The best thing that ever happened

the long version

"Youthful soul-searchings that lose their egocentric dullness as they are juxtaposed against the lives of others. Roger Lawford II, raised with correct superiority, can't take life in the Marine Corps after seven months, goes over the hill, kills two Negroes, and finds refuge with Stella Jones and her little daughter Sarahbelle. Roger's mother puts a private detective to work and Sam Lobello, concentrating in the area around Jackson, gets no clue as to his quarry's whereabouts for Roger has found a friend and ally in Dr. Thorne who quashes rumor and gossip about Roger's life with widowed Stella ... Roger, analyzing, probing, backtracking into his life recognizes his lack of group sense, his isolated, wasted years, the lies and poses that have made him, and his type, ineffectual incompetents. With Lobello coming closer, the Southern town's womenfolk have their say, brand Roger as a menace and demand that their men take action"--Kirkusreview.com.