Over Yonder: A Novel

It's never too late to find your purpose.

Woody Barker steps out of prison planning to live out his years on his houseboat docked on the Alabama Gulf Coast. As a defrocked priest with a heart condition and an ex-wife who still runs his life, he needs peace and a path to redemption.

Caroline Boyer is seventeen, pregnant, and stuck in a loop of bad choices. At her mother's deathbed, Caroline finds herself at the center of an unexpected plot that has the potential to turn her world upside down. At the funeral, she discovers a father she's never known . . . Whether she likes it or not, her life will never be the same.

Soon Woody, Caroline, and an emotional support goldfish named Gary are on a grand adventure through the Deep South. Chased by the men who are desperate to learn what Caroline's mother told her before she passed away, they use every skill they have as a new family to stay one step ahead of danger. To make it worse, former parishioners of the church that cast Woody out are determined to throw him a welcome home party. As Caroline and Woody look for answers and try to avoid disaster, they also learn how to redefine family, hope, and faith they thought they'd lost.

With dry humor and compassion, beloved writer Sean Dietrich highlights the good of humanity and the light that's always just around the corner.

© 2025 Thomas Nelson (Audiobook): 9781400235698

Release date

Audiobook: 7 October 2025