Meet Mark Rohr, the novelist

Former Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr's first novel, Let the Rain Kiss You, was published September 28 and is available on Amazon.

It's a mystery about corruption in a small town.

The following description is offered on the book's Amazon page:

Jake Carver has just spent four years in General Patton’s army fighting for his country in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. He arrives in his hometown hoping to renew his friendship with a young woman he remembers fondly from high school. 

More than anything, he wants to forget about death, destruction, and the horrors of war. 

If things work out, he has serious hopes his and Susan’s friendship will blossom into a long-term relationship. After all, now that he has seen all of the world he ever wants to see, he would like to settle down to a quiet, normal life with friends and family in this beloved and cozy Midwestern town.

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for the reader, that doesn’t happen.

At Jake’s age, four years can seem a lifetime. Now that the war is over and the Depression long past, things are beginning to boom. The town has changed, and nothing is what it seems on the surface.

Jake befriends Tom Morrison, the local town manager, a young man not much older than he. A friendship develops, and together they discover deep-seated corruption and a cover up that is fueling sinister activities. Eventually, both men’s lives are turned upside down, and they are compelled to investigate a ghastly murder that has hit Jake extremely hard.

This is Rohr's first attempt at a novel, but he previously published a non-fiction book about his Joplin tornado experiences, Joplin: The Miracle of the Human Spirit.