Jeff O'Handley's Current Query

Do you all know Jeff? Better known as JeffO? He has a blog at The Doubting Writer, which you should definitely visit and follow. He also has an awesome mustache. Back? Excellent.

Here's his query:

Dear Agent,

For high school senior Chris Burke life has never been better. He's college bound, more popular than ever, and finally ready to tell best friend Madison Cooper how he really feels. But when long-time nemesis James LaValle takes his feud with Chris too far and kills Madison's dog, Chris kills James and loses everything but his life.

Thirty years later, Chris has paid his debt to society and is a free man. Now a counselor for troubled teens, he leads a quiet, anonymous life, shared with his parents and a few close friends, and that's good enough for him. Until Madison calls.

Madison needs Chris to help her come to grips with her lingering guilt over her role in James' death and the testimony that helped put Chris in prison. Her unexpected return brings old memories to the surface and, with them, feelings Chris buried long ago. Seeing her, he realizes not all prisons come with barred doors and wire-topped walls: the past can hold you as securely as any penitentiary. And it doesn't grant parole.

Complete at 93,000 words, PARALLEL LIVES is a work of literary/commercial fiction. Its past/present narrative traces Chris' changing relationship with Madison, his inevitable collision with James, and his struggle to reintegrate into a society unwilling to forget. A story of friendship, forgiveness, and taking ownership of the past, it might appeal to readers who enjoyed HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET and THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

That's it.

Please remember to save your feedback for tomorrow, and thank Jeff in the comments for sharing his query with us.