper (A Murphy Shepherd Novel)
Price: $18.99 - $10.81
(as of Mar 12, 2026 18:11:16 UTC – Details)
USA TODAY Bestseller | ECPA Bestseller
A riveting story of heroism, heartache, and the power of love to heal all wounds by New York Times bestselling author Charles Martin that combines the intrigue of John Grisham with the heart-wrenching emotion of Nicholas Sparks.
Murphy Shepherd is a man with many secrets. He lives alone on an island, tending the grounds of a church with no parishioners, and he’s dedicated his life to rescuing those in peril. But as he mourns the loss of his mentor and friend, Murph himself may be more lost than he realizes.
When he pulls a beautiful woman named Summer out of Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, Murph’s mission to lay his mentor to rest at the end of the world takes a dangerous turn. Drawn to Summer, and desperate to find her missing daughter, Murph is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark and dangerous world of modern-day slavery.
With help from some unexpected new friends, including a faithful Labrador he plucks from the ocean and an ex-convict named Clay, Murph must race against the clock to locate the girl before he is consumed by the secrets of his past–and the ghosts who tried to bury them.
With Charles Martin’s trademark lyricism and poignant prose, The Water Keeper is at once a tender love story, a heartrending search for freedom, an exploration of the terrible cost of human trafficking, and an anthem to the power of love to create change when it show up regardless of the cost.
“Martin excels at writing characters who exist in the margins of life . . . Readers who enjoy flawed yet likable characters created by authors such as John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks will want to start reading Martin’s fiction.” –Library Journal, starred review
“The Water Keeper is a wonderfully satisfying book with a plot driven by both action and love, and characters who will stay in readers’ heads long after the last page.” –Southern Literary Review
“Charles Martin fans rejoice, because he’s done it again . . . a multilayered story woven together with grace and redemption, and packed tight with tension and achingly real characters.” –Lauren Denton
The Murphy Shepherd series–with more than half a million copies sold!
Book 1: The Water Keeper, Book 2: The Letter Keeper, Book 3: The Record Keeper, Book 4: The Keeper
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Bestseller & Storyteller
Charles Martin is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling novelist of thrilling emotional stories that explore redemption and love.
Bestselling Series
Most Popular Novels
“. . . somehow equal parts page-turner, heart-breaker, and hope-dealer. Another brilliantly written novel. . .” —Annie F. Downs, New York Times bestselling author
“Martin excels at writing characters who exist in the margins of life. Readers who enjoy flawed yet likable characters created by authors such as John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks will want to start reading Martin’s fiction.” —Library Journal
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More from Charles Martin
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
Publication date : February 9, 2021
Language : English
Print length : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 0785230947
ISBN-13 : 978-0785230946
Item Weight : 9.6 ounces
Dimensions : 5.48 x 0.95 x 8.33 inches
Book 1 of 4 : Murphy Shepherd
Best Sellers Rank: #7,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #26 in Christian Mystery & Suspense #42 in Southern Fiction #75 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (17,293) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
