Ulysses Homer: Or a Discovery of the True Author of the Iliad and Odyssey (1829)

Straight to the Heart is a tale of the once proud, but now beaten, sixty-four-year-old Jack Flemming, forced from his habitual world of depression and alcoholism into the role of unlikely hero. Faced with rescuing his fractured family, Jack sets out on an adventure in the midst of an unworldly firestorm as it devours the state of Florida, bent on the destruction of mankind. Along the way, he finds renewed love in the most unexpected placeathe beautiful firefighter, Bear. His journey covers a mere five miles over five grueling, heart-wrenching days of dangerous adventure. He is aided by his clairvoyant four-year-old grandson, a twenty-five-year-old cat, and haunting memories of his wife. The firestorm compels his family to unite from all across the country, only to have to survive one final disaster, more dangerous than that of the fire.